Content is a bit of a buzzword in marketing land. But it’s not as confusing as you might think! In fact, content is a term used to categorize all the stuff your brand shares online. That’s right, every blog, video, guide, infographic and Instagram post you share are pieces of content. Pretty cool, right?
But how can you make sure your content reaches your target market online? Simply posting a link to your latest blog on Facebook is often not enough to drive tangible results for your business. That’s where implementing a content promotion strategy can come in handy! Content promotion is all about sharing your hard work (a.k.a. content) with the digital world across a bunch of channels. To help you on your way to content promotion success, discover 17 expert tips and tricks to boost your content’s reach, visibility and engagement on social media. Ready to get started? Let’s do this!
What is content promotion all about?
Before we dive into these expert tips and tricks, let’s cover the basics. Think about all the content you create for your brand, from blog posts to videos and even downloadable eBooks. You’ve created each of these pieces of content to help your audience out, whether that be teaching a new skill, sharing industry tips or showcasing your latest product release. But, what if your target market never sees this piece of A+ content? With over 95 million pieces of content shared to Instagram daily, cutting through and reaching the right users has never been more important. That’s where content promotion comes in! This strategy is all about distributing your content across a broad range of media channels, including social media, blogs, email and more. Broadly speaking, you have two options when it comes to content promotion:
- Organic content promotion: boosting the visibility of your content for free using search engine optimization, email marketing, social media and other organic channels.
- Paid content promotion: target niche audiences with tailored messaging and content backed by advertising spend, such as paid search engine ads or paid social media campaigns. Whilst there are endless strategies for promoting content, one of the best methods for businesses looking to boost their reach and visibility online is to leverage organic social media strategies. Keep reading to discover 17 must-try content promotion strategies to take your social posts to the next level!
1. Create a content promotion calendar
Ever walked into the grocery store and left without getting a single thing you actually needed? Chances are you didn’t write a list, right? That’s exactly what this first content promotion tip is all about. To ensure you have oversight over every piece of content you’re promoting, make sure to create a content promotion calendar. Pssst… you can do this from within the Plann app to get a visual, birds-eye view of what content is going up when. This calendar helps you to plan for when and where you’re going to be sharing pieces of content across your social media channels. Make sure to figure out what social media platforms you’ll be sharing, what content you want to promote and when you’ll be promoting this to your audience. By mapping out the content you’re promoting in advance you’ll be able to stick to a consistent schedule and batch your time for maximum efficiency.
2. Choose the right channel to promote your content successfully
How many social media profiles do you have? From a business profile on LinkedIn to our personal Instagram account, each of these channels has a specific audience. That means it’s super important to understand how to promote your content across each channel successfully. In a sense, it’s kinda like matchmaking! Think about it like this: your followers on LinkedIn are looking for industry-specific business tips and knowledge-sharing, whilst your Instagram followers probably want to see a more candid, raw glimpse behind-the-scenes of your brand. Figure out which content will resonate best with these audiences to maximize your efforts. And if you’re not sure where to start? Test out a few content types to see what works best on each channel! Example: Take a look at the difference between the content shared by TOM Organic on Instagram vs. LinkedIn. The brand shares direct-to-consumer shoppable images on Instagram while they promote brand videos and company information to LinkedIn.
3. Get your timing right
When it comes to social media, posting content isn’t as simple as hitting ‘publish’ and waiting for the likes to roll in (as much as we wish it was!). A huge part of success on social media is understanding when your audience is online, especially when promoting your content. Because what’s the point in sharing your perfectly crafted blogs, videos, tips and social media posts if there’s no one online to see them? Luckily, Plann does a lot of the hard work for you here! We use AI to tell you both your best times to post, and the time your audience is most active. By promoting your content at these times you’ll have a better chance of reaching the most people and boosting engagement on social media.
4. Harness the power of hashtags
Want to boost the number of people who can find your posts (even without following you)? That’s where hashtags come in handy. By adding strategic hashtags to your social media posts you’ll improve your reach and discoverability on social media. This means your posts will appear whenever someone searches the hashtags you’ve used in each caption. But it’s important to be savvy about how you use hashtags. Steer clear of ‘spamming’ your posts with tonnes of irrelevant hashtags and opt for a curated selection of fewer than 20 hashtags directly related to the content of your post. Example: See how the female-focused ethical super fund, Verve Super have harnessed relevant hashtags to boost the reach of their social media content.
5. Reshare your best performing content on social media
Think about how many users follow your brand on social media. Whether you’ve got an engaged tribe of thousands or a smaller network of a couple of hundred users, chances are your audience might have missed your best social media content. So, let’s make sure your posts reach the most eyeballs by strategically resharing your best performing posts! This content promotion strategy is all about repurposing social media content. Basically, it means taking your existing social media content and figuring out new ways to reshare this with your followers. That could be by changing up your imagery, refreshing the design of your graphics or simply presenting your message in a new format (such as turning an Instagram Feed post into a multi-slide Instagram Story). The best bit? You won’t have to rack your brain for new content ideas and you’re guaranteed to get results (as this content performed well the first time around!).
6. Connect with relevant influencers on social media
Speaking of buzzwords, the term ‘influencer’ has become one of the most common terms thrown around on social media. But don’t discount the power of influence marketing when it comes to promoting your content. There’s a reason users with a large group of highly engaged followers are called influencers: they command influence and attention on social media! When connecting with influencers, make sure to look for social media users who have a similar audience to your brand. By connecting with these influencers you’ll be able to cross-promote your content to their network on social media to improve your account’s visibility and reach. Try doing a ‘content swap’ where you exchange a piece of content (such as a blog or downloadable guide) and promote this piece of content to your social media network. When done successfully, influencer partnerships can be a fantastic tool for building your network and followers on social media!
7. Craft tone of voice guidelines for each social media channel
The way we speak often changes depending on who we’re hanging out with. Think about it like this: you wouldn’t speak the same way to a boardroom when delivering an important presentation as when you’re having drinks with your besties, right? The same principle applies for social media. Each channel and platform you use has a different audience. On LinkedIn your tone should be more polished and professional, while you can be more casual and playful with your Instagram followers. Tone of voice has the ability to change the overall attitude of your content, so it’s a wise idea to craft a set of tailored tone of voice guidelines for each of your social media channels. Consider how you can customize the messaging of the content you’re promoting across each channel to best match your audience. This will help you clearly communicate your key messages and maximize the results of the content you’re promoting on social media.
8. Share your top content with potential publishers
One of the best ways to reach new audiences is to share your top performing content to relevant bloggers and publishers in your industry. And the best bit? You’ll be able to pitch these pieces of content by connecting with these users on social media! Think about what blogs or publishers align best with your content and pitch to outlets that have a similar audience to your own. Try reaching out to these users on social media by sending them a direct message on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. By showing potential publishers that these pieces of content have already performed well with your own network (validated by metrics such as views, comments and social shares), you’ll be in a better position to secure coverage on the site.
9. Optimize your content to inspire social sharing
When someone lands on your blog or website, how easy is it for them to share this content with the world? Do you have clickable social share buttons throughout your blogs? Are your social handles easily accessible? Do you have a strong call-to-action at the end of your blog posts? By adding these simple integrations to your website, you’ll boost the chances of readers sharing your content on social media. Add buttons such as ‘Click to Tweet’ and ‘Pin it buttons’ which allow readers to instantly share images or snippets of your text to their social networks. Example: See this tip in action on the blog of sustainable clothing brand Well Made Clothes, with all posts featuring a bunch of social share buttons to inspire sharing.
10. Become an active member of social media groups
Every industry (and interest) has a dedicated group of loyal members on social media. These thriving online communities are a goldmine for like minded users, connecting audiences from around the globe around a single common topic or interest. Do your research and identify any social media groups that are closely linked with your business and what you do. By joining and becoming an active member of these groups, you’ll build trust with a network of potential customers. Plus, these groups often have dedicated threads for sharing relevant content, providing another powerful opportunity for you to promote your existing content. The Ultimate Strategy Guide How to reverse engineer your way social media success
11. Collaborate with other brands on social media
Teaming up with relevant brands and businesses on social media is another smart strategy for promoting your content. Look for brands and users with a similar audience to yours to connect with a new pool of high-value leads. Think about collaborating in creative ways, such as hosting a joint Instagram Live broadcast, facilitating an Instagram Stories takeover, sharing tips for their latest blog or offering expert quotes to appear on their social channels. To take your social media collaboration to the next level, use these collaborations as an opportunity to strategically promote your content to a new audience. Try mentioning recent blogs or eBooks you’ve created on the subjects you’re discussing and offer links to these resources to drive high-value traffic to your website. Example: The team from Code Like A Girl regularly invite influential female coders to take over their Instagram Stories, such as this example featuring Sam Floreani.
12. Respond to questions on social media by promoting your content
One of the best ways to increase the reach and visibility of your content is to join existing topics of conversation and share your industry expertise. Look out for posts on social media that are attracting lots of attention and engagement and find ways to join the conversation. Try offering suggestions, tips and advice and linking back to your own articles or blogs to promote your content to a highly relevant audience.
13. Reshare existing blogs on natively on social media
This one is perfect if you’re searching for smart B2B content marketing strategies! Every piece of content you’ve published to your blog or website can also be shared to your networks across social media. But rather than simply sharing a link to the blog, try publishing this content on social media platforms (such as LinkedIn) natively using the site’s own publishing tools. Next time you have a brilliant piece of content perfect for your LinkedIn network, head to the site and hit ‘Write article’ to publish this content to LinkedIn natively. This will give your existing content another life with a new pool of users. Plus, make sure to link back to your original post on your website to drive traffic from this LinkedIn article too!
14. Turn your best performing blogs into engaging Instagram Stories
Did you know there are over 500 million users now using Instagram Stories every single day? Phew, talk about a golden content promotion opportunity! While we love reading a super engaging blog post , sometimes it’s useful to get the best bits of the blog delivered in a different way. By transforming long-form articles into bite-sized Instagram Stories slides, you’ll pull out the most useful nuggets of wisdom and give users a taste of the full article. Make sure to encourage users to swipe up or hit the link in your bio to read to the full article to optimize this content promotion strategy!
15. Encourage engagement on your social media posts to boost reach
With so much content constantly being shared to social media, getting the algorithm to work for you (not against you) means playing the social game. If you’re struggling to get the reach and engagements you’d like on your social media posts, try adding a strong call-to-action to the captions of your content promotion posts. Simple phrases like ‘double tap if you agree’ or ‘like if you want to read more’ help to earn your posts quick engagements, triggering the algorithm to push your posts up in the feed. The content promotion strategy will help boost the reach of your posts on social media and ensure your top-notch pieces of content are seen by as many users as possible on social media. Example: Take this example from Glossier who have used a simple graphic with a strong CTA to inspire nearly 1,000 comments!
16. Reshare your social media posts with strategic mentions
Have you ever spotted a brand tagging a bunch of high-profile users in the caption or comments section of their posts? This is exactly what this next content promotion strategy is all about! Tagging or mentioning users in your content promotion posts is a smart and actionable way to boost the visibility and reach of your posts on social media. Not only does this increase the chance of these users liking and engaging with your content but also heightens the chance of these users sharing your content with their network. Do your research and shortlist a bunch of users relevant to the content you’re trying to promote and try mentioning them in the comments. To boost your chances of success, add a strong CTA such as ‘reshare if you agree!’ or ‘like if you’ve experienced this too’ to get your tagged users engaging with your content.
17. Host a live Q&A session to promote your content on social media
You’ve probably received a notification saying an account you follow is ‘now live’ while you’ve been scrolling your Instagram Feed. This is the magic of Instagram Live, a powerful broadcast tool to help you cut through the noise on social media. Instagram Live uses real-time, live broadcasts to connect brands with audiences to share everything from virtual events to interviews and even new product releases. So, what does this have to do with promoting your content? One of the best ways to share your new content with the world is to host a live Q&A session that dives into the topic of the content you’re promoting. Once you’ve shared your content to your social media feeds, do a call-out for questions related to this topic on your Instagram Stories. Once you’ve collated a bunch of great questions, announce you’re hosting an Instagram Live broadcast to encourage users to tune in. During this Instagram Live you can explore everything you mentioned in your content plus answer interesting audience questions in real-time to further promote your content. And that’s a wrap, Plann’rs! When it comes to making your content work as hard as you do, it’s important to leverage a range of content promotion strategies on social media. But the most important bit? Make sure to test and try out a bunch of strategies to see what’s working for your brand. Experimenting with a range of content promotion strategies will help you discover how to make the most of your efforts on social media! Start your free trial of Plann today to start taking your content promotion to the next level!
