Today we’ll cover 16.75 content marketing secrets of driving targeted, lucrative traffic to your blogs and websites. And while no single method will provide an avalanche of traffic, combining your favorites can result in unstoppable traffic keeping you in profit, indefinitely.
Below you’ll discover how to get major bloggers and influencers to gladly share your posts, how to piggy back off the best content on the internet, how to make your content interactive to garner more traffic and a whole lot more.
Let’s get started:
1: How to get bloggers (big and small) to share your blog posts with their readers
This is so easy, yet few bloggers take the time.
And the benefits are two-fold: First, you will likely get extra traffic – maybe even LOTS of extra traffic. And second, it’s a great way to begin building relationships with other bloggers.
Here’s how it works:
Choose a topic for your next blog post. Now search out other content related to the post you’re writing. It could be articles, podcasts, infographics, blog posts, videos, etc., as long as it directly relates to what you’re writing about.
Not sure how to find the best content? Use a tool like Buzzsumo to locate the highest shared content for your keyword.
Get in touch with these content creators right away. Let them know you’re working on a post and you’re going to include a reference to their work.
Ask if they would like to see the post when you’re done. Be friendly and keep your messages fairly short and straight to the point. If you want to gush a little bit about how you love their (blog, videos, products, etc.) go ahead.
When your post is published, let them know they’re featured in your newly published content. Even if they didn’t reply to your first email, let them know. Maybe they were just busy.
If they like your content, many of them will share it with their readers and social media. Be sure to THANK THEM profusely when they do this.
2: Offer bribes in exchange for social media shares
When you create a new piece of content, create what you might think of as a bonus, too. It could be an infographic, a resource list, a pdf of the article, the biggest, baddest and best technique of all, etc.
Sign up for a Pay with a Tweet service and create a new campaign. Integrate the campaign button or campaign link into your content page. Feature it prominently, and talk up the benefits of what they will receive in exchange for a simple share on social media.
3: Optimize Your Facebook Posts
Things to know…
– Run tests to see what types of posts, headlines and images your audience prefers.
– Avoid clickbait headlines, as these will hurt your new feed rank.
– Definitely use hashtags whenever appropriate, since they increase interactions by 60%.
– When appropriate, use a question to get 100% more comments than non-question posts (Source: KISSMetrics)
– Link titles should have less than 100 characters
– Publish between 5pm and 1am for the most interactions (Source: TrackMaven)
– Engage with photos because 93% of the most engaged posts contain photos
– Use videos as well for even more engagement
– The most engaging length for a Facebook post? Is between 50 and 99 characters. (Source: Simply Measured)
– Posts with emoticons receive 33% more comments and are shared 33% more often. (Source: AMEX Open Forum)
– Saturday and Sunday posts have much higher average engagement (Source: TrackMaven)
4: Join Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are an excellent way to connect with people interested in just about any topic – including yours.
In Facebook groups you can really get to know your audience, and eventually promote your content. Here’s how:
Create a list of keywords that best describe your niche.
Enter each keyword or phrase into the search field, click search and click on ‘groups.’
Join the groups that look the most promising, but don’t share your content right away. Read the rules, participate in the conversations, help others and answer questions.
When someone asks a question that your content can answer, then share your content.
Or share your content as updates, asking the group for feedback.
5: Share your content on LinkedIn (Maybe)
This one depends – can you find your target market on LinkedIn? If so, this is a great place to share great stuff, keeping a few things in mind:
Many LinkedIn groups are nothing more than spam groups. In other words, everyone is shouting, “Look at me!” But no one is listening.
You’ve got to find relevant groups with lots of activity and very strict anti-spam rules. Try different keyword variations, and use group filters in the search settings. As you gain experience searching, you’ll get better at finding the right groups.
Once you’re in a group, read the rules and see how people interact. Help others, like, comment and ask questions that move conversations forward. Do this for a few weeks before sharing.
Remember, you’ve got to give first if you want to receive.
When it’s time to share, ask for comments and feedback, opinions, questions, etc.
The main goal of LinkedIn is to build your network. It’s entirely possibly you could meet someone who has a list of buyers who would love your product. It’s also possible you’ll meet your next joint venture partner, or your next $10,000 client.
But you do need some patience and the willingness to be in it for the long haul, helping others and initially expecting nothing in return.
6: Sending traffic from LinkedIn to your blog
Is your audience on LinkedIn? Then every time you write a new blog post, also write a 300-400 word teaser post for LinkedIn.
This post will give the gist of what your blogpost is about and provide a link back to your blog so they can read the entire post there.
Remember to use teaser bullets demonstrating what they will discover when they read your blog post, as well as a direct call to action to go read the post.
7: Get 10,000 new Instagram Followers
The more followers you have, the more traffic you can potentially drive to your blog, your website, your offers, etc.
And it’s easy to get followers if you have some time to invest.
NOTE: Instagram makes you do this manually, so when you have spare time, here’s how to do it:
Open Instagram, tap on the search icon, select ‘tags,’ and search the hashtag associated with your topic.
Choose a photo and start following the account. Like their most recent three photos.
Soon you will see people following you back.
8: Get More Shares (and traffic) With Interactive Content
People love to discover more about themselves, what their spirit animal is, what their personality says about them and so forth. This is why for decades the Cosmopolitan Magazine Quiz has been one of the favorite features of the entire magazine.
It’s also why you can use simple quizzes to drive more interaction and more shares from your readers.
Here’s how:
Register for a free account at apester.com.
Click ‘create new’ and select the type of content you would like to create – polls, quizzes, personality, video or countdown.
Add your questions and mark the right questions.
Press ‘publish’ and install the Apester plugin to your WordPress site.
Copy the code and insert it on your website, wherever you want it to be.
9: Run a Contest
Offering a contest on social media is a great way to get lots of engagement, traffic and new subscribers.
But be careful – you’ve got to tailor your prize to the audience you seek. Otherwise you’ll end up with a ton of subscribers who care nothing about your niche, your blog or your products.
For example, don’t offer a free electronic device (as so many do) unless it’s 100% directly related to your niche.
If your niche is gardening, offer a big selection of free bulbs or your latest book on growing vegetables.
If your niche is online marketing, offer free access to your latest marketing course to bring in super targeted leads, and so forth.
Here’s how to set up a contest:
Sign up at Rafflecopter to launch and manage your giveaway.
Click ‘new giveaway.’ Put in the prize(s) your winner(s) will receive.
Choose how people can enter to win the prize. Subscribing to your newsletter? Tweeting about the contest? Etc.
Set points for each method. The more points they get, the better their chances of winning.
Choose a start and end date and click ‘preview and install.’
Either embed the contest to your website or run it on your Facebook page.
Want to have even more options? Upgrade to the premium version.
10: Use other people’s great content to drive traffic to your site
This is a great technique on several levels. First, you’re sharing relevant, timely content via social media, so your followers and fans benefit.
The person whose content you are sharing will see you’re sharing their stuff, which can help build relationships with these marketers.
In the process you can actually drive traffic to your own content as well. Here’s how:
Find articles and posts related to your newly published post. You can use Google Alerts, Mention, or simply do a Google search for new content on the topic.
When you find an article your audience will likely enjoy, use Sniply to share it via your social channels.
To do this: Go to Sniply and register for a free account. Insert the article’s link and click ‘create snip.’
Then customize the call to action that visitors to that article will see, and link it to YOUR blog post.
Click ‘snip’ and you’re set.
11: Create Roundup Posts
This is a great way to get social media shares from other bloggers and marketers, and even begin building relationships with them.
Each week, biweekly or monthly (you choose a time frame) you will create a collection of the best content related to your topic.
To find this content, you’ll want to subscribe to relevant blogs, set up keyword trackers, or use a notification service like Feedly.
Choose the best posts and write a few sentences of introduction for each one, linking back to the original source.
Notify your sources before you publish your post. Let them know you’re working on a roundup post and their article or post will be included.
Once you publish, let everyone in your roundup article know you are live.
For those who don’t promote your article via social media, it is okay to politely follow up in a few days just in case they missed your email. When they do promote your article, THANK THEM very nicely.
Rinse and repeat at your next interval.
12: Create News Posts
This is generally done weekly and it’s similar to the roundup post. Only in this case, you are focusing on newsworthy items from your particular niche.
Your traffic here is likely to come more from people sharing your post than from the sources you are quoting, since many times those sources will be actual news sites.
However, for sources that are regular sites, blogs, etc., be sure to let them know you’ll be including them, and then let them know when you publish.
13: Do Influencer Roundups
Want to create something epic that really stands out and gets shared by a lot of people?
Then doing an influencer roundup on a hot topic could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Choose a question that will appeal to both your readers and your influencers. For example, in online marketing you could ask what one piece of advice your influencers most wish they had been given before they got started, and why.
Search for your influencers. Odds are you already have a list just from the blogs you subscribe to, but you can find more by using sites like Buzzsumo.
Next, get in touch with each influencer with a short message. Tell them you’re working on an expert roundup and you want to include them, and give them the question.
If you don’t hear back from someone within a few days, you can make one more effort to contact them. If they don’t respond the second time, leave well enough alone.
Once you’ve written your post, send it to your experts for any feedback they might have. Some of them might want to amend or change their answers slightly, based on something else they thought of or answers others have given.
After you publish, let your influencers know your article is live so they can share it with their followers if they choose to.
But don’t get pushy. If they share, that’s great. If not, you don’t want to ruin your budding friendships before they start.
14: Get Social Share from the Tools and Resources You Recommend
Here’s something almost no one thinks to do…
When you write a “how to” post or article, do you recommend resources and tools?
If so, here’s a little trick:
Locate the email address for each of the resources. Then get in touch and let them know you’ll be recommending their tool/resource to your readers in an upcoming post. Ask them if they would like to know when it goes live.
Once your article is live, let them know and politely ask if they might like to share it with their subscribers. After all, your endorsement is validation that their product works, plus their readers might find a new way to use the product, too.
15: Share. A LOT.
You’ve just finished a brand new blog post and you are proud as can be at the way it turned out. Time to tell the world, right?
Yes! Tell your followers on every social media avenue on which you’re active.
But don’t make the same mistake most marketers make.
Most folks don’t want to ‘bug’ others. They’re afraid if they ‘over promote,’ then people will get mad, unsubscribe, stop following, etc.
Actually, the exact opposite is true. You’re going to have to share your content many times before some people ever see it.
Think of Twitter – do you see all of your tweets the first time? Not likely, but let’s say you do. Do you click all the links the first time you see them? Of course not. You’re busy, you’re distracted, things get in the way…
Your followers and fans want to see your content, so make sure they can by sharing it multiple times.
Create different versions of the posts and tweets you make – maybe 5-8 variations. Change the titles, use different pictures and even emojis to boost engagement.
Set up a sharing schedule in advance by using a service like Buffer.
Share right after the post is published, and again an hour later, 3 hours later, 7 hours later, the next day, the day after, the next week, the next week after, the next month and the next month after that.
Track how your posts perform and adjust your schedule accordingly. Also, try to share both during the morning, the afternoon and the evening for full coverage.
16: Use Jump Links to Share Even More
You wrote a great post and you shared it several times via social media. But you don’t want to get obnoxious about it, so you stop sharing.
But… what if your post is a list? For example, “10 Great Ways to Drive Traffic” or “7 Key Secrets to a Great Relationship.”
Then you can continue to share without getting redundant, simply by using jump links.
For example, you want to share tip #3 from your list, so you create a jump link that takes readers directly to that specific tip on that post.
If you’ve never created jump links, here’s a great tutorial:
blog.hubspot.com/marketing/jump-link-same-page#sm.0001raqtw6hekf26y7914pn0o9ev5
Create a new social media message for each tip and use the jump link to point to that specific tip.
Then add relevant, interest-provoking images for each tip, so they stand out and apart when you share them on social media.
16.75: Keep Your Readers Coming Back Without Social Media or Email
This tip isn’t so much about driving new traffic, as it is bringing traffic back to your site time and time again.
No doubt you’re already building a social media following, right?
And of course you’re building your email list, too.
But… what about all those readers who either don’t fall into one of those two categories, or who ignore social media and your emails?
You can still bring them back to your website with push notifications. Here’s how:
Register to get a free account at VWO Engage.
You’ll get a unique code to insert in your website. Or if you have WordPress, you can install their plugin.
Customize your push notification. Just edit the title, subtitle and button text.
Then set up automatic scheduling notifications for your subscribers. Your subscribers will be notified 30 minutes after you publish a new post.
Easy!
And there you have it… 16+ proven content marketing ‘secrets’ that drive wicked traffic. You’ll notice there isn’t a difficult one in the bunch. It’s simply about taking the time to do these things and watching the traffic flow in.
Once you do, it won’t be long before you have a huge loyal following, an ever growing list of subscribers and continuous stream of sales notifications in your inbox!
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