Whew – the hard work is done. You’ve finished your article or video, it’s polished, it’s got a great title, and now you’re ready to get it in front of your target audience. Here’s how to do it…
Schedule Social Media Posts
You don’t need to be glued to your social media platforms 24/7 in order to develop a presence. Instead, upload content and schedule it to go out at the intervals of your choosing. We suggest you use HootSuite, which lets you schedule and manage content across multiple social media platforms.
Post Videos to Streaming Services
If you’ve created a video, then be sure to post it to multiple services (especially YouTube and Vimeo).
For best results, keep these tips in mind:
- Use an attention-getting thumbnail image. Whenever possible, use a custom image. For example, on YouTube you can upload custom images if you verify your account.
- Be sure to use a compelling title. We talked about this previously, and you’ll see more information about it on the spreadsheet. Your title is going to have a huge impact on whether people watch the video, so be sure it’s a benefit-driven, perhaps curiosity- arousing title.
- Optimize your description. Using the right keywords will help prospects find your video when they use an internal search feature on the site, as well as an outside search from Google and elsewhere.
Next…
Retarget the Target Audience
Facebook and similar advertising platforms let you retarget your audience based on who’s interacted with your content (provided you installed the platform’s pixels on your various pages so you can track your visitors).
One useful way to use this information is to segment your list based on what an individual is interested in. For example, let’s suppose you have a dog training site, and you see that someone has visited all your blog pages related to solving problem behaviors, like counter-surfing and jumping on people. You can segment this type of visitor and focus on sending them content and offers related to solving these sorts of problems.
Along the same lines, you can also use this tracking pixel to build custom audiences, such as people who add an item to their cart, people who purchase a product and so on. You can then use this information strategically for a retargeting campaign, such as putting additional promo materials – maybe even a coupon – in front of someone who has an item in their cart but hasn’t purchased it yet.
Create Value-Based Lookalike Audiences
Once you’ve had enough people taking specific types of action (such as joining your list or purchasing a product), then the advertising platform you use will be able to start making educated guesses about who else might be interested in your offer. This feature lets you expand your reach deeper into your market.
Run A/B Tests
The only way to know for sure if your content is effective is to test it, such as by using A/B split tests. Focus on testing those things that are going to have the biggest impact on conversion rates, such as:
- The title or headline of the piece.
- The imagery/graphics.
- The calls to action.
- Your audience (e.g., how you narrow your audience on platforms like Facebook).
- Your ad, where applicable.
Next…
Create an Organic Posting Schedule
Ideally, you should create a publishing calendar for the next several months (up to six months or even a year), and then you can create the content to fit your publishing schedule.
Keep these tips in mind:
- Vary your content. This includes promo content, how-to content, articles, videos, infographics, short content, long content and so on. Be sure to keep track of what your audience responds to the best so that you can follow up.
- Create a series. Each time you’re promoting an offer, be sure to create a series of pieces of content to help close the sale. Also, keep the buyer’s journey in mind so that you’re posting the right type of content to match where the audience is in their journey.
- Use a scheduler (as mentioned previously) and autoresponder. You can create your content according to your calendar far ahead of time and upload it to the scheduler. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it way to build relationships with your audience, promote offers and follow up to boost conversions.
- Create a drip campaign for new list subscribers. Your initial autoresponder series should seek to build relationships and promote offers. Note that your audience is most engaged right after they join your list, so be sure to start promoting offers right away.
Here’s a related point…
Design an Email Broadcast Schedule
Finally, be sure to also push out some of your very best content via live broadcasts to your mailing lists. You should be touching base with your list at least weekly, if not more. Be sure to also use any segmenting information you have to send out highly targeted content.
Conclusion
The best way to kill a piece of content is to publish it one place and then leave it be. Instead, what you want to do is get it out to all your platforms, advertise it, and perhaps even have your marketing partners help promote it. This initial push is important no matter what sort of content you’ve created, but it’s especially important for viral content to help it reach critical mass more quickly.
For more information, be sure to check out this free Article Traffic Checklist, which lays out the steps you need to take to plan, create, polish and distribute highly effective content.
