Content Promotion Strategy
Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes
Intended Audience: B2B Business Owners, Chief Marketing Officers, Business Strategists
Revised September 2023
We’ve all heard the phrase: “if you build it, they will come.” But if no one knows where it is, how will they get there?
It used to be enough to create quality content, but if content promotion isn’t a key part of your content marketing strategy, the only engagement you are likely to get is a thumbs up from your mother. And while we appreciate kudos from family, that doesn’t usually turn our posts or pages into high-traffic, lead-generating machines.
In the world of online marketing and content marketing, content promotion acts as the road that gets visitors to arrive at our destination. So, how do we get people to show up?
Back to the Basics: SEO & Content Marketing
It goes without saying—SEO isn’t optional, it’s a mandatory part of the process. According to Ahrefs, over four million blog posts are published every single day. To help yours stand out from the crowd, there are some important on-page tactics to employ as part of your content marketing strategy:
- Use strategic keywords in HTML elements such as title tags, meta descriptions, heading tags, and alt text.
- Create relevant and well-written content that is optimized for short and long-tailed keywords.
- Ensure page URLs are simple, well-formatted, and incorporate keywords.
- Optimize page load speed on mobile and desktop devices (this can be as simple as limiting large video and image files).
Don’t Wait for Indexing
A common misconception is that as soon as a post goes live, Google will immediately crawl your website, index your content, and voila! A flood of visitors will find themselves knocking at your door. While it’s a nice thought, it likely won’t happen.
It can take up to three months (sometimes more) for Google’s bots to find new pages—unless you re-index your website after every new addition (still, please don’t wait for indexing).
Include Organic Content Promotion in Your Content Marketing Strategy
Once you’ve written high-quality content, optimized for SEO, and published to your website, it’s time to shout your new content from the rooftops. Organic content promotion is used to amplify the visibility and effectiveness of your content or marketing campaigns.
Unlike paid promotion, it doesn’t involve spending money on advertisements or boosting posts. There are several ways to include organic content promotion within your content marketing strategy, but here are five that can yield the most significant results.
Content Promotion with Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful way to spread the word. There are loads of great software solutions for marketing automation to help you send targeted campaigns. Begin by identifying the segment(s) of your list that would be most interested in your latest content.
A/B test your subject lines and CTAs to see what resonates. Add a little personalization for good measure, [FIRST NAME]. And do some research on your personas to find out what day of the week and time is best to hit SEND.
Always remember to test your emails on different devices and mail clients before circulating to ensure nothing breaks.
Content Promotion with Social Media
Social media marketing is a necessary component of an effective content promotion strategy. While you likely aren’t active on all of the different social media platforms, it’s safe to assume your brand probably engages with Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and/or LinkedIn. Here is a useful tip for each:
- Instagram: Hashtags are like signposts, but using too many can appear spammy. Wrap your hashtags in “[…]” to hide from followers while still appeasing Instagram’s algorithm.
- X (formerly Twitter): Hashtags are also relevant on X (formerly Twitter), but even more so is building authentic relationships with your audience. Think of X (formerly Twitter) as a telephone rather than a megaphone.
- Facebook: It may be tempting to ask viewers to like, comment, or share your content, but Facebook views these explicit requests as click-bait. With their transition to focusing on meaningful interactions, click-bait is seen as spam and the antithesis to providing value for users.
- LinkedIn: The more people you can get your content in front of, the better. Tag team members or friends in your network to encourage dialogue and sharing.
An additional tip for all social media platforms: You can craft multiple social posts from one piece of content. Repromote by using different snack-size bites, such as sound clips, videos, or quotes.
Content Promotion with Backlinks
One of the most important ways to improve the search ranking for your content is to build backlinks. When a high-ranking site links to your content, search engines see that as a “vote of confidence” and elevates its importance in their results.
Backlinks can be notoriously challenging to obtain, but guest blogging, answering questions on Quora and Reddit, or pushing out a PR campaign are a few great, no-cost options to organically promote content and build brand awareness.
Content Promotion with Schema Markup
Technical SEO tactics were once enough to show search engines the value of your content, but not since the advent of semantic search. Structured data markup is a type of in-page code that enables Google, Yahoo, and Bing! to crawl, organize, and understand the information in a similar way people do.
When implemented correctly, structured data markup can enhance your site’s search results leading to rich cards, carousels, and interactive features. These elements increase the findability of your content and make them more appealing to potential visitors as they wade through millions of returned results.
Content Promotion in Online Communities
Most social media platforms offer opportunities for professionals or people with similar interests to form online communities—think, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) Chats.
Joining these groups as an active member can be a great way to share your content and drive strong, relevant traffic. The key here is to be an active member, not just a content pusher. Adding true value to the conversation will yield higher results than dropping in just to push your own agenda.
Need Help Content Marketing Strategy and Content Promotion?
You invest a lot of time and resources in creating valuable content. Using some or all of the tools recommended above will not only tell visitors where you live but also pave the road for getting them there.
If you’ve tried the tactics above and didn’t see a measurable difference or want additional guidance on organic content promotion, Maven Collective Marketing is here to help. We drive web traffic, build audiences, and specialize in SEO content creation and promotion for B2B software and software service companies. Get in touch to find out how we can produce meaningful and measurable ROI for your business together.
