The success of a content marketing campaign is dependent on two factors: one, how good your content is, and two, how far your content is able to reach. With self-discipline, practice, and the understanding that constant adjustment and improvement are necessary, almost anyone can develop themselves into a great content producer. So, what happens if you’re writing great content on a regular basis, but nobody seems to be reading it?
A scenario like this means you have a reach problem. Theoretically, if you start with a decent number of readers, good content should carry itself to a much wider audience through social shares, links, and word of mouth. But what if you don’t have a decent number of readers to start with?
Fortunately, there’s more than one solution—10 of them, by my count. Try using 1 or more of these 10 ways to increase the reach of your content for free:
This should be an obvious step, but you’d be surprised how many new content marketers overlook it. Your social media channels are made to get the message out, and everyone who’s liked or followed your brand so far will get to see it. Syndicate your content with a snappy title and lead-in, and be sure to hit every social platform you have. You can even syndicate older posts to give them a new boost of visibility.
Social bookmarking sites are an underrated tool in the content marketer’s arsenal. Submitting to platforms like Reddit and StumbleUpon is easy, free, and best of all, gives you the potential for thousands of new views. Just remember the catch—you’re only going to get seen by a handful of users at first. It takes the support of the community to escalate your post to meaningful levels of visibility, but if you have great content, you’ll be able to get there.
The reach of your brand on social media can only take you so far. The more people you have pushing your content out, the more new eyes you’ll get. In the early stages of your campaign, don’t be afraid to ask your coworkers, friends, and family members to support you with a little extra boost. It could get you dozens, or even hundreds of new eyes.
Use your content as a platform to request guest spots on outside publishers. If you’re accepted, you’ll have a chance to post some of your greatest material there, getting in front of all their traffic (and pointing it back to your site when you can). The bigger and better known your target source is, the greater effects you’ll see.
Interlinking is a simple process of including links to other posts you’ve written on every new post you submit. It only takes extra few minutes to link relevant content within each post, and it has the tremendous benefit of keeping people browsing your site for content for longer. Plus, thoroughly interlinked sites get a boost to domain authority, helping you rank higher.
Manual link building is starting to fade as a cost-efficient strategy, but if you’re in the early stages of development and you’re desperate for some more visibility, it’s a viable option. Find relevant ways to mention your content on outside blogs and forums—just be confident you’re adding real value to the conversation by doing so.
Influencers are gateways to thousands of social media users. If you can convince one to share your material, you could instantly gain access to all those potential new readers. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
Get all your content readers, site visitors, and clients to subscribe to an email newsletter, and use that as a platform to send out your latest, greatest content. As long as you get a few interested users, it will be worth the effort. As your email list grows, so will the benefits.
Content strategies perform fine given enough time, effort, and quality; every content strategy can become successful organically. However, if you need a little extra boost early on, you can consider a paid traffic option to complement your efforts. For example, you could use a Facebook ad or an affiliate link to generate some extra traffic for your best posts.
This is an underrated strategy because it’s time consuming and outside the digital realm, but it has a real impact on your total numbers. Get to know the other professionals in your area, speak at events, and get your brand known in your local area—you’ll get tons of new traffic to your site.
Put some of these strategies to the test, and you’ll see results almost immediately. The wider your circles become and the more initial readers you can capture upon publication, the faster your content will be able to spread—that’s why content marketing has such potential for exponential growth. Keep your focus on writing great content, syndicate as often and as thoroughly as you can, and the rest should take care of itself.
Want more information on content marketing? Head over to our comprehensive guide on content marketing here: The All-in-One Guide to Planning and Launching a Content Marketing Strategy.
%201.svg){kind=logo}
.svg)
