The following guest blog comes to us courtesy of Matthew Murray, Managing Director at Notable.
Sixty-five percent of adults use social networking sites, and that number will likely go up in the future. This large audience gives you the chance to expand your content’s reach. If you have trouble getting people to read your blog or share your content, you need to utilize social media. The audience is there. Now, you just need to learn how to use it to your advantage. Follow some tips, and you will finally get the viral content you need to take your brand to the next level.
Cross-Promote with Other Brands
You share social networking space with non-competitive brands. Those brands have fans and followers that you can use to your advantage. Team up with the brands and cross-promote your content. You can share each other’s content in newsletters, blogs, and more, and then promote it in social media posts. That will put your content right in front of the other brand’s fans and followers. This is an excellent way to introduce your content to new audiences.
Utilize Your Market’s Influencers
Every market has influencers. These are the people who influence buying decisions. They have a strong social media presence, and if you can get in with the influencers, you can become much more powerful in the market.
Get some use out of your market’s top influencers by asking them to contribute to your content. Ask for a guest post or interview them for the content. Then, have them share the content with their fans and followers. They have a responsive fan base already, so their fans and followers are likely to gobble the content up. You will get more readers by using this strategy.
Understand the Art of the Headline
People have shorter attention spans than ever before. Now, you have approximately 8 seconds to grab someone’s attention. If you’re going to expand your content’s reach on social media, you need to have a headline that manages to generate some interest in that short period. You can’t expect people to investigate past the headline unless they are interested. They are going to look at the headline, and if they aren’t interested, they will move on.
However, if you come up with a surprising headline, you can expect to enjoy fantastic results. Just look at how well the Evening Standard performed with the headline “Drinking Three Glasses of Champagne Could Help Prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.” It is safe to say that surprising headlines spread like wildfire on social networks. If you want to expand your content’s reach, start with the headline and the rest will follow.
Go Visual
It’s important to understand that content doesn’t always have to be in the form of text. If you want to make your mark on social media, don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and go visual. Don’t use just any type of graphics, though. If you want to create viral content, go with infographics. Infographics are liked and shared three times more than other types of content on social media. That makes infographics a great way to expand the reach of your content on social media.
Create Social Ads
Social ads also play a vital role in expanding your content’s reach on social networks. It’s important to understand that you can’t just expect people to come to you on social networks. You have to go to them, as well. In fact, it is getting harder and harder for brands to reach their audiences without going out and getting them.
Take Facebook, for instance. More than 70 percent of the companies across 104 industries saw a decline of at least 30 percent in organic reach in 2014. You can make up for a decline in organic sales leads by running ads on the various networks.
Create a piece of valuable content that you think your target market will enjoy. Then, build an ad campaign that targets your market. Remember, with social media advertising, you can create laser targeted ads that stay within your designated budget. Do not serve your ads to a broad audience. Target them so you only show them to your intended market.
If you create a great piece of content, you can continue to serve the same ad over and over again. Just show it to new people. This is an excellent way to draw in new readers.
When you combine killer content with social media, you will be unstoppable. Your content will be a viral force that gets shared over and over again. Start with the content and then use these tips to dominate on social media.
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