If you are consistently looking for ways to up your social media marketing game, chances are you already know business blogging can enhance your social media efforts:
- You know the 80/20 Rule: social media experts say that 80% of your social posts should be non-promotional, while 20% can be promotional.
- You know creating custom blog content is one of the most effective ways to promote yourself.
- You know that sharing your blog posts on social media brings traffic back to your website, which pleases the Google bots.
Of course, knowing blogging is a good idea doesn’t mean you’re doing it regularly. You may be thinking: “Sure, blogging would be great for my business, but I hate writing and it’s so much easier to just share the same product landing page I’ve been sharing for months.”
Well, setting aside social media marketing for a moment, there are some very interesting facts out there about why small businesses should be blogging. For instance, companies with active blogs receive 97% more links to their websites. But regardless of these general facts, only you can decide whether blogging is worth your time. It all depends upon your marketing goals.
And anyway, my aim is not to convince you to start blogging, but to discuss some of the more indirect ways that blogging about your business can increase your social value, which you may not have realized. That’s what I’m here to talk about today. Let’s jump in!
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Blogging helps you figure out your business
You probably spend a significant amount of time thinking about your social media audience because knowing your audience is key to effective social media marketing. Equally important, though, is thinking about who you are and how you want to do business.
The more you write about your business, the more you think about your business and when you think about your business, you find clarity. Blogging is a great way to clarify your ideas or test out new ones that you’re considering.
Use the insights you gather as you write your blog to shape and guide what you post on social media. When you know yourself, your business, and your industry, there is no limit to your potential.
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Social Media Channels as Search Engines
Google and Bing are not the only place people go when searching for information these days. Many people use social media search engines to find content. When I discover a business, I’ll often search for their Facebook page before going to their actual URL.
So, how does this apply to blogging? Say, you post a link to your blog post on Twitter and your blog is optimized for keyword search. It’s entirely possible that people will stumble upon your company’s blog after doing a related content search on Twitter and then start following you when they discover your high-quality content.
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Blogging helps you create social media content
In addition to posting your blog post’s link on social media, there are numerous other ways to repurpose content from your blog posts and translate them into great social media content.
- Create infographics: Take key facts from several different posts and turn them into a visually captivating infographic (I like to use Canva to create infographics).
- Create a video: You can also expand on a bullet point from one of your blog posts to create a simple video. Use YouTube to convert your content into a mini-webinar or do a Facebook live video. Don’t forget to create and schedule social media posts to promote each of your new pieces of social media marketing.
- Do an Expert Roundup: Another easy idea for boosting social media is to write a blog post with an expert roundup featuring businesses whose work you appreciate. Let your experts know you have featured them in your blog and they will share with their audiences.
Bringing it all together: Best Practices
Now that we have considered how to incorporate blogging to boost your social media presence, let’s look at some best practices:
Write amazing content. Even if you are in a design-oriented business (Yay, Instagram and Snapchat!), creating valuable written content for a blog can be a huge boost. Actually, the fewer of your competitors who are blogging, the easier it will be for you to standout. Become the go-to content expert in your niche market and you will see traffic on social channels and your own website trending upward.
Find the right message. Social media is all about grabbing people with a great headline as they are scrolling along. This means you need to find the right message to sell your blog post.
Here are some different types of messaging to use to share your blog posts on your social media channels:
- Straight to the Point: Post Title + Link.
- The Question: Ask an intriguing question to engage readers.
- The Notable Quotable: Grab a smart quote from your article and share it as the message.
- Just the Facts: Share a surprising or convicting fact from your article.
- The Tease: Write a clever and intriguing message that will grab the attention of your audience.
Try out these different types of messages over the course of a few months and see which ones get the most engagement from your readers. This is also a great way to test alternate blog headlines.
Make your blog irresistibly sharable. Finally, make sharing your blog post as easy as possible. Remember that human beings are drawn to great visuals, so find some eye candy to go with your blog content. Also, make those social buttons show up loud and proud on every blog post you share.
Keep in mind that, as with any marketing strategy, it takes consistency over time to see great results. Consistency can be one of the toughest parts about blogging for business. Fortunately, I have a great solution for that: find a ghostwriter you trust.
Use a ghostwriter and get all the benefits above without having to do all the work yourself. Want to hear more about how I can help your business grow? Let’s talk!
