5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is
Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product itself, you need to come up with a plan for spreading that content. As much as want to believe that a good blog post or product “sells itself”, that’s very often not the case. Someone has to get the ball rolling, the buzz buzzing — and that typically means creating some type of content promotion strategy.
Here are the five methods I most often use to make sure that my content is getting in front of the right people.
For the past few months, Twitter has been one of the most effective ways for many businesses to drive traffic and exposure to their content. It’s also really easy. You use the network you’ve already created on Twitter and then time tweets to come out during the periods of the day when you know your audience will be on Twitter (typically when they’re supposed to be working). By using combining a strong call to action with a little bit of snark, you can even help increase the effectiveness of your tweets. You also want to make sure that you leave enough room so that someone can retweet your message without having to edit it and to include the twitter handles of the people or companies mentioned in your post. If someone sees you’re talking about them, you increase the chances that they’ll help promote the piece for you.
Other Social Media Outlets
Depending on who your audience is there may be other social media outlets that are just as, if not more, effective for you than Twitter. For example, if you sell products or produce content geared toward women, you may want to spread it via Kirtsy. If you’re in the financial sector, Tip’d will be your social network of choice. If it’s business related or you have a new product you want feedback on, LinkedIn may be a viable alternative. And of course, some people just use their Facebook status message or notes to push content to their network that way. Find where your fish are, and throw the line in accordingly.
Guest posting
Part of your content promotion strategy should be finding ways to build buzz before you need it. If you know you’re going to be producing a killer blog post, that you’ll be starting a new blog or launching a new product, you need to be working the pavement the weeks prior to help get people excited about what you’re going to bring to the table. One of the best ways to do that is to guest blog on other authoritative blogs in your niche. Reach out to other blogs, let them know you have something awesome cooking, and offer to write a guest post for them. The post may be about whatever it is you’re launching or it could be about something different but tied to that blog’s audience. The point is to get people seeing your name and put you in your top of mind for later. Build buzz early.
Newsletter
You know that email newsletter you send out religiously? Start really using it! Include a section to help customers find you on the various social media sites and start using it to feature your content. Reprint articles in full, use it to tease and build buzz for what’s coming in the weeks ahead on your site, put links to the week’s top blog posts, etc. Most of the newsletters and emailings I receive from small business owners do little to grab my interest. Start rewriting them to help you promote your content, new offerings, etc, so that you’re left better able to meet your goals.
Form partnerships
It takes a village to raise a child and it takes an even bigger village to help content go viral. Form partnerships with others in your niche or town and make arrangements to help one another out when it makes sense. By forming your own little promotional army, you not only remove the strain of having to do everything yourself, but you also lend credibility to what you’re trying to promote. You can tell me how your product is. That’s great. I believe it more when someone else tells me. These types of strategic partnerships can be very effective when leverage correctly.
Whatever type of content strategy you decide to use, make sure you make it easy for people to share your content and distribute it for you. The more obstacles you put in their way, the less likely it will be that your content gains traction.
If you need an example of how to add a “little bit of snark” to your tweets, just visit her own Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/lisabarone. She’s pretty much the master of snarky comments.
Ha, thanks, Robert.
Nice ideas. Twitter can get you a lot of good exposure. I’m glad you pointed us to Kirtsy, it’s a site I’ve never heard of. I’ve spent a few minutes checking it out and have found some cool stuff on it. I’ll also be submitting some of my own content there now.
[...] 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends smallbiztrends.com/2009/09/spread-content.html – view page – cached Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product itself, you need to come up with a plan for spreading that content. As much as want to — From the page [...]
[...] 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – Content Promotion Strategy [...]
Hi Lisa,
Great post – One thing I would like to add is that when you are using any form of social media what you do not want to do it bombard your followers on twitter / contacts on linked in / friends on facebook with self-promotion. The purpose of social media is to create relationships and get people interested in you and to have the personal desire to see your content. If you are constantly telling people to go to your blog or your website it can annoy them and turn them away and result in lost opportunities. Just my two-cents!
Nicole
Good stuff, Lisa. We need a content planning application to help us.. Wait, that’s LotusJump. http://www.lotusjump.com
I agree with Robert and you need to pen a new whitepaper on the appropriate uses of Snark. It is a rather rare substance and one which should be applied liberally to most tweets so as to make them more memorable.
On a semi-related note, have you done any woofing alongside your tweeting? http://woofertime.com/
Social media is a great way to spread content, most social media sites are free but it is important not to always try to sell your friends on these social networking sites your product because then your credibility can be shot with potential consumers. Remember to create relationships with these people just as you would any other type of friendship and recommend a product or service to someone as you would a friend not just spam them with information about your product. Thanks for the tips!
[...] Click here to read more… [...]
Great stuff!
Twitter is definitely one of the best ways to gain exposure, and highly recommended to spread your content on a daily basis
If you are not using Twitter or Social Media marketing, you are missing the boat!
I am not a proponent of twitter aside from monitoring it to ensure your not having bad PR spread by wildfire. There is a simple reason for this. Clutter. I am following only 13 tweeters right now. In 6 hours yesterday there was 67 tweets. 45 new ones since 6pm EST yesterday. No imagine I am following 50 or 100 tweeters? How can you get the word out via twitter when no one will see the tweet? It will be buried. On top of this ‘problem’ people pretty much rank tweets. Friends and Family are number 1. Celebs and Causes and News 2. And Brands a lowly 3. So many Brands think more volume will help but that just compounds things and pisses people off.
It is a neat platform and yes it is free but it is also a lost cause to get your message through.
The best use of social media is to have people spreading the word somehow to their friends vs trying to promote a brand directly using the medium.
Great post,
I plan to forward this post to a number of my clients as they know they must start using the tool of social media, however they struggle with where to start and how.
I share how insight without action is a waste of time and money in my blog post: http://nosmokeandmirrors.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/12-mentor-moments-to-help-leaders-grow-their-businesses-profitably/ it’s number 9.
Thanks again!
Mark Allen Roberts
Lisa, you continue to provide excellent reads. Very helpful.
That’s extremely helpful and informative, Guy. I have been a newspaper journalist for 29 years (London and South Africa) and have finally found a beautiful, comfortable home for my somewhat satirical style of writing. A blog. One of millions. I built up the Fred Hatman (or Red Hat Man) brand while in newspapers and have a small and loyal following. I’ve had an excellent response to the fredhatman.co.za blog (slogan: “Diagnosed SA-positive)and with fever building in South Africa ahead of the World Cup 2010 soccer finals, I’m well set to soar. I’m linking to my posts on Twitter and Facebook but I’m not getting the big response I hoped for. I read on your site about your recommendation that repeat tweeting will work to raise awareness but a fellow Twitterer warned that people may block me as I was being too assertive on Twitter. I’m really not sure how to play the marketing game on social networks and something, a clever something, might just get my blog brand going viral. I’m just not sure what it is. I have huge passion for my writing and confidence that my expertise and content selection will enable me to become very popular in order to get the sponsorship and advertising I so need but I am searching for that unique and extraordinary something that will engage people to the extent that they share, share and share my content… I’m scrambling quite quickly up what I call my “learning cliff” of digital media and enjoying the challenge… but need a big boost. Do you please have any wisdom to impart which might help me right now? Perhaps my “case study” provides you with the material to write another educational gem that will help the other bloggers who share my predicament? I appreciate that you have huge expertise in this field and I would be hugely grateful if you could help! It’s asking a lot but, yep, if you don’t ask, you won’t get! Warmest wishes from South Africa, Fred.
Oops! I thought I was reading Guy Kawasaki and just addressed this to him! Sorry, now redirecting to Lisa
That’s extremely helpful and informative, Lisa. I have been a newspaper journalist for 29 years (London and South Africa) and have finally found a beautiful, comfortable home for my somewhat satirical style of writing. A blog. One of millions. I built up the Fred Hatman (or Red Hat Man) brand while in newspapers and have a small and loyal following. I’ve had an excellent response to the fredhatman.co.za blog (slogan: “Diagnosed SA-positive)and with fever building in South Africa ahead of World Cup 2010 soccer finals, I’m well set to soar. I’m linking to my posts on Twitter and Facebook but I’m not getting the big response I hoped for. I read on Guy Kawasaki’s site about his recommendation that repeat tweeting will work to raise awareness but a fellow Twitterer warned that people may block me as I was being too assertive on Twitter. I’m really not sure how to play the marketing game on social networks and something, a clever something, might just get my blog brand going viral. I’m just not sure what it is. I have huge passion for my writing and confidence that my expertise and content selection will enable me to become very popular in order to get the sponsorship and advertising but I need that something special that will engage people to the extent that they share, share and share… I’m scrambling quite quickly up what I call my “learning cliff” of digital media and enjoying the challenge… but need a big boost. Do you please have any wisdom to impart which might help me right now? Perhaps my “case study” might provide you with the material to write another educational gem that will help the other bloggers who share my predicament? I appreciate that you have significant expertise in this field and I would be hugely grateful if you could help! It’s asking a lot but, yep, if you don’t ask, you won’t get! Warmest wishes from South Africa, Fred.
TJ: I look forward to a cat version of Twitter instead of the barking outloud “woofertime”… Cats only need 4 characters: Mjau
[...] Here are the five methods I most often use to make sure that my content is getting in front of the right people. via smallbiztrends.com [...]
[...] much as they can? Below are some ideas on where to go in order to achieve this that I read about on Small Business Trends: For the past few months, Twitter has been one of the most effective ways for many businesses to [...]
Awesome sites I haven’t been to that I know will enhance my spread of content. Thanks so much!
[...] you need to call on those buzz-building groups you’ve hopefully established earlier to help you spread your content. Reach out to your contacts on Twitter and get them sharing your news, start talking to people on [...]
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://tinyurl.com/nq2lhe
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://tinyurl.com/nq2lhe
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or y.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
#smb #trends
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Good advice here from @LisaBarone: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/11LN01
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
My @smallbiztrends post for today: 5 ways to spread content http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://tinyurl.com/nq2lhe
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
ADVICE: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Ishttp://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” by @LisaBarone http://bit.ly/19YW0P #smallbiz #twitter
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” by @LisaBarone http://bit.ly/19YW0P #smallbiz #twitter ^SW
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Reading 5 Ways to Spread Content (great tips for small, local business): http://bit.ly/1wEmg6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://ow.ly/oFkh
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways 2 spread yr content http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/100nZ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Business Software: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
APPCRAFT
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/100G5
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” by @LisaBarone #smallbiz http://bit.ly/DhnCJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://tinyurl.com/nq2lhe
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10Hgi
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://ow.ly/oECL
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways to spread content, whatever it is http://bit.ly/17HYyl How to generate buzz #marketing
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is
http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Great #smallbiz article from @smallbiztrends 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10gFc
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product its… http://ow.ly/15OmCV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is. http://twurl.nl/021zj6 #smb #socialmedia #socialweb
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Reading @smallbiztrends: 5 Ways to Spread Content, Whatever It Is (by @LisaBarone) http://bit.ly/2b0jMg
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/jdYW2
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://bit.ly/4imH1y
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: Whether it’s a blog post, a funny video on your site or your product i.. http://bit.ly/9Be6o
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Five Ways to Spread Content…whatever it is! http://ow.ly/oGbk #fb
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10ZXd
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral (Small Business Trends): http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral (Small Business Trends): http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Viral marketing for business…sound scary? This short article gives 5 tips for using it. http://shar.es/10E3z
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10ExL
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Content http://budurl.com/vuza
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10Ii7
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/75MZt
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://ow.ly/oNVC
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Reading: “5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” ( http://bit.ly/2k8l5d )
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Content, Whatever is (Small Business Trends) http://bit.ly/aE7py
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
how to go viral http://bit.ly/swZlN
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/109Xg
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
From SmallBizTrends, 5 ways to spread content (nothing earthshattering, but nicely written): http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral (via SmallBizTrends.com): http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://bit.ly/vysTz
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://bit.ly/26WHWA
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“How to” on going viral – http://ow.ly/oOSX
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How do you get the word out? 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is. http://ow.ly/oNzO
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral http://ow.ly/oP0P
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is: http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://ow.ly/oPti
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/269BOS
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral – a few basic steps
http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is ( http://bit.ly/2k8l5d )
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://bit.ly/26WHWA
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Go viral: http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How To Go Viral – 5 Ways To Spread Content | SmallBizTrends | http://ow.ly/oQAY
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/10MZ4
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/26WHWA
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://ping.fm/FYp7F #marketing #socialmedia #entrepreneur #sales
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is, from Small Biz Trends: http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is (http://ping.fm/BSrL0)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral: http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways to make your content go viral http://ow.ly/oNA6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“How to Go Viral” – You’ve got to love headlines like that http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is, How to Go VIRAL, http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways for a Small Business to go viral: timing is key!: http://ow.ly/oOSX
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
“5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” http://bit.ly/16HZF5 Ways to go viral
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/1XcRr
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/iRkju
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Get busy. Go viral. Learn how here: http://bit.ly/FUvZY
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/1XRGx
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://ow.ly/oYf8 #socialmedia #twitter #facebook
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Are you a small biz and want to go social? Here are some easy ways to do it http://bit.ly/5ldk2 #socialmedia
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/t4HVk [article]
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways to spread content to help your business http://bit.ly/XykaE
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go Viral: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is! http://ow.ly/p5HH
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/16HZF5 That is – after you found content
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Content: twitter, other SM, guest posting, newsletters & partnerships http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
http://tinyurl.com/kk857b
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways to spread content virally for SMBs http://bit.ly/3Aehal
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 ways to spread content virally for SMBs http://bit.ly/3Aehal
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://ow.ly/pfdv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
It takes partners – to make content viral – http://ow.ly/pfdv – RT @KristenJacoway
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Build a mutual-promotion society – to make content viral – http://ow.ly/pfdv – RT @KristenJacoway
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
@InterviewAngel Thx for sharing. Good tips. http://ow.ly/pfdv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways to Spread Your Message Across the Web!! I could learn a thing or two about this myself! http://tinyurl.com/nq2lhe
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Reading Lisa Barone’s Post: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is http://bit.ly/dKn51
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is | Small Business Trends http://ow.ly/pro6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://shar.es/1WbU3
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Short and sweet! RT @ginidietrich: Five ways to spread your content http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to go viral. Some great tips on making sure your content is getting in front of the right people. http://bit.ly/DhePT
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Awesome article! Thanks @ginidietrich for sharing! (: xo http://bit.ly/t4HVk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How To Go Viral: 5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is – http://ow.ly/p5Ia
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5 Great Ways to spread content http://bit.ly/16HZF5
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Looking for the right audience for your content, then check out the “5 Ways To Spread Content, Whatever It Is” – http://ow.ly/rwyv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter