In order to launch home run blog posts time and time again, here’s a helpful guide that’ll help you improve your strategies before and after publishing your post so that your tech blog truly nails it with your target audience. Let’s start from the beginning.
BEFORE: Deep Blog Topic Research
Before you even start writing, you really need to identify a central theme (or niche) that you can become world class at. What specifically does your product accomplish? What do your tech prospects care about? Start by researching what your audience wants to consume. Survey colleagues, survey existing customers, and hold focus groups. It may feel more productive to be furiously producing 1,500 word blog posts rather than taking the time to plan out closely targeted blog posts; however, these insights act as a strong foundation, and once you have them in place, you’ll be able to grow at a faster rate. Once you understand what your customers and prospects are looking to solve, take a look at what your competitors are doing and see if you can use their highly shared content to your advantage.
Buzzsumo
You can list out your top five competitors and run their websites through Buzzsumo to see which content is generating the greatest social shares. Look for trends across type of content (i.e. list posts, press releases, etc.) and social media channels. Run your competitors one by one through Buzzsumo, visiting popular articles and looking for popular ideas to expand upon within your own post.
AFTER: Post-Launch Promotion
Social Media
Prior to launch day, write and schedule social media posts including all appropriate mentions (@'s). It’s also worth reviewing current trending hashtags to piggyback on. Then, post, follow up with any interactions, analyze the results, and then tweak or repeat as necessary!
Buzzsumo now offers the ability to research the backlinks content (simply click the ‘View backlinks’ or ‘View sharers’). If your content is built on top of content you’ve found within Buzzsumo, having the ability to download a list of everyone who’s shared the content or websites that have created backlinks provides you with a much warmer list of prospects. Make sure to reach out in a non-obtrusive manner. And, ask for a share only after they’ve highlighted their interest.
Email Marketing
Send out emails to current contacts in your list to drive more traffic to your blog post. Keep your subscribers updated and delighted with content that is both educational and entertaining. Breathe life back into published posts by taking the email spin on the content and reaching your audience in a different, yet still relevant way.
You really need to shift from focusing purely on writing to adopting an 80:20 rule to writing and promotion with 80% being on the latter. This will help your tech blog gain the traction it deserves. So, keep cranking out that great content, without feeling like it won't bring you any measurable returns.
Want more key tips on how to enhance your promotion efforts? Check out this ultimate guide to social media marketing!
