It is always a bit of dilemma when a client asks that we promote all new blog articles via social media on a daily basis. It’s not that I’m against promoting in this manner, but I am always concerned about balance. I don’t want to get too far into social media strategy, but I would like to discuss how the use of social media affects your blog when you choose these different strategies.
- Constant promotion – pushing the same article day after day in the same way is a tactic that some people use and it may be appropriate with some blogs. I am concerned about this strategy as it may cause people to tune out.
- Creative consistent promotion – theoretically, this is the same as ‘constant promotion’ as the same articles may be pushed on social media every day for a period of time. However, here you can get creative by introducing the articles in a different way. Attract people by mentioning a discussion happening in the comments, something related to it in the media, or anything interesting that’s different from your title/headline. This tactic is a bit more subtle and the variation may attract different people to your blog.
- Automated promotion – there are many ways to have new articles fed to your social media accounts. RSS feeds can post all new items to Twitter and continue to post them on a schedule with a set lead-in. Or, there is Networked Blogs for Facebook. You can determine the schedule you would like to post depending upon your comfort level. Some tactics are better received by readers than others. Networked Blogs for example, is heavily followed.
- New posting promotion – at the other end of the spectrum from daily posting is only choosing to promote new articles. When it’s posted, it’s promoted on social media manually or automatically and that’s where it ends.
- Reader promotion – you can also encourage your readers to promote your articles with social media buttons on your blog. You really know they liked what you posted when readers are sharing it and tying their name to it as well.
There’s no right or wrong – in my opinion it’s about doing what is well received by your readers and striking that balance. What have you found works well with social media to promote your blog?
