We already know that social media is a powerful marketing tool. The opportunities to reach a massive audience make the major platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube, practically impossible to resist. They are also comparatively cheap when compared to other advertising options, especially when one considers the potential reach.
1. Use Facebook Ads
Facebook has one of the best and most comprehensive ad networks anywhere on the Internet. You won’t find a better tool for targeting traffic anywhere. Facebook ads serve two purposes in content discovery. First, they provide you with a precise audience based on your own specifications. Then, they allow you to quickly and cheaply test out multiple demographics at one time to narrow down where your content is going to get the best engagement.
Once you’ve identified your ideal target audience, you can market similar content over and over again without the initial expense of split testing. You can zero in on any engagement criteria (page visits, likes, shares, conversions, etc.) and determine which audience is going to help you best achieve your marketing goals. You will need to put a retargeting pixel on your site or landing page to monitor some metrics, but that’s easy to set up.
2. Solicit Likes for Your Facebook Pages
If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your website or business, go create one now. I’m serious. Do it right now and come back.
All set? Great! You just did a huge favor for your business and have potentially launched your Content Discovery efforts into the upper stratosphere.
Facebook has a neat feature that allows you to invite people who like your posts to also like your pages. It requires a browser plugin, but once you have it installed, it couldn’t be easier to use and it can instantly expand your audience and put limitless pieces of content in front of huge numbers of people without paying a cent.
Now, this does work in conjunction with Facebook ads, so it’s not entirely free, but this level of the engagement process is, and you have the added benefit of getting all the content you will ever produce going forward getting in front of a good percentage of your likes without it impacting what you’re spending on ads. To put it into perspective, if you get 10,000 people to like your page and your reach with your next ad campaign is 12,000, as long as you’re updating your Facebook page with the same content you’re advertising, your potential reach is actually 22,000.
3. Link to Pinterest, Instagram, or Tumblr, Then to Your Site
If your content has a strong visual element, it is ideal for marketing via the three above networks. The possibility of your content being shared increases exponentially on these networks if you have a solid visual media strategy in place to compliment written content.
Now I will caution you: This will only work if your website content writing is up to snuff and if it aligns well with your visuals. In any advertising effort, though, it’s what people see that will motivate them to dig deeper. They respond to visuals and use them to decide if they’re going to read copy. Tell a great story with your visuals, and shares and re-pins will translate into more organic traffic to your content.
4. Use Video Content Within Your Articles
Following on the heels of using visuals, video can be a great way to position your brand as an expert in whatever niche it serves. Embed videos in your blog or website that reinforce your brand message and contain relevant and useful content for your page visitors.
YouTube in particular males this very easy, and it also makes monetizing your video content easy. You can make money through ads and by sending site traffic to presell or landing pages. Line up your copy with the information in your videos, and you will find that the extra dimension of credibility will lead to more click-throughs and conversions.
5. Make Effective Use of Your Tweets
This is less direct than other methods, but it weaves well into your Content Discovery strategy when promoted properly. First, make sure that you have all relevant social media buttons on every page of your site. Next, include a call to action to like your page on Facebook and follow you on Twitter.
As you develop a following on Twitter, you can easily market your content without ever buying into its paid ad network. That’s a relatively new development with Twitter anyway, and it may not be terribly effective. You can make good use of your tweets by doing three things:
• Limit your tweets to 100 characters so others can retweet and apply #hashtags and @notifications
• Use images that align with the content you’re promoting
• Link directly to your site content and encourage retweeting
Once you have all those ducks in a row, you are well on your way to creating a powerful Content Discovery machine that is fueled by the enthusiasm you create for your site or brand. Make good use of the tools in your social media box, and you will find that you’re reaching more people and spending less on advertising… and, really, who doesn’t want to spend less and earn more?