Marketing your blog is one of the most important parts of running a successful blog. There are two reasons you want to run a blog: One; You want to earn or increase your income, Two; You want to express yourself. In both of these cases, you want people to read what you write. That means you have to market your blog.
If you don’t market your blog, how will your ideal reader know of its existence? The answer is simple: They won’t. Marketing can take your blog post from an obscure narrative on the far corners of the internet to viral blog posts that are read and pinned by thousands.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at the most popular social media marketing platforms and how they can help grow your blog. We will also look at email lists and subscribers, which are equally as important to marketing your blog. I will explain how you can use those powerful resources to drive traffic to your blog.
*This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.
Why is Marketing Your Blog Important?
I’m going to throw a couple of statistics at you, so don’t fall asleep on me, okay? I only include these boring facts because I want you to fully understand the importance of marketing your blog.
According to Statista.com, there are 30 million US bloggers on the internet today. Statista projects that by the year 2020 that there will be 31.7 million bloggers.
What does that mean for your blog? With the astounding number of bloggers out there, you are just a speck in the blogosphere. To get noticed, you must market your blog and blog posts effectively.
Your Blog is a Business – Treat it Like One!
You may not realize it, but if you are blogging for profit, you are operating a business. Therefore, you need to think of it as a business and market it like one. The good news is that there are many free resources to help you with marketing your blog.
You are likely familiar with some of these tools and resources already. However, you may not realize the potential power each of these tools has to offer. Social media and email are powerful and practical resources that can generate traffic and sales beyond your wildest expectations.
Marketing Your Blog on Social Media
This is a very important part of marketing your blog. The truth is that although you use SEO to optimize your website for search engines, such as Google, most of your early web traffic and followers will come from social media. This is especially true for new blogs.
Obstacle.co has a really useful article on the topic with a section specifically on what to do once you publish your new post. It’s not surprising that social media marketing is at the top of this short list.
If you need a checklist to help you remember all of your marketing steps, my FREE Blog Post Checklists includes checklists that help you remember everything, from planning to marketing. The final checklist in the group is for marketing your post, so you will find this printable valuable for marketing your blog.
To get your copy, please enter your email address below and you will receive the download.
The following are the social media platforms that are critical for all bloggers who wish to succeed in the blogging world.
Pinterest is a search engine that features a social component. Some people will argue that it is a search engine. For the sake this post, I’m going to lump it under social media, since it is similar marketing-wise. Just keep in mind that there will be differences.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account for your business, get one now. It is a powerhouse for bloggers. A new blogger can gain a following fast by optimizing their boards and sharing their posts to group boards.
Keep in mind that the majority of Pinterest users are female millennials and about half of them are parents. This audience spends more money online and is a very powerful demographic. They also tend to be more visual, so be certain to create graphics that are eye-catching and informative.
If you would like to learn more about creating eye-catching graphics, check out my post, How to Create Blog Graphics that Will Catch the Eye and Increase Pageviews.
Your Pinterest Profile
When you sign up for Pinterest, it is important to let potential readers know who you are and what you are all about. Keep keywords for your niche and topics in mind when you write your profile. You only have 160 characters, so this is easier said than done.
This description will help Pinterest locate your profile when users search for pinners with the keywords you specify. That is why keywords are so important. Use them wisely.
Your Boards
Boards are the categories within your Pinterest profile that organize your content. When you create a board, you want to include keywords and other important information in the title and description of your boards. This helps your readers and followers find the pins they are most interested in quickly.
Give your boards names that are common and easy to find in searches. For instance, you should use “Making Money” instead of “Makin’ Bacon” because your ideal reader would want to know about making more money.
Giving it a title like “Makin’ Bacon” is cute and okay for your personal account. However, from a marketing stand point, it’s a bad decision because your board would be more likely to appear in search results for bacon than money.
Group Boards
The most valuable part of Pinterest for bloggers are group boards. These boards allow bloggers to support one another and share relevant content. This allows you to pin your blog posts to large boards with thousands of followers, all of whom could potentially click on your pin and save it to their boards.
Group boards with high repin rates are the best boards to join. In order to search for boards that you may join, search for your niche with “group” or “group board” behind the niche. To join a board, follow the instructions in the board description.
Another method to find group boards is to check out popular bloggers in your niche and try to join the same relevant boards they use. The only problem I have found with this method is that these boards may have high engagement or pageview requirements or may not be open to contributors.
Facebook is one of the oldest and most successful social media platforms out there. It continues to grow from year-to-year and also has the most users in every age group. This makes it another excellent marketing tool for bloggers.
It is a great way for a blogger to reach a very diverse audience. Men and women of all races and most nationalities use this platform daily. This broad audience makes it a great way for you to begin marketing your blog, regardless of your niche or target audience.
Profile
Your personal profile should reflect that you are a blogger and specify your niche. This will help readers, bloggers, and clients find you quickly. Keep in mind that you do not necessarily have to have a public profile. You can keep a private profile and simply use a public page to promote your blog.
This allows a certain amount of privacy that other platforms don’t offer. Also, keep in mind that people who read blogs tend to want to know more about your personal life. You need to be willing to share a portion of your life with them to earn their trust.
Pages
You can create a page for yourself and each blog that you operate. This is a great way to keep a distinction between various blogs and businesses you operate and your personal profile. You can promote your page by asking friends and family to share it and even offer freebies or contests to promote sharing.
If you sell products, this is a great way to spread awareness of your blog and advertise your products and services.
Groups
Facebook Groups are another amazing resource you can use to get a lot of shares quickly and easily. You have to submit a request a to a group board and once approved by the admin, read the rules carelfully ! I keep a spreadsheet of each group I belong to and what the rules are so that I can share my posts without violating the board rules.
This helps me to stay compliant and get the most out of these groups. Just remember to return the favor and share other bloggers’ posts. Be polite, don’t criticize, and improve your reputation by participating in the group.
Instagram is a very visual platform that offers photo filters and video options . Your pictures are the headlines, but you can use this platform to tell your story, adding a personal touch. It is quickly becoming an excellent marketing tool for bloggers whose audience is composed primarily of millennials.
Profile
When you post to Instagram, use hashtags and keywords in the text portion of your post. This will help your audience find your posts and leads to more follows.
Twitter is another mature social media platform used primarily by millennials. It is not as powerful for bloggers as Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram, but it has its place. People who follow you can quickly retweet your posts. It is also a fast way of marketing your blog thanks to the character limits on each tweet and social media publishing sites, like Hootsuite.
Profile
Optimize your profile and remember to use hashtags in your profile and tweets for better search results. Use keywords in your description and use a maximum of two hashtags on each tweet in order to not appear too promotional.
If you are offering a service, LinkedIn, is a must-have social media platform. It is not beneficial for every single blogger, but if you are “for hire” for anything, it is a goldmine. Most of the people on this platform are professionals working your basic 9-to-5. Optimize your profile for searches and share your blog posts on LinkedIn.
Email Marketing
A powerful tool for marketing your blog is email marketing. If you are not using this tool, you need to start ASAP. Personally, I use MailerLite for my email service, and I couldn’t be happier.
Prior to MailerLite I was using MailChimp and it worked for me, for a while. That was until I wanted to use automation. Even though my email list was very small, the service wanted to charge me for every email I automated.
For me, that meant that when I created a free email course, it would cost me money every single email that was sent to my new subscriber. MailerLite offers the same great service as many of the other email services, but automation is included for free on smaller accounts.
UPDATE: MailChimp now offers automation, but is still very limited when compared to MailerLite. You can read this post for more details.
This is great for new bloggers who want to increase their email list without spending a fortune to get started. Once you have over 1,000 subscribers, you can upgrade to a very affordable plan. By that time, you should be earning enough income from your blog to support their reasonable prices.
Why You Need an Email List
Your blog needs an email list of subscribers so that you can start marketing your blog to your existing fan base! When you promote your blog on social media, the reader may have never heard of you. Your email subscribers are already your fans! They WANT to hear from you and read to what you have written.
These people are your followers, so you don’t need to earn their loyalty like you do with a new reader. You simply need to value this loyalty and provide them with a good reason to keep reading.
Exclusive content, updates, free downloads, personal insights into the blogger’s life, or a behind-the-scenes look at the writing process are great things to share with existing followers. When marketing your blog, you have to plan a little something extra for loyal fans to provide an incentive to keep coming back for more.
How to Build an Email List
Include a form, or several, on your website. I have one that pops up when you visit my website, another at the end of each post, and one in my home menu. Multiple forms give your readers fast ways to sign up for emails without having to search high-and-low.
If signing up isn’t convenient, most readers won’t go to the trouble of searching for a signup form. Make it easy for them.
Utilize Lead Magnets
I will go into more details about lead magnets in a future post. For now, I will keep it brief. You can create and provide your readers with free downloads and resources in exchange for their email address. These freebies are known as lead magnets.
Lead magnets include a wide array of freebies. The most important part of the lead magnet is to make sure that these downloads offer your readers value. Freebies can include checklists, calendars, cheat sheets, e-books, email courses, and printables.
Send the Post to Bloggers You Cite
If you link to another blogger’s work in a blog post, cite them as a source via a hyperlink, or reference them in anyway, send a link of your post to them via their website or social media. This way, the blogger can read the post and share it with his or her audience, if they enjoy it.
This will also help you to build a relationship between yourself and other bloggers. Networking and building relationships with others in your field is a great way to find support and build your reputation. An added bonus is that this can also lead to guest posts. Guest posts will gain exposure (traffic) for your blog and you may also be paid opportunities.
Comment on Other Bloggers’ Blog Posts
A way to gain exposure for your website is to post comments on other bloggers’ blog posts. This boosts their blog’s SEO and you can reference your own blog, which helps you. Make sure that you read the posts and make valid, supportive comments.
Don’t shamelessly promote your blog on another blogger’s website! This is a networking opportunity. You’re out there to make acquaintances and improve your reputation. When you use another person’s blog as a promotional opportunity for yourself, it is tacky, rude, and inconsiderate. If in doubt, don’t promote your own blog in comments.
Reply to Comments on Your Own Blog Posts
Whenever possible, read the comments on your posts and reply back to the readers’ responses. Readers may comment about anything. If they need additional information, be helpful and provide them with sources or other pages in your blog. If they complement you, say thank you.
Polite and courteous communications on your blog make other people want to interact with you. It also provides you with an opportunity to build a reputation within the blogging community.
Do You Have Other Suggestions?
What works for you? If you are a blogger and have other suggestions not listed in this post, please share that information in the comments! We can all learn from other blogger’s experiences and would appreciate any additional suggestions.
If you would like to stay on top of posts on jackieison.com, including the next post in this series, which will focus on SEO, signup for the email list below! In addition to updates, you will receive exclusive content, tips, tricks, and links to new freebies as they become available.
Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful week!
As I website possessor I think the written content here is rattling fantastic, thankyou for your efforts.
You are very welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Whats Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & help other customers like its helped me. Good job.
Thank you! I’m so glad that you found this helpful!