Marketing Your Blog Posts with Conversion in Mind

When it comes to business blogging, there is always a goal–otherwise known as a conversion.

The goal of your blog post will vary, but one constant is that in order to convert on your goal you need visitors to read your blog posts.  And not just any visitors–you need the “right” visitors.  That means that in addition to writing amazing blog posts that your readers will drool over, you also need to make sure readers get there in the first place–which usually starts with marketing.

So the question is how do you go about marketing your blog posts with a focus on conversion?  Today I am happy to share with you a few specific blog marketing tactics to get you started.

Getting Eyeballs

But before we dive in I would like to also share with you that in my humble opinion when considering marketing your blog posts there are a few big pieces to consider–not only getting eyeballs but the actions those eyeballs take.  In this post we are going to focus more on the “getting eyeballs” part but remember, if you are focused exclusively on driving traffic with no appreciation for what happens on your site, likely nothing will happen on your site (i.e., no conversions…)

The Top Three Tactics

So here goes–a list of blog marketing tactics to provide you with some deeper focus in terms of how you approach conversion:

  1. Positioning Each Post for Marketing Success. Positioning a post to succeed starts at the beginning (not your beginning… rather your readers’ beginning) – and for a potential reader the beginning of the post means the title of your post.  In a hyper-saturated world where we are all suffering from “too much,” we are getting really good at making quick decisions.  After all we have no choice.  Your readers are no different.  Without a really meaningful headline the likelihood of someone clicking through to read your post goes way down. Not to mention… in the world of accelerated communication a great headline can move very quickly in social media.
  2. Marketing to the Right Audience. Just as each post will have its own goal, it will also be attractive only to a segment of the entire universe.  So in a world of limited resources (time and money) it is important that, as you begin to market your blog posts, you are focused in your efforts and you take the time at the top to really consider who is most likely to convert. Then you’ll try to get your post in front of that person rather than try to score as many page views as possible.
  3. Social Media. If we are talking digital marketing, clearly at some point in the conversation social media is bound to come up.

Market Away!

In terms of marketing your blog posts with an eye towards conversion it is critical that you consider a few things

  • Find your audience—then seed your content in those social media environments. Simply sharing your post on your Facebook Page (by the way your Aunt Selma loves you but she really only want to see the pictures of your kids) is not enough.
  • Social media is for sharing. It is by definition very communicative.  Meaning–people talk. So when something is spectacular people really love to share it – this is where taking the time to craft really compelling posts can pay off big time. Doubling down on the idea of people sharing great posts, these shares are also considerably more likely to contribute to your conversion goals as these posts are now “socially endorsed” by someone inside a new potential reader’s own social circle. That new site visitor is clicking through to your blog post based on the recommendation of someone that they are interested in hearing recommendations from.
  • Headlines matter. We covered this already but it is worth re-examining. People like to share great headlines, and with most services (Twitter and LinkedIn leap to mind) the headline is either the entire message or takes up most of the message.
  • Craft great calls to action. You want people to do something.  Go ahead and spell it out.  At the conclusion of your post do not be afraid to come out and share your intentions.  If the goal of a particular post is to inspire dialogue, let the call to action be encouraging your readers to comment.  If the goal is to purchase, make sure that you are abundantly clear.  Whatever it may be, a strong call to action greatly increases the likelihood of an action of some kind.
  • Opting in is a great opportunity. Opt-in newsletter marketing provides an amazing opportunity for your blog to reconnect with individuals who have expressed interest in hearing from you.  Make the most of it! Nimble offers an integration with MailChimp, a top shelf newsletter provider. I happen to be a big fan of MailChimp, so much so that I feature their service through my own business and I’m listed in their “experts directory.”
  • Guest posting gains exposure. Depending on the space your business occupies, guest posting can provide you with some really targeted exposure. The basic idea is that you contact other websites and offer to write content for them.  In return you are afforded some kind of a link(s) back to your site.  Now this is where it starts to get interesting because instead of linking to your home page, you might want to take the opportunity to link to a specific blog post that in some way speaks to the audience you have just guest posted to–as these new visitors arrive on your site the likelihood that they will convert should be much higher. These new visitors are very targeted and they are also very interested in you, otherwise they would not have bothered to click through to your blog post to begin with.
  • Comment, but carefully. This one is always a tricky in large part because you are venturing into someone else’s garden so it is very important that you respect their space. Usually, as long as you are being relevant and in some way advancing either someone else’s blog post or even a conversation thread within a blog, you have not broken any unwritten blog commenting rule. Sharing a link to a specific post you’ve written can be a nice opportunity to for a post to see some new, and very relevant readers (again, back to that part about being relevant…)  If you are going to use this particular tactic it is usually better to comment earlier rather than later…
  • Step up your game. If you really want a particular blog post to convert, the bottom line is it needs to be really good. If you are intent on focusing your blog posts with an eye towards conversion, the single best way to make this happen is by writing really great posts.  Great posts will make your conversion goals infinitely more likely to happen.  Great posts will also make your marketing efforts considerably richer.  Think about it from your own perspective–are you likely to share an average post?  On the other hand, think about how much more likely you are to share a blog post that provides you with an amazing amount of value.
  • Take it to the real world. In the world of digital we too often lose sight of the fact that an in-person meeting is an amazing opportunity to market ourselves and for that matter a specific blog post. You are writing about things you are in some way passionate about, so the idea that you’d also be talking about these same things is actually pretty sensible.  Make the most of these opportunities. And certainly if you’ve written something really compelling, suggesting to someone you’ve met in person that they read a particular post is a wonderful marketing opportunity. Even better, tell them you’ll email a link to them!  The likelihood of that person converting would also seem to go way up as there are now two factors working for you–the amazing post you’ve written as well as the great impression you just made from your meeting.

Your Turn

Hopefully you’ll be able to take some of the above ideas and integrate them into your own efforts as you get ready to market your next blog post.

Happy converting. Happy marketing.  Most importantly, happy blogging!

About the Author: Through his company Gadarian Digital, David Gadarian works with businesses to help realize more value from their online marketing and communications efforts.  David has applied his skills across a wide array of businesses all with unique practice areas and his company is a listed Nimble Solutions Provider.  David’s just-released first book, Better Business Blogging, empowers businesses to produce a blogging framework focused on a mix of best practices and the development of your their path.

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