We’ve all been there. You spend all this time writing and researching a blog post only to post it and hear crickets from your audience. There is no engagement, no audience response, nothing. Your first instinct is to sweep it under the rug and move on. Just because a piece of content underperforms it does not mean that it has failed. There are a multitude of reasons why your content had a less than stellar response and one of the following fixes may help you save it. you may be able to save it:
Find the Ideal Time to Post
Posting at the wrong time is one of the biggest reasons content is unsuccessful. Posting at odd times can thrust your content into the dead zone- where it will stay buried forever. Finding the right time to post is the first way to ensure your content is successful. But, ask any marketer when the best time to post is and you will get a different answer every time. This is because there is no universal time that is best to post content, it fluctuates depending on the audience. To find this information out requires a bit of research. If the primary method in which you share your content is on Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy. Both sites have features that allow you to view when your followers are most active during the week. Looking at the levels of engagement on your previous posts will help you to narrow down when your audience is most active and when your post has the highest chance of success.
Make Sharing Your Content a Breeze
The only way to generate maximum engagement with a piece of content is to make sharing it as easy as possible. Social sharing buttons that are bright, visible and located in prime locations are imperative. If your content is a blog post, consider placing emphasis on statistics and quotes that are compelling, and providing a share option. If your content is an infographic, including an HTML code that can be embedded so that others can use it not only further spreads the reach of your information, but it can also help with SEO ranking.
Consider Ads on Social Media
If you post to social media once a week, spending money on pay-per-click ads to reach a wider audience is not the best use of your resources. But if you post multiple times a week, it may be something to consider. PPC advertising can be an extremely effective method for improving the reach of your content, but if you are just starting out I would suggest starting small. Boosting a video or a premium content offer will make a bigger impact than boosting a blog post. If it is successful, then you can begin to boost more content. There are multiple ways curb your boosted post, imposing a budgetary or link-click limit to ensure that you don’t end up with a $5,000 bill.
Change the Medium in Which You Present Your Content
Most of the time when you think of the word “content” a blog post comes to mind. This doesn’t always have to be the case. If blog posts are not garnering the levels of engagement that you desire, try presenting your content in a different form. Presenting data? Turn it into a vibrant infographic to catch the attention of your followers. Have a series of related blog posts? Compile them into a guide, and add visual elements. This will work even better if the topic is something that resonates with your audience. If you have the ability and know-how to create videos, try repurposing some of your text-based content into a video. Video content is incredibly popular at the moment, and it can help to introduce your message to an entirely new audience.
Ask Your Audience Directly
If you have tried some of these tactics and had no success, consider going straight to the source: your audience. Ask them directly what topics appeal to them, or if they have any questions or problems that need to be solved. How-tos are one of the most popular blog formats for a reason. After you gain insight into their interests, research the other content forms that are out there to find out if another content form is more appealing than your current one. Your audience will appreciate the attempts to connect and they will feel like their voice is being heard.
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