Internet-Cover

Well, I spent a lifetime looking for you
Facebook and good time tweets were never true
Playing a fool’s game, hoping to win
And boosting those same posts and losing again.

Creating great content on a regular basis is only half the battle in the inbound marketing war. The other half is promoting your content through the best available channels. Any business worth its salt is already promoting its content through social media channels, but at some point you’re going to hit a plateau in your usual haunts. What do you do then?

When you’ve squeezed all you can get out of those avenues, it’s time to look for new places to stir up some buzz. I’ve been doing this for a few of my clients and here’s what I’ve found.

 

Online Communities

For just about any product category or industry you’re in, there are almost definitely online communities based around it. For example, one of my clients is a food service company that is planning to launch a line of organic products this spring. After searching through various blogs and forums I stumbled upon a few communities that either allow or encourag content submission, including Organic Authority (a blog and forum dedicated to organic news and organic product reviews) as well as a few select sections of Reddit. From those spots, I was able to get the client’s content and news out to an audience that was already predisposed to the product line, and also unlikely to already be a follower of the client’s social media or website.

Take some time to search for those online communities for your industry, and try to tap that well for great prospects. If you’re already posting to social media, those online communities may not be too far away – there’s likely multiple Facebook groups or Google+ communities in which you can participate.

 

Content Aggregators/Curators

The term “aggregator” can mean a variety of things, from individually curated RSS feeds to multi-million dollar media outlets like Buzzfeed. Somewhere in between though are a wealth of sites and services on which you can plug your content. For example, Roundpeg submits some of our own content to StumbleUpon, a web discovery tool that suggests pages and content to users based on their interests. Another great site for businesses that puts out informative content is Learnist, a community-curated site specifically geared towards informative web content. Reddit deserves another mention in this capacity as it bridges the gap between online community and content aggregator.

Note that trying to generate buzz around your content this way can be time-consuming and ultimately fruitless depending on your business and capabilities, so it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

 

Influencers

Influencer marketing is a relatively new practice which has picked up a lot of steam. In essence, influencer marketing is forming a relationship with certain people (“influencers”) who become advocates for your brand or firm. An influencer can be one of many different types of people, and will be specific to your industry, target audience and location, among other things (Dr. Jim Barry has a great breakdown of what makes an influencer). What is a constant with these types of figures though is their position as leaders of opinion in their communities.

After you identify the type of influencers you want to work with, the next step is establishing that relationship. Like any relationship, you can’t just waltz up to them and ask them to plug you – you need to slowly build up trust and respect with them. Engage with their output on their website or social media, and show them that you can provide them with a mutually beneficial relationship by interacting with one another. From there, the seeds to a long lasting partnership can be sown.

 

So are you doing all you can to build buzz and awareness around your business? It’s by no means an easy process, and we’re here to help. Drop us a line, we’d love to talk about how we can help build your profile.