18 no-cost ways writers can effectively promote their content

We can all agree that promoting content is essential for ensuring that it effectively reaches the right audiences.

But in many cases, there are very limited financial and human resources available to support content promotion, whether you work for an organization or independently.

Writing for the Content Marketing Institute blog, Michele Linn shares 17 no-cost ways writers can promote their content effectively. Read the summarized tips below and the full article here.

Ideas using existing website traffic

1. Click to Tweet: Include this handy feature in your next article, which is a  snippet of text called out in your blog post that someone can easily click and tweet.

2. Include links to your best posts/articles within your new posts/articles

3. Add links to your best posts from older, high-traffic posts and pages

4. Include a popular-post widget on your website: This widget will make it easier for readers to browse your best posts.

5. Organize your posts by category and topic on your website

Editorial outreach

6. Share content promotion ideas with authors prior to publishing their posts: If you are an editorial manager, share tips and strategies with contributing authors a few days or a week before publishing. This will help them effectively prepare to promote their posts once they are published.

7. Share prepared promotional content with authors in advance: Building on tip 6, send an email to contributing authors about a week in advance with the publish dates, URLs, and pre-written tweets so that they can easily share and schedule their content in advance.

8. Celebrate your top contributors: “If you have contributors to your blog or other content, you can extend the reach by celebrating your top authors after their posts have been published,” says Linn. This can encourage readers and the authors themselves to further promote the content.

9. Reach out on social media: Share posts over several months on multiple social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Mention contributors by name with the @ symbol to increase post visibility.

10. Email signature: Include links to relevant content in your email signature.

11. Ask team members to promote the content: Reach out to individual team members with specific asks and guidance.

Republish content

12. Republish your best posts: Include updates where necessary.

13. Publish your print articles online

14. Share your best content with your team to see if there are additional opportunities for promotion

Content and social media

15. Curate: Schedule relevant and targeted content through a well-developed/maintained social media content calendar.

16. Create: Repurpose your content through original social media posts, visuals and other social media content that links to the original source.

17. Leverage: Share content from social media influencers to get on their radar. Build relationships with these influencers so that when you need them to promote your work they will be more willing to do so.

18. Discover: “Discover what the media is up to,” says Linn. She adds:

“You can follow trending news and industry topics to see how your content may be a fit.

Also, just as you can with influencers, you can form a relationship with reporters via social media. Be on top of what’s happening with them and let them know you’re listening. When you know what they’re talking about, they’ll remember that the next time you call them with a pitch.”