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Try these 17 creative marketing ideas to boost your blog content marketing strategy
If you are new to blogging (or even been here awhile), you probably know that you need to be marketing your website, content, and products for them to be seen.
But, how do you know which way you should be doing all of this marketing? Which marketing tactic works better than the others?
Out of the hundreds of thousands of millions of ways to market your blog, I have created this list of 17 of my favorite content-marketing ideas for you to use to skyrocket your business.
Do you actually need to market your blog?
In the grand idea of the internet world, I’m sure your blog would eventually be seen without any marketing plan.
But, if you could implement just a few marketing strategies to help your blog post get noticed faster, would you?
By using a mix of these tools, you don’t have to wait years for Google to decide that one of your blog posts is enough to show a reader.
Instead, you can create your own loyal audience, with actively engaged readers and users, while allowing Google to give you top authority.
The great news is, you don’t have to be a professional marketer or have a marketing team to drive traffic to your site to have a competitive advantage. With some strategic planning and by using a marketing mix with just some of these 17 techniques you can reach your target audience quicker.
17 Smart Marketing Ideas for Bloggers
1. Work on SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the absolute best digital marketing strategy to grow your blog and create lead generation, especially for a small business owner.
By implementing SEO tools like keyword searches, your blog will have a higher chance of being shown in Google results.
This way, instead of having to constantly promote your website and articles, you can gain organic traffic through a primary search engine.
2. Grow Your Email list
Since social media can be gone in the blink of an eye, it is vital that you create (and grow) your very own email list.
By doing this, you will have your very own community of people who just want to hear what you have to say.
Email marketing is an amazing way to connect with audiences and grow them from potential customer to raving fan by providing more value to them in an intimate space.
Also, you own your subscriber list. (Trust me, this is IMPORTANT!) So, if Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok vanish and your social media marketing strategy can no longer be in play, your following will still be connected to you.
3. Use multiple digital marketing tactics
I always recommend using SEO from the moment you start your blog, but it is still a good idea to implement 1-2 more platforms with a variety of types of content. (What could it hurt, right?)
Social media marketing can help you propel your website traffic and finding new platforms to increase your reach can bring you amazing results. You can repurpose any piece of content- turn posts in blogs, blogs into videos, videos content into podcasts, tweets on Twitter etc.
Regardless of what platforms you choose to use, master one. Focus on it and don’t overwhelm yourself with more than needed.
4. Relationship Marketing
Who likes to follow or read things where the producer completely ignores them? No one. Great content can only take you so far in your journey of brand awareness.
Therefore, you need to be engaging with your ideal customer.
When people come to your social media channels or website(s) and comment, they want to be seen and heard. You need to connect with them for them to see the value in your product or service.
It’s important to prioritize engaging with your audience, and especially your ideal audience, if you want to maximize your marketing efforts and ROI (return on investment).
5. Work with guests
What better way to get noticed than working with guests?
You can have guest bloggers, interviews, social media takeovers, and so much more. This works particularly well for b2b businesses as a marketing strategy.
Either way, you will be able to be seen by their audience, because they will most likely promote their collaboration with you.
Although it can seem scary to reach out to a stranger with a “work with me” request, it could help skyrocket your business.
6. Be a guest
Just like working with guests, being a guest can significantly amplify your exposure.
To become a guest, target who your ideal audience follows and trusts.
Then, reach out to them and ask if they would be willing to allow you to guest post on their blog or be interviewed about a particular skill you have, that could benefit their audience.
Remember, if the first person says no, it’s okay to ask them if they might like to work together in the future. You never know what might happen!
7. Press Releases as a Business Owner
Press releases allow you to market in a similar way to guest posting and are a fantastic b2b marketing strategy.
Instead of having to reach out to individuals, you can reach out to companies that will interview you.
This way, you will have an established brand and business supporting you, while showing you off to their audience. It is also a great way to gather some social proof to share on your website or on a social media platform to help you appeal to a new customer base.
8. Paid Media
If you have some large marketing goals and have a bit of a budget for your business, I definitely recommend looking into paid ads.
In today’s marketing, most social outlets, including Google, are highly prioritizing paid ads.
That means that your stuff is going to have a harder time being seen, if you don’t have some paid ads going around as part of your marketing effort.
Ads can be placed on a variety of different spaces including Facebook, Pinterest, and Google and are great for lead-generation and to get new audiences into your funnel.
Since this can get a bit pricey, I only recommend investing in paid ads once you have a fair amount of profit.
9. Sponsored posts and Influencer Marketing
Whether you are the sponsor, or you are being sponsored, this is a powerful marketing strategy. Recently, the Digital Marketing Institute stated that small business can earn up to $6.50 per dollar with this strategy! That’s an amazing ROI worth looking into.
If you want to work with a particular brand, you can reach out and promote their products, which will seemingly be shared with their audience.
Or, you can reach out to influencers and brands with your product, and have them directly promote it to their audience.
10. Giveaways as an marketing strategy to grow your audience and promote brand awareness
Running a social media contest is always a great for event marketing and growing your fan base.
But, don’t give away more than you can afford too.
While very productive, this kind of marketing initiative is not going to bring you a ton of organic traffic. Instead, it will bring you a bigger audience, with a small fraction that actually want to invest in you.
11. Create free products with a unique value proposition
Having freebies is a great way to grow your email list, which is a great way to market your blog. It’s also the most common way to grow an email list and is usually the start of any effective sales funnel. They are generally easy to set up – just create the freebie and link it to a sign up form or landing page on your site.
These freebies can be as in depth, or simple, as you like, but the important part is that they bring value to your audience and help them with some kind of struggle. Bonus if the freebie can help them save time or money – or better yet, BOTH!
I recommend giving away some of your best information for free. This will help you build trust with your readers. In return, they will want to invest more time and money into your business.
12. Attend a blogging conference
There really is nothing like sitting in a room with 30-300 like minded bloggers.
Everyone is doing the same thing as you: turning their blog into their career.
With that being said, you do have to do some digging to find these conferences.
But, if there is one near you, it will highly benefit you in terms of marketing and networking.
If you can’t make it to a conference, consider checking out an online summit or webinar for marketers to learn the most effective and cutting-edge ways other bloggers are sharing their content.
13. Collaborate with other bloggers in your industry
Just like with guest posting, you can also collaborate with other bloggers in your niche.
That way, you will both be able to gain exposure, making it an easy return on your investment.
To find the best brands and bloggers to collaborate with, look for people in your niche. Then, try to see if they have done collaborations with others.
You can still reach out to them, even if it doesn’t look like they do.
But, it is way easier to pitch this idea if you already know they have worked with other bloggers.
14. Create a blog content strategy
Having a blog content strategy will allow you to be productively posting and creating content, each day.
By having this, you won’t have to spend hours or even days trying to decide what to post and create. Instead, you will be prepared.
Check out this post if you want to learn how to easily create a blog content strategy of your own.
15. Keep on writing
Honestly, the best way to market is to keep on creating content. I like to say that “Content is Queen” and continuing to provide value to your readers is the absolute best way to market yourself and your business.
Without content, you have nothing to show.
Without new content, you have no reason for your audience to keep coming back. So, if you want your blog and business to grow, keep writing and publishing blog posts.
PRO TIP: Keep your content fun with great graphics or even add an infographic for super shareability.
16. Track your results with your marketing methods (& cut out what isn’t working)
Pay attention to what is and is not working out of your marketing campaign.
If you feel like you are becoming burnt out, it may be time to eliminate some of your marketing efforts.
The best way to figure out with tools to cut out is by tracking all of your marketing tools with tools like Google Analytics. With this, you can see what content marketing ideas are working to bring organic traffic to your site and how many website visitors are coming from the various social networks or platforms.
That way, you can focus on where your primary traffic is coming from and eliminate the strategies that aren’t benefiting you or your target market.
17. Be patient
Your blog will not be an overnight success. Not every content marketing strategy will produce conversions.
But, with patience and dedication, it can take you to places you never thought you would be able to go.
Bonus Tip: How to Market as a Blogger without Sounding Salesy
When marketing your blog, the most important thing to remember is to make sure you stay authentic.
Instead of trying to pitch the idea of reading your blog, signing up for your email list, or buying your product, give your potential customers tons of free value.
This will help you gain the trust of your audience. Once you fully gain their trust, your occasional offers will not sound (or feel) salesy.
Instead, it will appear as though you are helping them more, rather than scamming.
Remember, you are not in this for yourself; you are in this to help your audience.
Smart Marketing Ideas for Bloggers in Conclusion
Creative Marketing Ideas Summary:
- Work on your SEO
- Start an email list
- Try different platforms
- Listen and actively engage with your community
- Work with guest bloggers
- Be a guest blogger or guest interview
- Do a press release
- Try Paid Ad Media
- Sponsored posts and Influencer marketing
- Do a giveaway
- Create an opt-in to provide value and grow your email list
- Attend a blogger or marketing conference
- Join your communities and start a partnership with another blogger
- Create a blog content strategy
- Keep writing
- Track your results
- Be patient
Marketing your blog does not need to be hard, but having some kind of marketing strategy that is inline with your business goals is key to being successful.
Out of this list, I recommend choosing 2-4 ways to market at first. Focus on them and master them. Then, if you choose to in the long run, you can add more.
FAQ:
If I am using SEO, do I need to market in other ways?
SEO is, in my opinion, the best tool to use when focusing on marketing. But, since it is a long term game, I do recommend adding at least one other marketing tool.
Can my blog get noticed without any marketing?
Theoretically, yes, it can. But, it will take much longer than focusing on marketing it. Taking advantage of other inbound marketing will speed up the process.
More Marketing Ideas for Your Small Business
9 Digital Marketing Trends for 2021 You Need to Implement Immediately
Digital Marketing vs Affiliate Marketing: Which is Better for Focused Strategies
Great list…particular #14. When I finally set down and put together a game-plan, such as it was, at the time is when I finally began to see real growth. Needless to say flying by the seat of my pants and posting whatever popped into my head was fun, but not functional! Loving your posts!
I totally agree and think that’s where most people start out (fun, not functional – including me lol). Thanks so much for reading! 🙂
Great share! it’s very informative blog. I really appreciate your work. best self-publishing company in India
Thanks for this list! I’d love to hear an example of how you would promote your blog in a non-gimmicky way. What kind of wording would you use?
Thanks for this list! I’d love to hear an example of how you would promote your blog in a non-gimmicky way, giving value instead of asking for them to read something. What kind of wording would you use?
This is a great list and reassures me that I’m doing some things right, a few things on here I really want to try – a giveaway and maybe some paid advertising once I get my products ready to go!
Very informative post. Blogger conference, well, I heard this first time. I would love to give it a try.
Thank you for the great information.