Marketing A Blog With

A Short Experiment with ReflectionBy Alicia Mudd

Introduction

I decided to do my final project in the form of a hands on, short term, social media marketing plan. Following a plan that I built for myself I was able to learn a few new things.

It is my hope that what I found will further educate you.

ImplementationO Set up Wordpress.com blogO Market blog through Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ through Wordpress settings.

O Monitor statistics within Wordpress and create a spreadsheet to track referrals.

O Compare post-by-post content, tags and incoming links from other sites.

About WordPress

WordPress is a wonderful dynamic tool for anyone starting out as a blogger. It offers many features and plugins that allow the user to interact with “followers”, fellow bloggers and many social networking sites.

It is easy to use, implement and find help as it pertains to the users blog, interests and traffic generation.

Wordpress’ Social Sharing Tools

WordPress Social Networking Platforms

O FacebookO TwitterO LinkedInO Google+O TumblrO Path

Since Wordpress offers tools for bloggers that enable them to link to various social networking accounts they can subsequently share their blog through many platforms.

Why To Use Them

Focus

I will only focus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ for this slideshow. These were the platforms that I marketed my blog for during the trial period.

MeetsWhy market on Facebook?

Facebook is currently signing up an astounding 1.19 billion users per month!*That’s a lot of reasons why you cannot afford to bypass Facebook for marketing. Because of Facebook’s “Groups” you can easily find a group that is interested in what you blog about.

*- As reported by Craig Smith on Decemeber 1, 2013 via: DMR (Digital Marketing Ramblings)Chart courtesy of Statista - The Statistics Portal

Things I Found that Worked:

Points to work on:

I found these things to be most successful when dealing with Facebook.O Two days prior to

posting, interact with your audience. Ask what they want more information about or give them a heads up about what you’re going to post.

O Make sure that you share the blog post when you publish it.

I found these things via research* that will be helpful in the future:O Set up a fan page

O By having a fan page you can really give your blog a personality. It also offers a great way for people to find you.

O Set up a blog specific groupO Having a group can

increase your reach if people search Facebook for your topic.

* - Tips offered by David Risley on Blog Marketing Academy

Meets

Twitter has an astounding 500 million users currently, with more than 215 million active users. Although Twitter functions much differently than Facebook it pays to have a good understanding of how the Twitter community works and what you can do to successfully market yourself there.

*- As reported by Craig Smith on Decemeber 1, 2013 via: DMR (Digital Marketing Ramblings)

Things I implemented: Points To Work On:

I shared each blog post via WordPress to my Twitter timeline. However, I was unsuccessful in garnering any followers for my blog, but consistence will always yield positive results in the long run.

O Establish the brand.O “Tweet” more about

blog related things and show consistency and reliability.*

O Use more hashtags.*O Make sure each post

uses at least one relevant hashtag.

O Be more proactive.*O Find followers, don’t

depend on them to find you.

* - Some tips acquired from ProBlogger - Top Twitter Marketing Blog Tips

Meets

LinkedIn has about 259 million users at present.a It can be used as a powerful marketing tool when you have the time and knowledge how to do it. According to Corey Eridon it’s 277% more effective at generating leads than Twitter or Facebook.b All it takes is a few tweaks in the right direction and your blog can be successfully promoted through the platform.a - Information courtesy of DMR (Digital Marketing Ramblings)

b – Information courtesy of Corey Eridon, on HubSpot

My dealings with LinkedIn

Points To Grow On*

Unfortunately, I was unable to build much of a base within LinkedIn as it pertained to my blog. Although I did share each blog post on my Google+ page. After some research I have found some wonderful points to focus on going forward.

O Guest blogging via LinkedIn answers

O Group StatisticsO SubgroupsO LinkedIn EventsO LinkedIn Polls

* - Some points courtesy of Corey Eridon on HubSpot

Meets

Google+ has around 300 million active users at the present time.* Google+ can you a firm platform to really develop your business relationships on. You can even use hashtags on Google+ while you are using them within Twitter and Facebook as well. (A good way to integrate all these together would be by using Hootsuite.)

* - Statistics courtesy of DMR

My Google+ Implementation

Points to Grow On*

Although I did share all of my blog posts through Google+ I didn’t get any traffic from there. After some deeper research I have discovered points that I should have implemented from the start.

O Keep profile updatedO Add links to blog in

contributor informationO Utilize more hashtags

and @’s to coincide with Twitter or Facebook posts

O Use Google+ communities

*Some tips courtesy of KISSmetrics and Constant Contact

OverallOverall in the last two months I have taken my blog from 0 – 144 views. Most of these were visits were not referral visits though. The social media platform that I receive the most referrals from was Facebook, generating 36 hits. Going forward, if I want to make my blog successful, it is vitally important that I continue to post to my blog using skills I have already acquired. It is also imperative that I strike out into unfamiliar territory and become and active user of Google+ and LinkedIn.

Works CitedCurtiss, Kristen. "Why Use Google Plus? A Quick Guide and Glossary to Google." Constant Contact Blogs. Constant Contact Blogs, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Eridon, Corey. "Inbound Hub." 11 LinkedIn Marketing Gems You're Missing Out On. HubSpot, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Hines, Kristi. "The 2013 Google Marketing Guide." The 2013 Google Marketing Guide. KISSMetrics, 14 June 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Levin, Lior. "Top Twitter Blog Marketing Tips." ProBlogger. ProBlogger, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Richter, Felix. "• Chart: Facebook's Remarkable User Growth | Statista." Statista. Statista, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Works Cited

Risley, David. "How To Use Facebook to Market Your Blog." Blog Marketing Academy. Blog Marketing Academy, 8 Jan. 2009. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Smith, Craig. "How Many People Use 340 of the Top Social Media, Apps & Services? (December 2013) | Page 2." Digital Market Ramblings. Digital Marketing Ramblings (DMR), 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Tate, Laura. "Facebook Is Out, But Blogging and Google Are In." Social Media Today. Social Media Today, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

Links

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/marketing-your-blog-10-essential-tips-you-should-know/

http://www.blogmarketingacademy.com/how-to-use-facebook-to-market-your-blog/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/04/24/top-twitter-blog-marketing-tips/

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31374/11-LinkedIn-Marketing-Gems-You-re-Missing-Out-On.aspx

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-market-your-business-through-linkedin.html

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/social-media-marketing/google-plus/

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/2013-google-plus-guide/

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/2/#.Uqiqr9JDvUI