10 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog on Social Media

Are you completely confused about finding effective ways to promote your blog on social media? Navigating this minefield of Facebook marketing, twitter promoting and G Plus sharing feels like an overwhelming, paralyzing task at times.

You may be ready to quit on social, to just publish a post and hope that the Blogging Fairies magically promote the post to interested, targeted, eager readers, without any effort on your part.

Stop sniffing that Fairy Dust.

Blogging doesn’t work that way.

If you’re willing to give freely on social sites you will receive generously.

The pain, suffering and frustration of having little or no blog traffic will dissolve into the happiness, contentment and satisfaction of driving targeted, buying traffic through your social media websites.

If this sounds exciting to you and you’re ready to leave social media confusion behind it’s time to lea how to use proven, effective tips for promoting your blog on sites like twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn.

Ways to Promote Your Blog on Social Media

The methods you’ll lea below won’t cost you a dime.

You’ll also drive targeted, buying traffic by following these strategies.

Did I mention you’ll:

• build your credibility
• establish your authority
• have loads of fun

…in the process?

Let’s dive in guys.

Think in Reverse: Promote Other Bloggers

You down with POB?

Promote Other Bloggers.

Like this:

I promoted my friend and fellow blogger Sue Anne Dunlevie at Successful Blogging because she had supreme value to share. I hook my audience up with a stellar blog post. Sue appreciates the Share love.

But here’s where coolness enters the picture: Sue may just promote my latest post in retu. Generous people find that other bloggers want to retu their generosity.

Promote other bloggers aggressively on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Google Plus
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• StumbleUpon

An increasing number of bloggers will gladly promote you in retu, expanding your reach on a wide range of social media websites.

Watch your traffic skyrocket. Rank on Google for targeted keywords. Boost your social proof.

All because you were willing to do things in reverse.

Give freely. Receive easily.

Welcome new followers & let them know about your blog

Sometimes when I greet new friends on Facebook I thank my new buddy for their friendship and add a link to my home page.

I just drop a link when I greet new friends, asking how I can help them and pointing the link toward my blog home page. It’s as simple as saying “Hi” with a direct message and just copying and pasting your blog link.

This promotes my blog in a non-spammy way. I reach out to help while directing new friends back to the resource that is my blog.

Greet as many new Facebook friends as possible with a question; ask if they need blogging help. Tack on a link to your blog home page.

Stop leaving so much targeted traffic on the table, frustrating yourself by your utter lack of blogging progress.

Be social. Be friendly. Be helpful. Be a promoter.

Lea: 2 Free Twitter Tools to Send Automated Direct Messages

Ask Link-Less Questions and Provide Thorough Answers

If you are confused about how to promote your blog you may not be chatting enough. Think about an indirect approach.

Instead of only posting your latest blog post link on social media sites try chatting. Ask questions to get inside the mind of your audience. Provide answers to their most pressing problems.

By being less desperate about forcing your links this laid back, helpful, relaxed approach builds your posture. Meaning, more friends on social media sites will respect you, your expertise, your blog and you’ll indirectly generate more hits on your blog and through your social media sites because you weren’t so da attached to shoving your latest blog post down all your social media buddies’ throats.

Make Hashtags Your Best Friend

Hashtags are like mini promoters, minions working on your behalf.

Let’s say you’re having a tough time finding targeted users on Twitter. You just tweet links with some text but can’t find folks who really want to gobble up what you’re tweeting.

Enter the hashtag.

Jeff Bullas is the hashtag master. Sure he maintains a huge Twitter following but he hyper targets each tweet to a select audience. This ensures he attracts targeted, interested, hungry traffic to his world-renowned blog.

Consider adding hashtags to every 2nd or 3rd tweet. Facebook and G Plus users aren’t quite as keen on hashtag usage but Instagram users go bananas over their precious hashtags.

Make the #hashtag work for you. Target your readers. Grow a raving following.

If you’re a blogging tips blogger consider using these hashtags on twitter: #blogging and/or #bloggingtips.

Lea: 9 Social Media and Email Marketing Power-Ups for Better Conversions

Write Detailed Descriptions on Google Plus

Most bloggers totally miss out on the immense leveraging power of Google Plus.

Pasting a link without any introductory text usually falls on deaf ears.

Few G Plus users click on links without lead ins because to get traffic you need to give people a reason to read your blog post.

The reason? Your lead in, or summary text, courtesy of your G Plus update.

Write a 3 to 4 paragraph, detailed summary on G Plus each time you link to one of your latest blog posts. Explain reader pain points, use numbers to add specific elements to the post and stress the benefits of reading your masterpiece.

In the above example I included a short testimonial to add social proof to the update.

I saw my engagement jump 10 fold by using this simple, mindful approach.

It only takes an extra 40 to 60 seconds to effectively employ this tactic.

Is it worth it? Considering how my G Plus Shares and Plus 1’s are increasing quickly for just a minute’s worth of work I’s say so.

Don’t be lazy. Don’t miss out on armies of traffic through G Plus. Write a sizable summary to goad readers to click on your link.

Promote your blog post intelligently.

Read: 10 Must Know Google Plus Tips For Better Marketing

Ask for Shares

You may be at wit’s end with your social media campaign.

Why the heck aren’t people retweeting your posts? Or why don’t they share your blog posts on Facebook?

Because you’re not asking them to do so!

Clarity, simplicity and directness are 3 tools successful bloggers use to promote blog posts effectively on social media websites. Lea How to Encourage Your Blog Readers to Share Articles?

I almost always ask people to share new blog posts through Twitter, Facebook, G Plus and LinkedIn. I include this call to action at the end of every blog post and through my Facebook, G Plus and LinkedIn social shares.

This tip literally takes 10 seconds to follow and the results you see will be well worth it.

Follow a Social Media Icon or 2

Social media icons clue you in on to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to promoting stuff on social media.

Consider Gary Vaynerchuk.

He has 1.3 million followers. A stunning number of these followers are engaged.

His individual engagements get retweets and Likes. This is virtually unheard of in the twitter world because most 1 on 1 stuff is ignored by our followings. But Gary is a master at engaging, engaging, engaging, sharing value and whipping his audience into a frenzy.

Then, when it comes time to promote a blog post, video or eBook his social media following spreads the word like wild fire. Because they love the guy, because he helps his followers and engages them like few human beings on social media today.

Follow the pros closely. They leave successful promotion clues on social media.

Pretty Pictures Please

Readers love eye candy.

Feed the Eye Candy Beast. Add eye-catching, relevant, big pictures to your blog posts and make sure the images preview properly on social media websites.

My blog and brand are built on Blogging From Paradise. My readers beg me for my pictures from paradise. I add 1 or more images from tropical hot spots all over the globe where I happen to be visiting to each blog post.

Like this one:

That was my office one moing from Paphos, Cyprus, overlooking the peaceful Mediterranean Sea.

I made sure this image popped up whenever I shared my post on Twitter, Facebook, G Plus and LinkedIn.

Seeing an image of a tropical paradise inspires readers to click the link and share the post.

I also gained a healthy amount of Pinterest shares because of this delectable eye candy.

What’s Up with TUP?

TUP = Time Updates Properly

I usually publish new blog posts between 8 AM and 10 AM EST in the USA no matter where I am in the world. I get max shares during this time frame. Of course, I also share my blog posts on social media during the same time frame.

Check your audience demographics. Where are the majority of your readers? Share posts on social when the bulk of your readers are most active on social media sites.

If you’re new to blogging and are confused about when your readership is most active check out this post for some guidance:

The Best (and Worst) Times to Post on Social Media

Be Consistent

This is the most difficult tip.

Anybody can follow the above tips for 1 day or 1 week. But being disciplined enough to follow these tips for 6 months or 3 years feels like too tough of a challenge for most bloggers using social media.

Harsh built up his impressive Shout Me Loud following over 6.5 years.

I have created a jaw-dropping, blessed, freeing lifestyle for myself over 8 years.

This takes time, patience, a commitment to following your passion, and to creating, connecting and doing things right to reap the greatest rewards.

If you want to gain 800,000 blog followers like Harsh or if you want to live in places like Bali, Fiji, Thailand or Costa Rica for months or years you need to be all in.

Hand-picked stuff for you:

Commit to these tips. Promote intelligently and effectively on social media for the long haul.

Live your wildest dreams.

Are you following these tips?

Or are you still really confused about ways to promote your blog on social media?

What tips can you add to this list?