3 Ways to Create More Content (and Views) from Your Blogs Create a low-maintenance, high-return content strategy by maximizing your content via social, diverse media types and engaging others
By Maria Dykstra Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Content Marketing is still one of the best ways to generate leads for B2B companies. Yet many entrepreneurs struggle with creating a successful content strategy.
In reality, you do not need to write hundreds of individual blogs. In fact, one of the best ways to become known as a thought leader in your industry is to take one well-defined topic and turn it into many related content pieces.
Related: Why Your Small Business Must Start a Blog
Sounds complicated? It does not have to be. Here are three ideas how you can make the most out of the blogs you've already written.
1. Turn your key points into social media posts.
- Identify 10 to 15 key ideas, quotes, or data points that can be used as social media posts. Any sentence that is under 140 characters can also be a tweet. LinkedIn and Facebook are not as strict with character limits.
- Find simple images that will support your point. Colorful images increase readers' attention span by 82 percent.
- Schedule these posts on Twitter every 1-2 days or 1-2 weeks on LinkedIn and Facebook. Organize your posting schedule with tools like Hootsuite Bulk Upload helps with staying focused.
2. Create visual content to support your blogs.
Don't get stuck in the world of scrolling text. Multiple studies show a significant increase in views and conversions for content with compelling images. There are countless easy and effective ways to make a post visually captivating.
- Take several related blogs (or key points in one blog) and turn them into a simple infographic. If you are creatively challenged, hire a talented Upwork freelance designer to help you.
- You can expand on your content by designing a Preso or a Haikudeck presentation and share it on Slideshare.
- Create a simple video to further explain one of the core concepts. It does not have to be an Oscar-worthy masterpiece. You can use Youtube to convert your presentation into a video. Experiment with live-video streaming options like Facebook live streaming or Periscope.
Related: Top CEO Blogging Strategies From A to Z
Remember to create social media posts for each of the content types and schedule them.
3. Write an "expert roundup" blog post.
A great way to get your post seen by as many eyes in your field and in your market is through collaborating with others. Quite frequently your co-authors will share your content via their own social profiles.
- Think about 15 to 20 experts in your field who covered your main topics in the past. Reach out to them with a request to answer a few related questions. You can use a freelancer or a Virtual Assistant to help you research and contact these individuals. Alternatively, you can also post the question with a deadline on HARO.
- Compile the answers into one blog post. Add an easy way to share your content. Click to Tweet works well to encourage others to share your content.
- Once your blog is live, let the contributors know it is available and ask them to promote via their own social profiles.
- Remember to schedule social media posts tagging the contributors. This is another sure way of encouraging them to share your content.
Related: 6 Strategies for Launching a Successful Blog
You do not have to write 100 blogs or have a huge budget to succeed at content marketing. You can create a low-maintenance, high-return content strategy if you think about ways to maximize your content via social, various media types and creative ways of engaging other thought leaders.
