Here’s a social media strategy that got some interesting results for me. I have a feeling it will work on almost any blog in almost any niche.
I don’t share the numbers below to brag (there are people out there doing a lot better!) but rather to inspire you and to illustrate how powerful certain social media activities can be for growing your blog.
My hope is that, after reading this article, you’ll have a few more ideas for how you can get a bit more traffic to your site from Twitter, Facebook, and so on.
Let’s take a look.
The results from this particular social strategy
I suppose I should start this article by talking about some of the results from this little exercise.
Again, I’m genuinely not trying to show off, but rather hoping to give you an idea of the kinds of goals we can aim for in the future, as well as the timeline of events so you can copy the strategy more easily. Let’s take a look at what happened in the first 24 hours.
- Over 170 retweets
This first thing that happened was over 170 retweets to the article that I was hoping to promote. This drove a lot of traffic and also caused more retweets to occur. It’s a little bit tricky to measure these accurately as often the tweet counts aren’t accurate. - A tweet by Copyblogger
During all of this, Brian Clark himself sent out a tweet mentioning the best about us pages article that formed the base of the strategy. This further bolstered the effect and is a good example of why influencer marketing is an important part of a blogging strategy. - A link on Copyblogger
This then lead to the article in question getting mentioned on the Copyblogger Weekly Wrap which is a really wonderful way to get introduced to their engaged audience of writers and authors. I was extremely grateful for this mention. - Over 90 comments
The article got 94 comments which went a long way to giving me ideas on how to improve the post for the future and in the end I added a few different pages to the list to try and improve the offering. - Over 100 email subscribers
The happiest part of all this, for me, was that all this tweeting and retweeting and linking exposed the website to a brand new wave of email subscribers. When Brian sent out his tweet I got about 30 subscribers in the space of about 60 seconds. For a blogger this is one of the better feelings you can get on the job.
This whole thing was proof to me of how powerful social media can be when it is done right. A link from one of the top blogs, massive amounts of traffic, and a decent catch of subscribers. Again, it made me feel quite humbled.
Here’s the strategy I used
Let’s take a look at the process I followed here and see if, at the end, you’re left with something that might be worth trying on your blog.
1. Write a “link bait” type article that is share-worthy
The first thing I did was write an article that I thought would be rather interesting to people in my niche. As mentioned, it was the 12 of the Best About Us Pages on the Internet article. Everyone who owns a blog has written an About Us page and as such I thought it would form a universal basis of interest.
Link bait is a term that is usually used in a negative manner because you can tell that the article was put together for the purpose of getting attention. But, to my mind, if the article is useful and helps people then it’s not too much of a problem.
In order for this strategy to work you’ll need a post like this one that taps into a large audience and is relevant and interesting to a lot of people.
2. Create a highly valuable (and relevant!) giveaway
The next step is to create a free giveaway that is useful and relevant to the same demographic of people who you wrote the link bait article for. In my case, I opted to do a series of videos where I gave constructive criticism to a few blog readers in the form of a screen captured video. Here is an example:
You could do an eBook or report, offer some kind of service, or even do a cash giveaway. Whatever you choose, it’s important to have a page on your blog where you illustrate the features and benefits of the giveaway and give people a chance to feel like it’s something they’d like to get their hands on.
3. Offer to give it away in exchange for tweeting the link bait article
This is the final part of the strategy where you offer the give away to one lucky person who tweets about your link bait article. The idea is to get as many people sharing that article and to use those shares as an “entry”.
(Note: some countries have interesting laws about competitions and giveaways so please make sure that you check with someone who knows before doing anything you’re not sure about.)
I was able to email my list saying that I had created this article around the best about pages and I wanted to get the word out there. If they helped me by tweeting it I’d pick one person from Twitter and give them a free consult session where I offered personal advice about how they could improve their blog.
That’s it!
What do you think?
What are your thoughts on this strategy? Have you ever tried something similar in order to get a few more people to notice you on Twitter? Did it involve your mailing list? I would love to hear if you have any suggestions about how it could be improve or whether you’ve seen something similar done elsewhere. Most of all, I really hope it helps someone!
Yeah, works fine with me. I’ve been out of the country for a bit so I didn’t catch on with all the process until now. But I like the process, it’s well thought out and served you well.
One thing I’ll point out is the use of the term ‘linkbait’. I hate that term, seems dirty and dishonest. Maybe it’s just me, but if I was to create a post which was shared around then I’d consider that a good job, not part of a greater marketing strategy.
Again, my two cents, and my opinion shouldn’t detract from the fact you’ve done an awesome job 🙂
I agree. Link bait sounds dirty. I couldn’t think of another recognizable term though.
Trying to write viral articles can be like pitching horse shoes. (Goin’ old school on the analogies)
I’ve tried it before myself. I’d get a great article idea and then it was off to the typewriter (again, goin’ old school).
How often did those article take off. About half the time. I supposed it’s like musicians who say they thought they wrote a number 1 hit but listeners just weren’t into it.
I’m saying this for a few reasons;
1. BT, you seem to have a great track record with your articles. The little nuances you add like the blog critique and your establishment in the community help a lot as well.
2. For people who try to write that “great article that will bring in subscribers like never before, fore, fore fore” [love that echo]…don’t give up when it fails.
It’s happened to be before where the article I thought wasn’t anything special ended up getting more comments that anything else I’d written.
What I’d encourage people (myself included) to learn from BT is that it’s not just about writing that great article…it’s also about what happens when you spend time and energy on your blog AND within the community of your niche topic and your efforts WILL start paying off like never before. BT has great stuff and as his readership and age of the blog increase, so will his rate of success.
I will add a suggest to people regarding twitter…auto-post. Whenever I publish a new article, a link is auto-posted on my twitter account. This one process has really bumped up my traffic.
Great comment Chris. Really well put.
Thanks! And might I add that posting before I drink that first cup of coffee apparently leads to typos on my part. LOL
Very well put Chris, comments like this really make me think about how I am doing on my website and I should act to try and make myself more successful.
Also great success Tyrant, and a great article, it shows that even with a simple linking article (although I’m sure it took you lots of time and I did enjoy it!) you can build a great amount from it.
Simon Duck
Not posting my comment but says “duplicate entry” 🙁
It posted fine but went to spam for some reason. I always knew you were spammy. 😉
I remember eating spam on camping trips. If the spam key broke, there was no opening that can!
I figured out why it went spammy. I was using a different computer and when I typed in my web address, it auto-filled with a link to an inner-page on my site that I had used recently.
Ah, okay. I was wondering about that.
Congrats to you BT. I’ll have to give some thought as to how that technique can be utilized in my niche.
Let me know what you come up with Heather.
http://www.familyfriendlyfrugality.com/2011/02/referral-friday-blog-tyrant-money-saving-mom-and-you/
Attempt #1. Won’t be as successful as your mega article, but I have to start somewhere 😉
Hi BT
Ienjoyed the process and entered the competition when it involved leaving a comment on your FB Page. I decided not to do the Twitter thing because I hardly use Twitter and didn’t want my first tweet in ages to be about something [no matter how well written] other than my direct work.
I think your offer of a free critique was inspired and I really enjoyed the first one you did. It’s also great to see the whole BT community getting in there and offering suggestions to that woman’s site.
Congrats on the coverage you’re getting in the big blogs … all down to hard work and very practical and useful hints.
Thanks as always BT for making me think … even if I was having a quiet Duvet Day Monday.
Liz
Thanks Liz.
I think you should get more liberal with Twitter though. Just Tweet anything and everything. They say that the optimum amount of Tweets to grow an account is 15 to 25 per day.
yeh … I need to get into the habit of actually opening Twitter and adding to it. For some reason I feel more comfortable in FB … not sure why.
will try it tomorrow.
Great article BlogTyrant (if thats your real name 😉 )
Anyways this gives me so many ideas on how I can (hopefully) accomplish your same results.
Also I think this worked so well also is that people love it when people talk about them too. It boosts their egos.
Very true Edwin. Good point.
BT,
Was also numbers, really impressive. it really is amazing to see the power of a well done link bait article. Mine have had nowhere near the success of yours but my best ones tend to fall into this category.
I’m a huge advocate of lists and I agree that using your list is another good way to pump up an article you think has a lot of potential.
adding a useful giveaway something I’ve never tried before, after seeing how well your is work that may have to try it in the future, thanks
Again, congratulations on some awesome results. You deserve it for great post
Thanks Steve.
I wonder if readers are becoming sick of list posts sometime but they still seem to work.
BT
Congrats on this success. And thanks for laying all this out in pretty much a howto guide. Ive got to go out and give this method a try myself.
Thanks.
Do let me know how it goes Brandon.
Ty, you are one smart cookie. Congratulations on that successful endeavor.
I immediately tweeted after your email request because, like they say, I have become a faithful follower and so of course I wanted to help you out, regardless of the critique, which I’d really love to win, of course.
Now, if I could only start thinking like you….sigh.
Thanks Dorothy. Really appreciate the kind words.
Well done BT. That’s a great strategy to use to get more visitors and subscribers.
I like the way you use a range of methods – social bookmarking, email list etc – to get things happening.
Well done.
Thanks Allan.
I like the way you use your success / experience as a teaching tool. Draws people in, builds trust etc…it has for me anyway. Thanks, Gerry
PS. Is it true South Australians have a funny accent?
If by funny you mean better than everywhere else then yes.
😉
Ty, my forebears (Faehrmann, it’s a German name) are from Hahndorf just outside Adelaide. Must explain my funny accent too.
Have you been there? Its a beautiful place.
Just once, 15 years ago. We met relatives there for the first time. Yes, it is a picturesque town. Great little German watering holes, too!
I had never heard the term link bait but obviously when done correctly it had very impressive results. Congrats! Can’t wait to see what you are doing next, keeps me watching for your next post and that is what it is all about.
Thanks Kim! Be sure to tell your friends. Ha ha.
This kind of article just makes me wish there were more bloggers writing about the stuff I write.
I would link to them if they existed 🙂 and them they would retweet my articles instead of uhmm not even being on Twitter.
It’s also pretty unlikely that an article geared to landlords would ever make it to the front page of Digg or Reddit or any other social media.
Sometimes being an innovator has it’s downfalls. I am trying to be the best blogger I can be and there are some interesting results.
I used the information I learned from a post about better titles to get over 50 responses to a rental ad and rented an apartment on the first viewing.
Also Blog Tyrant is definitely his real name. Mrs. Tyrant his mom was going to call him Blo (A really common Australian name) but the hospital added a g by mistake. Therefore Blog Tyrant. Why is this so hard for people to believe? Hospitals make mistakes all the time.
You got me interested Rachelle (sadly, I’m not looking for a place right now). My dad owns apartment buildings and I’ve been curious about blogging for him.
Just subscribed to your blog to see how you do it. And I’ll follow you on Twitter. NEVER GIVE UP!
Hey Brandon,
Blogging has been the best thing ever for my business. I would definitely suggest adding a blog to any business site. For apartment buildings it could be used to communicate with residents, or investors. Of course you’d probably want to target your audience and be careful with your voice.
When I worked in a building full time, I thought it would be the perfect setting for a sitcom. There are so many stories occurring there every single day. Like the time we had a couple strippers come in to rent an apartment, and the owner saw them and immediately said we would be fired if we rented to them. So we sent the male accountant to show them the unit 🙂
Hey BT,
I loved watching and following along with the whole strategy! No problem tweeting (took me some time to figure that out) and was happy to do so as I love your site. I am a stay at home mum (with lots of gypsy blood)and although I haven’t sought publicity for our Renovating Italy blog last night I received an email from a reporter at the International Herald Tribune. She is calling tomorrow to interview me… who’d have thought?
So any tips for interviews??
Also if anyone is in Brisbane we are having a blog meet up in Paddington on the 12th March. Send me a note on FB and I’ll send you the link.
By the way I know everyone tells you this but YOU Rock!!
ciao for now
Lisa
Congrats Lisa that’s fantastic!
Tips: mention Blog Tyrant! Ha ha. Kidding.
Goes without saying!!!
She’s looking at families who renovate o/s and then blog about it!
Julie and Julia perhaps!!!
ciao lisa
Blog Tyrant
Great results.
Did you think of writing to the owners of the about pages you mentioned? Simply telling them you wrote about their about page.
Andrew
Yeah I sent out a few emails. Unfortunately Bentley wouldn’t give me a free car! Bastards.
What about some trainers? Did you get them?
A
Clearly you know what you’re doing. It’s all very logical but the genius is in the execution. Duly noted…
Thanks Dean.
[…] reading a post titled, How I Got 170+ Retweets, a Mention on Copyblogger & 2k Visitors in One Day, from one of the blogs I subscribe to, I started thinking. (You know that’s a dangerous […]
You have a brilliant strategy. That may not be applicable with me and my readers, but you inspired me to think of my own.
thank you.
Thanks Jef. Good luck.
It seems that the important thing always is to have a strategy. It’s the best way to optimize your blog performance.
Thank you,
No worries Cristina. Thanks for stopping by.
Hey BT,
The comment above is spam … I just spent an hour trying to figure out whether or not it was legit or spam … this confirms it 🙁
You can expect at least one follow up comment directed toward one of the comments on this post as well.
I’m deleting the one over at CreativeBlogger immediately … who knows how harmful those sites might be to visitors?
What do you think?
Alright, I deleted it. I couldn’t tell. If it was spam it was very tricky. I get about 15,000 spam comments a week across my sites and he still tricked me!
Grrr, same here 🙁
Hi BT
Great post. Highlights two critical things, content and strategy.
I always find it helpful to be reminded that thinking outside the box can reap good rewards. The key is finding that new blog post that will grab some attention and demand the retweets etc.
Your thoughts on strategy were good too!! Shows the power of a mailing list.
Cheers
Thanks Simon. Let us know what you come up with!
I’m on Twitter a lot, and open the app on my phone, but the problem(s) that I tend to face is if I’m not able to get online, (12 hr days with my job), I’m limited to what I can do with a blog, Reading yours and Darren’s posts, and that would be being able to participate in some contests. I saw your entry, but for me, and what was happening in my world, I found out to late to enter. 🙁
There is also the problem with digesting content, and being able to create content. A body can’t always ingest and create content at the same time. IE you can’t create and edit a podcast while simultaneously listening to one. Blog Posts, on the other hand, CAN be created and left in draft mode much easier.
Part of my frustration has been trying to figure out what kind of Niche is suitable for me. What is it that Randy can do that people would find useful and interesting? What am I going to put in my Aweber list? What am I missing? What I’m I doing wrong, what am doing right? How am I mismanaging my time? Or am I? Is it just life?
How does one de-suckify their life? lol…
Hey Randy.
Here’s my advice. Stop thinking, stop trying to plan, and just go do it. There’s nothing that will kill an idea faster than overthinking. Start simple. Write about something you know. As you go along, you can refine and get better.
But if you ever want to get anywhere, you have to take the first step.
Take that step right now. Write something after you read this.
Brandon, I did write some things down after I left that note… They do need to be refined a little. I did “just do it” with another site (blog) that I just put up,
best-of-lakewood.com, and I would like your input on it. It’s sorta rough right now, and my video skills are needing honing, but I think that I’ve got the right idea for a video blog.
actually, I was thinking that I’ve been spreading my self a little thin, for a trucker blogger..
Randomizedradio.com (letting that slide for now)
LakewoodLoon.com (decided to go more local, for a niche)
PimpingThePenguin.com (tutorials for Linux, and my Linux experiences)
TruckerPocketMoney.com — But thought that it was a nice idea, but my heart wasn’t into it, at least not as a site to push making money. Plenty of those…
send me an email, brandon at blistmarketing dot com and I can give you some feedback. Don’t want to stuff the comments with it.
Congratulations for your success. Really inspiring.
Thanks Dipesh.
Hi BT
Very impresive result you got out of it. I don’t even have a mail list yet. Nice whiteboard by the way 🙂
Thanks Thomas! That’s not my board though….