It can be hard to see changes in blogging day-to-day, but, like with most things, you can see the differences over the years. I started blogging in 2013, and the industry (if you want to call it that) is very different in a variety of ways. This is because, in addition to people changing all the time as people do, blogging involves multiple companies and platforms that are all separate. For example, changes to Instagram change blogging. So what worked for blogging in 2013 won’t necessarily (or likely) work for blogging in 2021. That’s why this is my 3rd edition of how I promote my blog posts: because how to promote a blog post in 2021 is different, even just slightly, than in 2018 and 2016.
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How To Promote a Blog Post When You Have a New Blog Post
Social Media
Twitter – I know that I talk about this a lot, but I love Twitter. So whenever I have a new post, I schedule 7 tweets spread out over the course of 24 hours to promote it (at 8, 10:30, 1, 3:30, 6, 9, and 1 AM the next day) and then another 3 over the next 2 weeks (2-3 days later, 1 week later, and 13 or 15 days later). In the 7 tweets of the first 24 hours, 4 of them mention accounts that retweet posts to get more eyes on my posts. Not all of those accounts retweet them every time, but at least 1 does every day. I schedule so many tweets because tweets have a very short shelf-life and it’s easy for tweets to get lost in the shuffle. By sharing my posts frequently across the course of a day, more people are likely to see my tweets no matter what timezone they’re in. I also try to use relevant hashtags, but not for all of my promotional tweets.
Follow me on Twitter | How to use Twitter as a blogger | 8 tips to get more Twitter followers
Facebook – Like with Twitter, I schedule promotions of a new post on my Facebook page over the course of 24 hours to promote and then another 3 over the next 2 weeks. I schedule my posts to be in between my Twitter posts to cover as much ground as possible. On the day of the new post, I schedule these posts at 9:30, 2:30, 8, and 12 AM the next day. After that, I schedule a post 2 days later, 6 or 8 days later, and 2 weeks later. I post less often on Facebook, though, because Facebook posts have a longer shelf-life than Twitter posts do. I’m also a member of 8 Facebook groups for bloggers, and I promote my new posts in those. In 2019, I changed up my Facebook group strategy, which you can read about in this post.
Instagram – I have been trying to use Instagram to promote my blog more! Something that isn’t new is that I promote every single blog post in my Instagram stories in 2 ways. 1) The day after the post goes up, I advertise it in my stories. 2) Every week, on the day before the first new post of the week goes up, I share every post from the previous week in my stories. Unfortunately, since I don’t have 10,000 followers, I don’t have the swipe up feature, which would make people more likely to read the posts because it’s easier. Instead, I have an Instagram Links page that is the link in my bio. This page has the 3 most recent posts, 1 post that I’m featuring, a link to sign up for my newsletter, a few affiliate links, and some other links that I think people might want to click. I do this to reduce my bounce rate and get more page views!
Additionally, on my Instagram feed, I trying to post a relevant image that advertises a blog post at least once a week. For example, in this post, I show a picture of my arm while getting an infusion in order to promote my blog post about making infusions easier.
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Pinterest – For every blog post that I have, I have at least 2 images, both of which are vertical. For each image, I make 2 copies: 1 with the dimensions that work best in these posts (600px wide) and 1 with dimensions that are most successful on Pinterest (1400px wide). After I’ve scheduled a post to go public, I schedule posts on Pinterest. I use Tailwind to schedule my Pinterest posts, and it allows me to schedule posts on multiple boards at whatever time I want. I upload my Pinterest-optimized image and schedule it for as many boards as are applicable, and I use the interval tool to schedule to be published over time and not all at once. I don’t have them be any more frequently than 12 hours apart, and I use their optimization tool to, well, optimize the time they are published.
Additionally, once the post is live, I add it to Tailwind Communities. I believe when you sign up for a Tailwind account you get 5 Communities and 40 pins to Communities a month, but I bought the lowest level of “power up,” which enables me to joint up to 10 Communities and add up to 80 pins a month. I’m in some Communities that are for a specific niche, others that are general add-your-posts Communities, and others that are run by blogging groups I’m in. Joining and utilizing Communities made a huge difference my blog traffic!
Follow me on Pinterest | 9 reasons why Tailwind is worth the money | How to get the most out of Tailwind for Pinterest | How to use Pinterest for blog traffic | How to get followers on Pinterest
Tumblr – Whenever I have a new post, once it goes live, I post it to my Tumblr. But like I do with Twitter and Facebook, every couple of months I schedule one blog post to be posted on Tumblr every day for 1-2 months. Then, when I’m just on Tumblr queueing posts (I mostly run my Tumblr on a queue), if I see one of my scheduled posts, I add it to my queue to be reblogged again.
Promoting Your Blog Post in an Email Newsletter
Email Newsletter – Among other things I send my subscribers, I include links to recent blog posts. I primarily send the 2 more recent posts, which are usually from the previous week, but if I had a week or 2 with only 1 post, then I’ll send my 2 more recent ones. And, as always with everything, including this blog post, I include to relevant blog posts. Especially those that I reference.
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Well, friends, that is how I promote my new blog posts! But that’s not all. I also make sure to promote my blog and my older posts when I don’t have a new one. Once upon a time, I had a new blog post 5 days a week, but that was a long time ago and they mostly weren’t good. Now, I’m happy if I have 2 a week. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t promote my blog every day, which you know if you follow me on social media. So let’s get into promote your blog when you don’t have a new post.
How To Promote a Blog Post When You Don’t Have a New Post
Social Media
Twitter – On days that I don’t have a new post, I schedule blog post promotions of another post using the same schedule that I note above. I try to do posts that are at least a month old, and I pick posts from niches so that I don’t have posts from the same niche promoted 2 days in a row. I do this because I have 3 categories, which are really 3 niches on their own: health, writing and blogging, and lifestyle. Because I aim to write 2 posts a week, this means that 1 of those categories doesn’t have a new post every week. For example, this is (obviously) a blogging post, and I’m trying to get a lifestyle post up on Friday. Because of this, yesterday I promoted a health blog post. Additionally, every couple of months I schedule 1 promotion a day of 1 old post for every day for a month or two. I schedule my posts with Buffer. This way, older posts (or at least not new ones) still get traffic and eyes on them.
How I manage social media for my blog
Facebook – Like on Twitter, I schedule blog promotions of another post on days when I don’t have a new one and I also schedule promotions of 1 old post for every day for a month or two. And like with when I have a new post, I try to schedule these posts for in between Twitter posts. That doesn’t really apply to scheduling the 1 older post a day, as I can’t schedule all of my social media content around the schedule of another network. But, overall, my Facebook schedule is different from Twitter. For example, I try to schedule questions to inspire conversation on my Facebook page at 11 AM or 1 PM, and if I already have something scheduled for noon, that leaves pre-11 and post-1 as the times available for posts. 1 PM is taken on Twitter, too, but with a post promotion and not with a question. (I do, for the record, schedule questions and such on there, as well.) Additionally, just so you know, I don’t promote old posts on regular traffic posts in Facebook groups. However, if someone asks a question, and I have a post that answers that question, I will share it in the comments as a response. I don’t want to spam my Facebook groups, though, so I don’t do it often.
LinkedIn – In 2019, I started promoting my blog on LinkedIn (I’m not going to share it here, FYI). I schedule 1 post a day, but I don’t promote all of my posts. I share blogging tips, advocacy posts, and some lifestyle posts, but not most. Basically, posts that might help me career-wise in some way or might be of interest to people who follow me.
Pinterest – Something I’ve started doing recently is, when I pick an old post to promote on Twitter and Facebook, I also re-add its images to my Tailwind queue. If I don’t think that I’ll reach my 80 pins-per-month in Communities, I’ll add it to a Communities or 2, but generally I just add it to my queue. I’ve been blogging since 2013, and I have a lot of posts, so it’s rare for my pins to be too common! I’ve also started building new pins for older posts with Canva, so I focus on the new pin before the older ones. And if I can, or I think it’s a particularly good pin, I’ll add it to Communities.
The benefits of a social media editorial calendar
What are your ideas for how to promote a blog post?
Like this post? Check out:
Why I Switched to MailerLite from MailChimp for My Email Newsletter, Why Isn’t My Blog Getting Traffic?, The Best WordPress Plugins: The Plugins I Use and Love, My Proven Method for Blogging with Limited Time
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
This is so helpful, thank you! Curious how you determine which accounts to tag on Twitter when sharing your posts?
I know that this is a reply literally 8 months later haha but this is a great question! I tag @BloggingBabesRT @LovingBlogs (those 2 are the most successful) @BBlogRT @RTbloggers
Always informative posts. Thank you. Our experience has proved that Facebook and our Email updates are very effective with our Market’s Persona. Facebook generates over 500,000 visitors annually who come back for more and love to engage. The open rate on emails is always 80%= along with the CTRs
These are things I need to learn. I have no idea how to schedule anything on Twitter and have a nice following on there. I will see how your tips can help me better understand how to promote my post beyond the first tweet. Great post.
Good luck! Recently, Twitter added a feature where you can schedule posts directly on Twitter, but I do all of my scheduling through Buffer. While I love that, it’s not cheap. Hootsuite’s free account lets you schedule 30 tweets per month, so while that’s not ideal for my use, it is a great thing to try when you’re figuring out scheduling and what works for you. Hope that helps!
This makes a lot of sense. I haven’t been using Twitter well and that’s because I believe in focusing on one or two social media platform but I hope to include Twitter to my social media platforms.
Another thing I need to do is promoting old posts. I use Pinterest a lot and I’m following you already.