Why Paid Promotion Could be the Difference in Getting Your Content Seen

We’ve all seen the stats, and know only all too well that everyone is putting up more and more content these days, and the forecast is for even heavier showers over the next year.

The problem we face though is getting our content noticed amid the sea of competing voices. How will your content rise above the din and reach where you need it to go?

Fortunately, this can be achieved by using a combination of smartly placed social media and web promotions that will not only get it out there far more than what we are able to accomplish on our own, but also with a targeting component that will give it far more effectiveness.

What you need to consider before using paid promotions

There are a few things you need to have worked out before you venture into spending money with this type of promotion.

• Who is your audience and what do you want to accomplish? Understanding exactly who you are targeting, even if that is a small sub-set of people who visit your site or blog, will be of tremendous value when it comes time to pay for this. Precisely targeting the people that you want seeing this content is a great way to spend your ad dollars.
• Which platforms are you going to use? There are several choices here, and each has their own strengths and particular type of audience. There is also the type of ads to consider, such as discovery type ads, such as with Outbrain or StumbleUpon, or sharable ads on social media, which is usually the cheapest, easiest to share and most accessible.

What are some good ad platforms to start with for social media?    

Using social media for paid ads promoting your content is a great way to be seen very quickly and exactly in context. There are lots of platforms to choose form, but we’ll talk about the three most people seem to gravitate to for this purpose.

Facebook – This is the best one to start with, for several reasons. Facebook has an easy to use interface that will have your ads up and running very quickly, and even better than that, the targeting features found in this platform are second to none, and allow you to precisely target who see your ads. What’s more, it can be very cheap to run ads here, once you get your feet wet. Either use clicks to website or post page engagement model for best results.

Twitter – Promoted Tweets work very well for this purpose, and you’re able to target people by the type of people they follow, as well as with keywords.

LinkedIn – If you have a LinkedIn presence, you’ll find this network can work very well for you in this regard. Use the Sponsored Update option, and avail yourself of the targeting options LinkedIn provides.

If you’re unsure about spending money to promote your content, you need to ask yourself why then create it in the first place? In order to compete these days, you need to be seen. Make sure you are.

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Pros and Cons of DIY vs. DFY Marketing

Given everything you need to be concerned about with starting and running a small business, it’s understandable that many might make the mistake of overlooking perhaps one of the most essential questions you need to determine right from the start.

That question is whether or not you are going to go the do it yourself route (DIY) or opt for the DFY (done for you) path.

This is crucial to get settled right at the start, as it informs most every decision you’ll be making with your marketing from then on. Not to say you can’t adopt this if you’re further down the road; it’s just more advantageous to have it in place from the beginning.

To help you decide, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of DIY vs. DFY, and let you plug your own business into the equation.

What to think about when deciding between DIY vs. DFY

• If you’re short on cash, DIY makes sense for things that you can truly accomplish with reasonable skill and effectiveness. You’re simply trading time for money, and this may not be what you wanted when starting your own business.
• DIY can be a trap for those who are not technically-inclined, or even those who think they are! If you break it, you’ll be the one tasked to fix it!
• One area rife with people who believe that they can DIY is the area of content, and in particular, sales and ad copy. If you get this wrong, you won’t succeed.
• Don’t listen to a chorus of voices. Even if you opt for DFY, don’t take their word as the authority on the subject until and unless you’ve checked it out. You can end up chasing a lot of rabbits, down the hole.
• If you do contract out work to be done for you, make sure you are very clear what is to be done and by when. Always remember who is in charge here, and don’t let your business be held hostage. Try to avoid paying the total fees in advance; opt for split payments at various stages of delivery.
• Be careful when going the DFY route when it comes to design. Insist on approvals before major pieces are set in place, to avoid headaches and problems down the road.
• Make a list of your own strengths and weaknesses. This will go a long way toward helping you decide what you can or should do, or not.
•  While there are now many content management systems available that make it easy to put up a simple site, remember that if you are not technically savvy, you may not be able to make all the pieces work well in concert. Today’s Web is a tangled one, and if you have the slightest complexity, it can be enough send you scurrying for help after all!

Think about these items, and take a fearless inventory of your skills and desires before you craft a policy for your small business going forward.

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Food for Thought:

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— Sir Richard Branson

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