digital content marketing for journalists

Digital contentmarketing

How to your promote your work online

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By @Buffyandrews

Social media• Perhaps the most important tool in your marketing toolbox• It’s the new word-of-mouth advertising (Facebook, Twitter,

Digg, review sites, etc.)• Efficient, allows you to connect with people interested in your

work • Helps you engage with your audience

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Who should promote• Every journalist should promote

his/her work using a variety of social media channels.

• The responsibility for promotion begins with you. Not your editor or anyone else.

• No one cares about your work more than you. Own it.

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Why promote • Bring content to the attention of

those most likely to be interested. • By building audience, we build

more opportunities to stack digital dimes.

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How to promote• Share links in a conversational way in places where the links

would be relevant, welcome content. These include:• Facebook• Twitter• Google+• Linkedin• Blogs• Newsletters• Websites• etc.

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Identify audience• Identify the audience for

your content (blog post, story, video, slideshow, etc.)

• If you want to hook fish, you have to cast your line where they swim.

• Use tools like Topsy to find potential targets

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Match audience with content

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• Read Across America Day • Seuss FB page• Kids Craft Corner FB page• PetSmart • Petco• Elementary teachers • Elementary schools • Children’s book publishers• Etc.

Match audience with content• Medical marijuana • Epilepsy FB pages• Epilepsy Google groups• Epilepsy Twitter

accounts• Etc.

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Look at metrics• Measure value of your hard work; adjust if necessary• Watch what gets the most traffic, most links, most social

shares, most comments• Social media audience will help spread your content if they

find it worthwhile• Content that attracts most attention tends to be well-defined

and focused Buffy

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Journos juggle it all

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Facebook

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Facebook tips• Find relevant Facebook pages• Be conversational; don’t want to come across as a spammer• Comment within thread that makes sense• Tag people in comment when appropriate• Include links, keywords, hashtags in post• Peak time = 1 to 3 p.m., also sweet spot in evenings• Higher engagement on weekends than during the week• When sharing breaking news, make sure to identify it as

“breaking” or “breaking news." Analysis shows increase in engagement.

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Facebook • Found Whitney Musem’s

Facebook page• Saw post about Jeff Koons’

retrospective• Embedded link to our

coverage within comment thread to post Bu

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Facebook tips• When you post within comment thread on Facebook, check to

see who shared the post. Those who shared post are potential targets.

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Twitter

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Promote: Twitter

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• Research and find relevant Twitter handles to include in tweet

Twitter tips

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• Research and find relevant hashtags to include in tweet. • Handwritten posts better than automatic posts.

Twitter tips• If you start tweet with Twitter handle, put period in front

so all your followers and all their followers will see it. Otherwise, only those you have in common will see it.

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Google+

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Google+ tips• Research and find relevant Google+

accounts to tag• Type “@NAME” to locate accounts

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Google+ tips• Research and find relevant

hashtags to include• Type “#SUBJECT”

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Google+• Find relevant Google groups to join and share content

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Google+

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• Medical marijuana story • Helps child with seizures

Linkedin

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Promote: Linkedin

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Promote: blogs• Post on appropriate

blogs to draw more eyeballs

• Find forums, fan and news sites that dominate a niche relevant to your story

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Promote: Pinterest

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• Image marketing

Promote: Pinterest

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Promote: Pinterest

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Sharp-dressed shoes contest

Promote: Pinterest

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Pinterest tips• Pinterest is more suited to feature and sports stories than

hard news stories (Exception: Most Wanted Board)• Pin should have strong visual element• Pin photo from website so it back links to site• Can use to extend life of stories

ie. Remember Series

• .

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Promote: Via contests• Consider contests that get others to promote your content• Example: Pinterest board contest• Readers design board (ie. YDR Favorites)• Images must come from your website(s) and back link• Drives traffic to your site

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Pinterest contest board• Create board to promote contest and share entries

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Promote: Newsletters

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Newsletter tips• Connect with people who want your content• Decide what type of newsletter (ie. Feed based)• Keep it short and sweet• Make sure it has value; not just selling• Make it personal; build relationships

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Promote: National websites• Submit unique, weird or important posts that could go viral to: Digg

FarkRedditStumbleUponDrudgeBoing BoingJezebeletc.

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Promote: Digg

• Users submit links, which get voted up and down and commented upon.

• Categories include business, politics, lifestyle, science, sports entertainment, etc.

• Share national and international news, news of the weird, celebrity/politico/athlete bad behavior, funny news, political tidbits, etc.

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Promote: Fark• Users submit links to funny, weird content • Separate categories for photos and videos• Put news organization as the source• Has to be good for Fark to pick it up; read what’s on site

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Promote: Fark

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Promote: Reddit• Users submit links, which get voted up and down and

commented upon. • Lots of categories• Submit anything that will have a national/international

resonance

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Promote: Reddit

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Promote: StumbleUpon• Submit pages for users to stumble upon, add up to 5 tags • Shows readers random pages that have been liked/submitted

in the categories you select• Share anything interesting, amusing or useful• Put badge on site so readers can recommend your page

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Promote: Drudge Report

• Submit weird political stuff, things that make government look bad, crazy crime stuff

• Email [email protected] OR

• Submit via box on website

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Promote: Boing Boing• Submit strange, rare

news items• Weird crime• Astonishing video• Funny• Technology

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Promote: Gawker• Submit technology,

media, entertainment, and business

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Promote: Jezebel • Celebrity, fashion, and sex • Send tips to [email protected]• Include brief description of story ALONG with web

address/URL

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Promote: Other sites• Deadspin • Huffington Post• The Daily What• Delicious• Etc.

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Promote: YouTube• Video sharing website• Think outside the box

ideas: partial recordings for books, articles etc. sending listeners to site.

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Promote: Storify• Notify people that you quote in your story• People like knowing their voice has been heard (akin to “When

will the story be published?”)• They will often share with their followers• It’s NOT spam. Only people who are following both sender and

recipient will see the notification.

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Promote: Storify

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Promote: RebelMouse

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• Your social front page• Connect social networks and hashtags to page• Populates website with images, videos, headlines etc. from

chosen accounts and hashtags• Can embed and has social share buttons • Curate around topic (Gettysburg 150th, Hurricane Sandy)

Promote: NewHive

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• Start with blank page• Create and share web pages, call Expressions• Combination of multimedia (videos, text boxes, audio clips,

etc.)

Promote: NewHive

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Promote: Tout• Record 15-second video clips and share on social sites • Great reporting tool• Use to promote content• Record via desktop web cam or smartphone

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Promote: Tout• Promotes what’s on editorial page

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Promote: Tout• Build Tout widgets to embed on blog or website• Populate widget with Touts from users or hashtags that you

choose

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Promote: Think outside box • Goodreads • Forums

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Promote: Misc • When your content relates to another community, send a link

to news sites in that community. Example: Story about a Penn State football player that appears in Centre Daily Times (State College) could be sent to news outlets in the guy’s hometown (newspaper, TV, etc.)

• Remember to look for fan sites. There is a fan site out there for just about any person or topic, where you get your link in front of those passionate fans.

• Consider guest blogging • When sharing, write SEO headlines, posts etc.• Integrate keywords into content in key places (title tags, meta

descriptions, within hyperlinks)

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Promote: Misc.• Tablet use and Facebook engagement is strong in the evening• Tablet use surges 8 p.m. to midnight• Smartphone traffic fairly constant throughout day• Computer traffic strongest in morning, peaks at lunch and falls

sharply in evening (Most people on PC at work)• Bitly found: Twitter best window is 1 to 3 p.m. Monday –

Thursday; Facebook, 1 to 4 p.m. and Tumblr, 7 p.m. to midnight (mostly younger people use Tumblr)

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Cross promote• Cross promote between platforms• Consider weekly blog “Link Salad”

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Promoting yourself• Build a branded web presence• Flavors.me• about.me• Linkedin professional

networking site

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Layar• AR or Augmented Reality

(vision based)• Add digital content to print

media• Use free smartphone app to

scan print for enhanced content

• Makes “print world clickable”

• Use as promotional tool

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Layar: Promote you

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Layar

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Layar: Promote content• Call to action• Connects to author via

email, phone, Twitter, Facebook

• Links author’s blog• Links related app• Allows reader to share via

Facebook, email, Twitter• Also supports QR codes

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Layar

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Parting words• Content finds readers; they often don’t look for it• Best content provides value to reader • Use SEO best practices • Don’t be afraid to try new things and fail• Be a visionary

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Follow me

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• Buffy’s World: http://www.yorkblog.com/buffy/

• Buffy’s Write Zone: http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/• Author website:

www.authorbuffyandrews.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Buffyandrews• Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/buffy.andrews• Google+:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/102646936236475852585/posts

Follow me• Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/buffyandrews/• Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/buffyandrews• Storify: http://storify.com/buffyandrews• Instagram: buffyandrews• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?

id=40047960• RebelMouse: https://www.rebelmouse.com/Buffyandrews• Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7370309-

buffy-andrews

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Contact

Buffy AndrewsAssistant Managing EditorFeatures and Niche PubsSocial Media Coordinator

York Daily Record Email: Buffy@ydrcomPhone: 717-771-2052

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