By Bethany Jett, @BetJett
I don’t only read blogs. Chances are, neither do you and neither do our readers.
Social media is not simply a playground for fun gifs and status updates about our food. We consume content in short form, long form, picture form…all the forms for an artform on the platforms.
With all the time it takes to write amazing blog posts, many posts are written and forgotten, left in the depths of our website’s graveyard never to again see the light of day.
It’s time to resurrect your writing and transform your message into snippets appropriate for each of the social media platforms. Breathe life into your blogs by creating content that you can share on multiple mediums…including Medium, a blogging platform where you can “read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.”
Let your audience find you on the platforms that mean the most to them. Take your “3 Steps to a Better Hair Day” blog post and list the steps on Twitter with the hashtags #GoodHairDay and #NoMoreMessyBun.
Elevate your content a step further and film a quick video sharing your three tips and post it to YouTube.
Share your post on your Facebook page with your video.
Create a cute graphic and post it to Instagram with your three tips and commentary in the caption.
Snap a few photos of you following your own guidelines in SnapChat and your Instagram Stories.
Pin your blog post to your Hairstyles Pinterest board.
Interestingly, there are only a few people that I follow on all of their social media platforms but there are lots of people I follow exclusively on only one. The secret to gaining more readers is to share your content where your readers want to be. And that’s a lot of places.
There are people that I obsess stalk follow on Instagram that I never take the time to find on Twitter. Similarly, after I search on Pinterest for a topic, I may binge-read someone’s blog but without fail, look for their social media icons so I can continue the content consumption in a way that makes me feel more connected.
I’m guessing you may do the same.
How often do you follow someone on Twitter and then take the time to follow them on all their social media sites? How often do you leave Instagram to read everyone’s blog posts?
Better yet, how many times a day do you click over to people’s websites from Facebook?
Twitter and LinkedIn may be the exceptions here, but personally, if I’m on Facebook, I don’t want to leave Facebook to go read an article unless there is a really strong hook and a lot of perceived value. When I’m scrolling through Instagram, it is unlikely that I will click the link in a bio.
However, I will read the story you share in your caption or the blog post version you share on your Facebook page.
Let’s not keep our blog content isolated on our websites. Instead, let’s take that knowledge and recycle the content so that our audience can consume it where they want. Formulate blog posts so that they are full and dense and content-rich so that any member of your audience can share that content on their social media platform of choice so that their readers can consume it.
Use a Click to Tweet plugin.
Create graphics to share on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Film a short video for YouTube watchers and pull the audio for your podcast listeners.
Continue to write blog posts. Forge ahead with your articles. And while your blog readers will love to spend time with your words on your website, your social media followers will be delighted to spend time with you on their favorite platforms.
Bethany Jett is an award-winning author of The Cinderella Rule, speaker, ghostwriter, and founder of JETTsetter Ink, a consulting and editing company. She has written for numerous publications, created the My Moments Planner, Serious Writer Companion, and is the founder of Serious Writer Academy and the Build Your Brand Program.
Bethany is a military wife and all-boys-mama who is addicted to suspense novels and all things girly. She writes on living a brilliant life at BethanyJett.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
The Conversation
Bethany,
I attended the Blueridge Christian Writer’s Workshop last week. Intense, creative, informative, exciting and uplifting. So many great writers and opportunities! I am writing because since it is impossible to attend all the classes and meet all the writers and presenters, I did not get to attend your classes.
Today I did about 40 letters for Jeffery Donley, director of the Honors Program at Ohio Valley University, and was telling him about my experience last week. He asked me if I had attended a class by Bethany Jett and I told him that I had seen the name but had not. Then he said, “she’s my daughter”. I wish I could have attended your class not only because you are his daughter, but because of the content of your classes.
It is so hard to choose when there are so many wonderful presenters. I am very interested and hope to meet you in the future. Your website is quite friendly and interesting.
God bless you,
Sharon