When you write a new blog post for your business or personal blog, the next step is to drive traffic to it. Your blog subscribers will be alerted to the fact that you have a new post. However, usually you want to also get the word out via social media to attract new readers and subscribers. There are a host of ways to do this as there are many social media platforms for promoting your blog post.
This post will focus on promoting your blog via Twitter using ‘Auto-Share’ tools and tactics. This simply means that your content will automatically be tweeted using these methods that I will share below.
A few things to note before I begin:
1- Twitter is a very crowded platform so tweeting new blog posts multiple times is necessary and recommended in order for it to get noticed.
2- It is advisable to change the tweet wording for multiple tweets of the same content so that it gets noticed using different buzz words or keywords related to the topic. And for those who see your updates multiple times in their twitter stream, it will look like you are tweeting different content.
3- Know your target audience and try to find that sweet spot between alerting your followers to your new blog post and sort of ‘spamming’ them with your repetitive tweets.
Now here are the 5 ways to auto-tweet your blog posts:
1 Connect your Twitter Account with Feedburner Feedburner is a web feed management provider. It allows you to publish and customize your RSS feeds and podcasts plus provide subscription options to your readers via email or other RSS readers. One of the tools and functions of Feedburner is the ability to publicize your content in many different ways.
You can sign up for a Feedburner account at http://feedburner.google.com You will need to have a Google account so you will be prompted to create one or link to an existing account.
Then type your blog address where it says ‘Burn a feed right this instant’. Follow the steps to create your Feedburner account.
Once you are finished, go to your feed’s Dashboard and click the ‘Publicize’ Tab, then click the ‘Socialize’ service on the left.
Add your Twitter Account, then customize the options and save the service. Now whenever you have a new blog post, Feedburner will automatically tweet the post to your twitter account.
2. Twitter Tools Plugin The Twitter Tools plugin for wordpress allows you to set certain preferences, connect your Twitter account to your wordpress blog and automatically tweet new posts. You can download the plugin here http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools/ and follow the instructions for installation. Once you have installed the plugin, go to settings, then select the Twitter Tools plugin and set your preferences. You will have to connect your twitter account and authenticate it. There will be instructions for doing this within the plugin interface and you will only need to do it once.
3. Twitterfeed Twitterfeed.com This is a free service that allows you to feed your blog to Twitter, Facebook and a few other networks. Once you are registered and signed in, click on ‘Create New Feed’ and follow the steps to add your blog information. Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ for more customization options. You can see my default settings in the image below. Continue through the steps until complete.
4. Tweet Old Post Plugin for WordPress As the name suggests, this plugin allows you to tweet previous blog posts according to your specifications in terms of date range, frequency, etc. You can download the plugin here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweet-old-post/
Here are some of my settings:
5. Mailchimp RSS Campaign This one is just a little tricky and I just started doing it myself. Firstly, I just started using Mailchimp.com as an email newsletter provider and I sort of just conjured it up with my ‘very analytical’ way of thinking. But the method is sound.
OK, so first you need a Mailchimp account which is free. In fact they have a very good deal for those who are just starting out. If you are on a budget and have a small email list or want to start building one, you should try them out. You can have up to 2000 subscribers with a free Mailchimp account. Once you establish your account, create a list from the Dashboard called, ‘RSS Subscribers’ and add yourself to the list.
Go back to the Dashboard and click on ‘Create Campaign’, then scroll down to the RSS-driven Campaign option and click. Enter your RSS feed URL. This will be the same URL from the first method above, the feedburner URL. Customize the time that you would like the tweet /update to go out. Click next.
You will then be taken to a page where you will have to select the list recipients. Click the RSS Subscribers list you created.
The next step will look like the image below. I have highlighted my settings in the red frame. NOTE: Not Mailchimp’s default settings which reads more like an email. You can use words/copy that suits you.
Next step is to choose a template. I like to choose the RSS to email template under the pre-designed template category. Style as needed in the next 2 steps then click Start RSS Campaign at the BOTTOM in STEP 6.
Now whenever, you have a new blog post, Mailchimp will automatically send you an email update about the new post AND auto-post to the Twitter account that you selected in Step 3.
This is what the link that is tweeted will look like when clicked:
And there you have it. 5 different ways to auto-post your new blog posts to Twitter.
I hope you found this post informative and helpful. Would love to hear your feedback or any other ideas or tips you have for automatically promoting your new blog posts.
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