Getting traffic and converting it into money is the ultimate goal for anyone creating content and implementing Internet marketing. But so much content is being produced that most people aren't succeeding.
In my previous article I discussed "The magic ingredient" that improves engagement and leads to far more interest and traffic through backlinks, retweets, and general social marketing goodness.
Benefits of talking about other people, products & services
By talking about other people, products and services in the content you create (being altruistic in the social media sense), you are:
- Giving them something to tweet about to their readership
- Fostering good will within your niche
- Becoming a desirable destination for people to gain exposure
All of this means that other people will start talking about you and sharing your content, because unlike the vast majority of people out there, you aren't talking about yourself.
How to leverage your altruistic content with Twitter
What I have started doing whenever I mention someone else (another blogger, social marketing or media guru, book, product, or service) is to drop them a tweet to let them know that they have been mentioned in my content.
It's working brilliantly. You won't believe how appreciative people are to get free exposure and a kind word. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own promotions that no-one is actually being social. Being social is about discussing more than your own business.
Changing my social media habits
Instead of tweeting (Admittedly, I used to do this) or sharing a post, like this:
"A complete list of eCommerce resources."
Which is boring. It's been done to death - like every subject. It simply adds to the general background noise of content. Even if it is a good article, who cares? There are millions of perfectly good bloggers out there doing the same thing.
I now tweet with a social and human interest using #mentionedyou (even though my niche is focused squarely on business, SEO and marketing):
Now my tweet is not only something that appeals to eCommerce types, it also has a chance of being picked up by those people, products and services who have benefitted from the great coverage they received in my article.
Positive social marketing results almost immediately
As time goes by, people are starting to realize that coverage in my content is valuable to them. They make an unsolicited effort to continue this relationship by giving me coverage.
I benefit greatly from this because the relationship is one-to-many. For one article I write, many people potentially write content about me in return.
I have changed my outlook on content marketing, SEO and social media entirely... and it's working. Whenever I read something that is worthwhile, I make the effort to pass it on, or jot it down for future reference.
Do the same. Follow people who offer great advice. Talk about them. Find other people who are in a position to help you. Talk about them. Help them without asking for anything in return. But make sure they know about what you are doing so that they can reciprocate.