8 Ways to Use Blogging as a Social Marketing Tool by Dana Lynn Smith
Posted by pumpupyourbook on May 6, 2009
I have a special guest today! None other than The Marketing Maven herself, Dana Lynn Smith, who is on a virtual book tour this month to talk about her newly released book, The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing!
Today, she joins us with a fantastic guest post on something we all should know a lot about but just might not – how to use blogging as a social marketing tool.
8 Ways to Use Blogging as a Social Marketing Tool
This guest article from Dana Lynn Smith is part of the virtual book tour for her new book, The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing. You can see the complete tour schedule at http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/booktour/.
Here are some ideas for using blogging in social and interactive ways:
1. Encourage your readers to share your content with others.
Make it easy for readers to share your content by adding “share” buttons from http://sharethis.com or http://www.addthis.com. Then ask readers to share by including text at the end of your best posts such as: “Do you know someone who might benefit from these tips? Just click the Share This button below to send a link by email or recommend this post on your favorite social site.”
2. Actively solicit comments.
Get readers engaged by including a sentence at the end of some posts inviting comments. Thank each commenter and make a further comment based on what they said.
3. Make comments on other blogs.
Making insightful comments on related blogs is a terrific way to boost your visibility and create links and traffic to your site. Subscribe to the top blogs related to your book’s topic or audience and watch for posts that you can comment on. Comments should be helpful and relevant, not self-promotional.
4. Write guest posts for other blogs.
Contact other bloggers that cater to your audience and offer to write a guest article. Include a brief bio and a low-resolution photo. Search for blogs at http://blogsearch.google.com/.
5. Create a feed for your blog.
RSS feeds allow your blog posts to be automatically delivered to your visitors and to other websites. To create a feed, go http://www.FeedBurner.com.
6. Do a virtual book tour
Make guest appearances on blogs, ezines, podcasts or other forums to promote your book. Provide unique content to each host on your tour. Content can include interviews, how-to articles, book excerpts, videos, book reviews, or an article about how you developed the plot or characters for a novel.
7. Join a blog carnival.
Blog carnivals are a collection of links pointing to blog posts on a particular topic, or topics of interest to a particular group of people. Learn more at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/faq.html.
8. Hold a contest or drawing on your blog.
Use the blog comment feature to hold contests. For example, post a question and award a prize to the first person who leaves a comment with the correct answer. Or, write a blog post stating that everyone who leaves a comment on the post by a specific date (allow five to seven days) will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of your book. Promote the contest on your social networks.
Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing, www.SavvyBookMarketer.com. To view other articles in the Successful Social Marketing book tour, visit http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/booktour/
Dana Lynn Smith said
Dorothy, I appreciate the opportunity to be featured on your terrific book promotion blog!
Dana
pumpupyourbookpromotion said
I’m thrilled to have you here, Dana!
Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit) said
those are some great tips.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller said
Dana —
As always it’s great to read your valuable advice. Thanks for sharing.
Phyllis
Freya said
Thank you Dana for some wonderful tips. Some of them will help in all forms of marketing.
Thanks for sharing.
~Freya
8 Ways to Use Blogging as a Social Marketing Tool by Dana Lynn … said
[...] here to read the rest: 8 Ways to Use Blogging as a Social Marketing Tool… Share and [...]
Dana Lynn Smith said
Thanks everyone for your lovely comments! It’s wonderful to be able to share marketing tips on great blogs such as this during my virtual book tour. Check out the other tour stops at http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/booktour/
Dana
Tony Eldridge said
I always learn things from your posts, Dana. Keep them coming.
Make Money said
Blog carnivals are good for bloggers. It is a free way to get your content out to other bloggers.
Amir
michaelsean said
It seems that some authors are totally willing to go out and sell their message, while others loathe the idea of actually “promoting” their own work. To be authentic, blog entries, tweets, etc. need to have the voice of the author, not some lacky intern.
Liara Covert said
Thanks for sharing these insights.
Don Harold said
Thank you very much for your blog entry! You have clearly provided the essentials on how to maintain an effective blog and to use it as a marketing tool. Its easy and step by step instructions will surely help writers to market their books in no time.
Social Marketing tools has proven to be much effective due to the new trend of this generation. Almost everybody can be heard through blogging. And for every author, I think it is important for him to establish rapport for his readers, and this can be achieved through blogs. In this way, communication between the author and readers is possible. Thus, reaching a greater market. Blogging is promotion that needs big social investment.
–BookWhirl.com | Book marketing with a heart
norfolk web design said
great helpful tips! thank you for this