8 Ways to Get the Most Value From a Blog Post

If you're like most people, then you can probably think of a time when you invested your precious energy or resources into creating an amazing blog post, only to have it flop. Maybe you promoted it once or twice on social media, or even mentioned it in a newsletter, but traffic to your website slowed to a trickle after a few days and you had to jump right back onto the hamster wheel to create more content. 

That’s exhausting, and you have other things to worry about. Am I right?

Friends, you can squeeze SO much more value out of your content! You can pull enough content from a single blog post to direct high-quality traffic to your website for up to 90 days without coming across as annoying or salesy.

The Psychology Behind Clicks

Most people are worried that if they promote their content multiple times, then they’ll come across as spammy. I totally hear you, and nobody wants that.

BUT, it’s important to keep in mind that only 10% (or less!) of your social media followers see any given post. If you were to jump into Instagram and promote a blog post today, then chances are that 90% of your followers still wouldn’t know that it existed tomorrow. Ouch, and that’s on a good day when the algorithm is working in your favor. 

On top of that, people usually need to see something 3 to 4 times before they’re curious enough to click on it. 

This means you’ll need to promote a blog post multiple times across every channel for weeks in order for your audience to really know that it exists - and to become curious enough to actually click on it. 

I know what you’re thinking … You can’t just show up day after day telling people that you have a new blog post. That’s annoying and uncreative, and it probably won’t work. 

Instead, you have to be smart about how you talk about your blog post so that every promotion feels like a new and inspiring angle.

8 Ways to Squeeze Value From Your Content

1. Introduce It

This first step is the only one that most folks consistently follow. It involves jumping onto every platform where you have a presence (Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, newsletter marketing, etc.) to announce that your blog post is live and to share a link. Typically, the first paragraph of your blog post is a great teaser, all you need to do is add a little CTA (call-to-action) at the end to encourage people to click and learn more.

For example, when I go to promote this blog post, I’ll share the first paragraph as a teaser, and I’ll add instructions at the end (in italics) for where folks can go to find more info.

EXAMPLE:

“If you're like most people, then you can probably think of a time when you invested your precious energy or resources into creating an amazing blog post, only to have it flop. Maybe you promoted it once or twice on social media, or even mentioned it in a newsletter, but traffic to your website slowed to a trickle after a few days and you had to jump right back onto the hamster wheel to create more content. Here’s the good news: With a simple strategy in place, you can direct high-quality traffic to your website for up to 90 days after a blog post goes live. Click the link in my bio to read my latest blog post “8 Ways to Get the Most Value From a Single Blog Post” for step-by-step instructions!

2. Create Story Slides

A few days after you’ve introduced your content in a newsletter and on your social channels, it’s time to follow-up with Story slides for Instagram and Facebook. Some people (myself included!) spend way more time hanging out in Stories than they do scrolling in feeds, so you’ll want to make sure that you connect with this audience, as well. 

You do NOT need to be a graphic designer to create beautiful, on-brand Story slides. I recommend signing up for a free Canva account and then typing “Story” into the search bar. You’ll see a ton of beautiful story templates that you can easily edit and customize to fit your brand and message. Download the slides as JPGs and then share them on Instagram and Facebook Stories. 

3. Share Each Main Point Individually

You already announced that you have a new blog post, so now it’s time to create a separate social media post for each of the main points or recipes covered in your article. 

For example, let’s say you have a blog post that summarizes the 5 healing benefits of peppermint. Each benefit can stand alone as a separate social media post or newsletter snippet with a new image. At the end of each caption or snippet, say: “Want to learn more about peppermint’s ability to support your health? Click the link to read my blog post, “5 Ways to Use Peppermint in a Modern Apothecary.” 

Schedule these individual points about 1 week apart on all of your social media platforms, and post about other topics in between. This will help ensure you don’t come across as spammy (or obsessed with a single topic for months on end!). In my experience, you’ll see the best results if you share 3-5 main points broken out over the course of a few months.

4. Use Your Blog Post to Answer a Question

Asking questions on social media is a fantastic way to boost engagement and build community. Is there a way that you can ask a question, and then provide a link to your blog post as the answer?

For example, let’s pretend you have a blog post entitled “7 Easy-to-Grow Herbs for Beginning Gardeners.” You could ask your social media friends, “What’s an herb that you’ve always wanted to grow, and why?”

As the comments come trickling in, respond to each one individually with a thoughtful response and a link to your blog post for more info. 

This technique works well either as a social media post OR a Story if you use the “Ask me a question” box and then respond to people directly. 

Pro tip: If you have a brand new, tiny social media following, then you may be worried that nobody will engage with your question. If this happens, reach out to a close friend or family member and ask them to engage with you. There’s no shame in this - you’d be surprised at how often big companies prompt their employees to do this very thing.

5. Make a Graphic

Text-based graphics perform well on social media, and they’re the most likely to go viral because people can easily repost them on their Stories or in their grids.

To make a graphic, identify a sentence (or two, or three!) from your blog post that can stand alone well and is extra interesting, inspiring, or uplifting. Use Canva to create a graphic(s) using fonts and colors that are true to your brand.

Share the graphic(s) on social media, and in the caption leave instructions for where people can find your blog post for more info on this topic.

6. Don’t Forget About Pinterest!

Pinterest is more of a search engine than a social media platform, and it's a super powerful way to bring new visitors to your website for years to come. If you’re not currently using Pinterest for your business, then you’re definitely missing out on a free and easy marketing opportunity. 

You can promote a single blog post multiple times on Pinterest, just make sure to use a new image each time so that Pinterest recognizes it as fresh content.

To best promote your blog post on Pinterest, you’ll want to create graphics that have your blog post’s title overlaid on a beautiful and relevant image (example below). 

The two most helpful (and free!) software platforms that I’ve found for this are Canva (for designing the pins) and Tailwind (for scheduling them in advance). 

7. Share Testimonials and Feedback

After you’ve successfully promoted your blog post for a few weeks, you will hopefully have some feedback from your followers and customers that you can share as social proof. This feedback could come in the form of social media comments, responses to your newsletters, and even in-person conversations. Here’s how to repurpose it:

1. Reach out to the person who shared their thoughts and ask for their permission to repost their comment on your social media platform.

2. After they say “yes” (hopefully!) then copy/paste their comment into your social media planner as a caption, and make sure to tag them (if possible).

3. Below their testimonial, add a little bit of text that helps give context for their feedback.

4. Choose a new, relevant image to go with it, and schedule the post to go live on a day when you know engagement is typically high. 

Here’s what this post will look like in practice:

8. Create a Roundup

After you have a robust collection of blog posts in place, you can start bundling them together in unique roundups. For example, let’s pretend that over the past year, you’ve shared 5 different tea recipes in 5 different blog posts. 

To create a roundup, you can make a new blog post named “My 5 Favorite Herbal Tea Recipes.” Include a paragraph to introduce each tea blend, and why you love it, and then link over to your original blog post for the recipe itself.

This is a fantastic way to direct new traffic to old posts in a way that feels fresh and seasonal. After you start paying attention, you’ll notice that big companies do this all the time!

Free Checklist

There’s nothing I love more than seeing my clients squeeze every drop of value out of the content we create together. 

To make this process even easier, I’ve created a simple checklist that you can use to promote your blog posts in the smartest, most efficient way possible.

In Closing,

If you have questions about this process or would like to work with Herbal Content Cottage to create inspiring, seasonal content for your brand, then schedule a free Discovery Call today. 

We can’t wait to hear from you!