Content marketing is about getting as many of the right eyes on your content as possible, making a connection and building trust. You need people to be spending time reading your blog posts, downloading your research papers and signing up to your webinars and newsletters.
It can be infuriating when the social media algorithms make it so darn difficult to get our links to our content in front of our audience of potential clients and customers.
We don’t add value if we just dump links. But there are thoughtful and effective ways that you can share your important links, without alienating your audience and being punished by the algorithms.
Here, we unpack link dumping, what it means, why it’s a big no-no, and how to share links in a way that adds to your posts, rather than is the purpose of your post.
Key takeaway 1 — what is link dumping?
Let’s face it, a post solely dedicated to shoving a link down your audience’s throat is about as enticing as a lukewarm bowl of chicken soup.
A “check out our latest podcast episode <link>” post is doing exactly that.
The litmus test of link dumping is to take the link away from the post — does your post still stand on its own two feet? Does it add value, educate, inspire, or entertain?
If not, you’ve got yourself a classic link dump.
John Bonini spoke about this when he came onto The Content 10x Podcast to talk about how to create a content brand, as did Amanda Natividad when she spoke about zero-click content. Infuse your posts with insights, humor and intriguing facts that make your audience eager for more. If your post does include a link, it should be the cherry on top, not the entire sundae!
Key takeaway 2 — Repurpose and reignite
That long-form content you poured your heart and soul into is a treasure trove just waiting to be mined!
Repurpose it into bite-sized nuggets for social media, like carefully crafted text posts, eye-catching infographics, or snappy videos. Each piece can highlight a different point or insight from your long-form content that will satisfy a particular curiosity or question your audience has, or simply inform or entertain them.
Some of these posts can include links, others can be purely for engagement.
When you create your repurposed social media content don’t be afraid of ‘giving away the punchline’ — meaning there’s no need to check out the main content it derives from. People are going to find their way to your content if they are interested enough and want to see more (link or no link). So take the most interesting, exciting, bold, or surprising points and repurpose them for social media.
If people click on the link, awesome! If not, it doesn’t matter because they have still been exposed to some of your best bits. Remember, the seven touchpoints rule: the more times they encounter your excellent content, the more likely they are to trust you!
Key takeaway 3 — Drop the desperation and share with flair!
Links are like invitations to a knowledge party — extend them with consideration. Take a white paper, for example. Extract the most interesting stats, create an eye-catching infographic, or edit a series of short videos showcasing its key takeaways. Now, sprinkle those across your social media channels. The posts will be interesting in their own right, and you will automatically drum up interest in the full piece — where is all this insight coming from?
You’re still putting your long-form content to your audience via a link, but you’re delivering value too.
Here’s a great example. We took key points from a podcast episode, and created an engaging image carousel. This post is valuable and engaging in its own right. No-one needs to click a link. But, we tell them they can (in this case we put the link in the first comment) — and it’s up to them whether to follow it for more value.
Interesting fact:
A LinkedIn study found that a huge 80% of B2B buyers use social media to research products and services. So creating content that educates and engages your target audience — like case studies and testimonials — is so important!
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