Some bloggers spend thousands of dollars on advertising and SEO just to increase their blog traffic, sell more products and also sustain their brand awareness. Now what about new bloggers that don’t have thousands of dollars in advertising budget? Is there a way for these blogging newbies to still attract traffic to their blog even in the face of stiff competition? Well, I will advice you read on to find the answers you seek.
It’s more than two years since I launched my blog and from personal experience, I can tell that getting traffic is the major challenge most bloggers face. There was once a time when I craved for traffic; I even prayed and tried all sorts of weird marketing tips just to get traffic but all to no avail. Then sudden, my traffic started increasing spontaneously without any effort on my part. Within a seven month period, traffic on my blog increased by a whooping 400% and it may surprise you to know that I didn’t spend a dime on any form of marketing. How did I do it? Well, just read on.
One open secret most bloggers don’t know is that a blog can be promoted for free and it is often said that free publicity is the best. This article is going to explain in detail how to promote your blog for free with word of mouth marketing.
Word of mouth marketing is such a powerful technique that if properly harnessed can lead to spontaneous increase in blog traffic. Word of mouth is the marketing strategy on which I grew and I am still growing my blog. Word of mouth was the strategy deployed by Amazon to gain and maintain dominance in the book retailing industry. Now how do you promote your blog for free with word of mouth marketing?
How to Promote your Business with Word of Mouth Marketing
Attracting traffic to your blog for free is so simple that most people miss it. I believe in the keep it simple philosophy and it’s working for me. Without wasting time, below is my simple strategy for generating quality traffic for free.
1 – Give your visitors something to tell others about
The first step to promoting your blog for free with word of mouth marketing is to write or do something worth talking about. Call it a buzz and you won’t be wrong but it must be worth sharing with others. If your blog offers nothing exciting or puzzling to be talked about; then you can never harness the power of word of mouth. What are things you can create to generate a buzz? What will your blog offer that visitors can talk about? Well, below is a simple tactic I use to get my visitors talking about my blog.
2 – Write or share your personal experience with your readers
In fact, this is the ultimate weapon I used to grow my blog rapidly. Human by nature are spurred by stories about successes, failures, challenges or rivalry. If you have a hell of experience, for Christ sake share it; so that others can learn from it. Most bloggers feel good sharing their success stories with readers and I think its okay because success stories inspire the mind. But to be sincere with you, I grew my blog on failure stories. Instead of writing about my successes, I write about my failures because I believe failure stories hold more lessons than success stories. I also write about my personal goals and challenges I encounter in pursuit of such goals. Let me share with you how I stumbled upon this traffic formula.
Sometime ago, I set a goal to become a billionaire in my lifetime. Actually, the reason for setting that goal is personal but one day; I decided to share my aspiration to become a billionaire with my blog community and that led me to write an article titled “How to Become a Billionaire.â€
Before I wrote that article, nobody knew my blog but after publishing that article; my blog stat changed overnight. The funny thing is that I simply wrote that article just to tell my readers the challenge I have set for myself and how I intend to achieve it. But lo and behold, that simple article spread like wild fire and became the rallying point of my blog. Thousands of people visited my blog, read and re-read that article; and then ran off to tell others about it. A lot of people were inspired by that article; some criticized and called me a dreamer but the end point remained that traffic on my blog kept growing without any effort on my part.
With the unexpected success of this single article; I realized that humans connect with personal stories; because it reflects real life experience and scenarios. But am I the only one achieving success with this tactic? My answer is no.
Pat Flynn’s popularity grew after he accepted and embarked on his “Niche site duel†challenge. Jeremy Shoemaker wrote an article on his blog titled “I am a failure†and he went ahead to list ten of his business ventures that failed to breakthrough. Other famous bloggers like Darren Rowse, Steve Pavlina have repeatedly shared their successes and failures resulting from the various experiments they carried out.
So you whenever you are writing a post for your blog, always in mind that your readers want to be challenged, inspired, loved or even sympathized with. If you can connect with the emotion of your readers; they will spread the word about you. It is as simple as ABC.
3 – Encourage your readers to spread the word
After giving your visitors something to talk about, you need to encourage them to spread the word. If the message of your blog content stays with a reader, it will die a naturally death but if it spread; it brings tremendous results. Encourage your visitors to become crusaders for your blog.
For instance, I provided my readers some free business ebooks with no strings attached but I encourage them to share the ebook download page with others. I sell them the idea that it’s evil to be like a stagnant river; always taking in without giving out. This propels them to tell others about my blog. Who wants to be a stagnant river anyway?
4 – Provide your customers with the right marketing tools
This is actually where the work lies in the game of generating word of mouth. Any content you create to generate a buzz will never be successful if you don’t provide your customers with the right marketing tools to help spread the word. You need to provide them with fuel to keep the fire you ignited burning and spreading. Now what marketing tools can you provide your customers?
- Tell a friend script
- Content in PDF format for easy sharing
- Social media buttons
- Videos
As a final note, I want you to know that the strategies for promoting your blog for free can never be exhausted; if only you are willing to be creative. Implement these blog marketing tips and I will see your blog at the top.
Ajaero Tony Martins is a serial entrepreneur and investor with a passion for teaching people how to start a business. He also known for his common sense advice and tips on investing for beginners.