blog post image

What is Content Promotion? How to Drive Traffic to Your Posts

You've created great content to publish on social media and now you want to get more eyes on your posts. You’ve come to the right place because in this guide, we'll teach you how to promote and drive traffic to your content to achieve your goals. First, we’ll go over the two types of social media content that can be published – organic and paid. Then, we’ll look at some content promotion tips for several platforms – as well as provide tips on putting together a budget and analyzing your content.

CTA Banner 1

The Difference Between Organic and Paid Content

Organic social media content is the regular content you create yourself and post on your accounts. This includes posts, Stories, memes, videos –you name it. This content can be limited to reaching your current followers with minimal reach beyond that. However, it is still very valuable content and hey, it’s free! A key thing to keep in mind with organic content is that it has a greater focus on developing authentic brand interest, affinity, and trust within your target audience than direct sales. While having followers and sales increase, keeping an engaged social relationship with your current, loyal followers is just as important! 

Paid content is the social media content that you create, publish, and then pay to “boost” to reach new audiences. This is a form of social media advertising that allows you to use your social media content to reach your target audience. You’ll reach an audience beyond your current followers and lead them to your desired call to action, such as purchasing your product, visiting your website, liking your account, etc. The key here is that when you are paying to promote content, you are asking the reader to do something other than reading the content - it’s action-driven.

PLANOLY Pro-Tip: 

Organic

Paid

Free to publish

Pay to promote 

Content reach is limited 

Content reach is expanded

Great for authentically connecting with your existing audience

Great for attracting and adding new people to your audience 

As you can see, both organic and paid content has advantages. Experts suggest taking a combined approach and posting both types of content. Since most everyone knows how to post organic content, let’s take a  more in-depth look at promoting your own social media content. 

Content Promotion 

If you have a business and are already posting organic content on social media, incorporating paid content into your marketing plan is super easy, affordable and a must. Last year alone, an estimated 132 billion dollars was spent on social media advertising and that figure keeps rising. When building your content promotion strategy, keep in mind that each platform has its own suite of tools that can be used to create, launch and analyze promoted content.

PLANOLY - Blog - Content Promotion - Vertical Image-1
PLANOLY-PHONE_-1
Instagram

Promoting your content on Instagram is as easy as boosting organic content you’ve already published. To kick it up a notch, you’ll want to tap into the power of video and work Reels into your content promotion plan. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you promote your own content on Instagram. 

Pinterest

Promoting your Pins on Pinterest can help you focus on your target audience and deliver exactly what they are looking for. When deciding which content to promote, first think about what goal you want to achieve. Pinterest’s goal-driven ad platform will help you either build brand awareness, get more engagement with your content or get people to visit your website (and hopefully make a purchase). There are different ways to use each of the Pinterest ad types available based on the type of Pin. Check out this article for more details and a how-to guide for creating Pinterest ads. 

TikTok

TikTok is not a social media app not to be ignored! With a billion users and growing, businesses are spending a lot of money to promote content on TikTok. The key to advertising on TikTok is to create entertaining, educational, and relatable content. This is due to the app’s algorithm-based feed where content matters more than followers. This is how someone with a small following can reach, or even surpass, some of the biggest users. Here’s how to get your account set up and approved to start your content promotions.

Another way people are promoting their content on social media is by collaborating with influencers. In this case, brands pay social media influencers, who genuinely love and use their product, to share about it on their own profiles. Not only does this feel more like a recommendation from a friend instead of an ad, it greatly expands the post reach. This brings us to the next point, budget. 

Budgeting For Content Promotion

The amount you spend to promote your social media content will depend on how much money you have allocated for advertising, how many people you want to reach and how long you want to run the promotion. Content promotions are charged “per click.” This means that you set a budget for a daily spend as well as a total spend and every time someone clicks on the post, money is debited from your ad account. The promotion ends when you run out of funds for that campaign or the time you set expires, whichever comes first. Each platform has a minimum spend so make sure to check it out when you are planning your advertising budget. 

Measuring ROI

Now that you know the types of content to promote, let’s quickly talk about analytics. When you post promoted content on social media, you want to measure the return of your time and money to ensure you are posting what your followers want to see. This is where the PLANOLY analytics feature is your best friend! In PLANOLY, you can check in on your follower data and monitor your post-performance so you won’t waste time and money on what’s not working! 

 So, now you are ready to start your content promotions! Develop a strategy, create great content, get results and repeat! 

telegram image

Enjoyed reading it? Spread the word

author image
Allie Teegardin

Allie Teegardin is a contributing writer at PLANOLY. As a writer, adjunct professor, and baker, she makes sure to add value to whatever she creates.

More by Allie Teegardin
blog post image
What are TikTok Gifts and can it make creators money?
blog post image
Facebook Puts Out Rules for AI Created or Altered Ad Images
blog post image
Do Hashtags Work on LinkedIn? Tips for Creators
Simplify Your Social Planning

From idea to post - PLANOLY is your go-to planner for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest.

Try For Free

You May Also Like