1. Start with a clear goal
- It is always great to have a clear plan in mind! Think about your brand in advance and sketch some of the goals that you would like to achieve. When I first thought about creating “The Waves of Poetry,” I wrote a brief introduction to the website’s goals, the edited version of which you can still find at the top of my homepage.
- Then, list how you will measure whether your campaign has achieved its goals or not (Nimble 2012). This can be something quantitative and straightforward, such as like count, but it can also refer to qualitative data, such as user feedback and reviews.
- Keep in mind all the promotional rules of the platform you are using and include them in your plan (for instance, come up with the list of keywords that would be popular in the search engine of a particular network) (Nimble 2012).
2. Monitor the Web daily
- According to Barefoot and Szabo, “You’ll need to dedicate time to commenting on related blog posts” (2010).
- Contact online influencers one-on-one and dedicate a lot of attention to each of your promotional messages.
- In order to succeed, you will need to spend a lot of hours engaging with the posts, followers, and creators – “around 25 percent of your marketing time” (Barefoot and Szabo 2010, p. 18).
3. Be Careful with Ideologies
- Even though the Web seems like a liberated space of infinite possibilities and freedom, you still have to be careful with ideologies – both of your own brand and its potential users.
- According to Krefting and Barucb, “new modes of technology do not disrupt traditional ideologies, they just reflect them. In other words, nationalism, extremism, and prejudice still play out on the Internet” (Krefting and Barucb 2015, p. 138). Unfortunately, technology does not erase the effects of discrimination, so you must post carefully acknowledging and commenting on the existing social order rather than mindlessly ignoring the ideologies surrounding your topic. For instance, a lot of my content is centred around sapphic women, and I understand the dangers of this topic for users in more restricted countries, like Russia, as well as the discrimination that they may face for engaging with my content, which is why I carefully monitor homophobic comments on my website.
4.Use multiple platforms
- A website is great, but have you tried combining it with Instagram, Patreon, Pinterest, Substack, Soundcloud, and Spotify? I highly recommend using multiple platforms to achieve higher user engagement across all of them!
- “Patreon” is especially great for content creators because it “arranges “patrons” to pay you each month to continue producing your art” or blog, and also offers an option to create “bonus” content for patrons that encourages them to finance your work (Nichols 2021)
5. Don’t be afraid of repetition!
- Even though it may seem redundant, encouraging the audience to like, subscribe, and follow your blog can actually do wonders.
- Adding “like” and “subscribe” buttons at the end of each post is already a win, but you have to point the users to these options by re-stating them.
- “People are more likely to believe what they have heard before,” so if you have an idea that you would like to pitch, or if you want to promote your social media account, don’t be afraid of repeating it throughout multiple posts – in this way, you can draw more attention to this information (Nichols 2021).
Sources:
- Barefoot, D., & Szabo, J. (2010). Friends with benefits: A social media marketing handbook. San Francisco, Calif: No Starch Press. PDF.
- Krefting, R., & Baruc, R. (2015). “A new economy of jokes?:# Socialmedia# Comedy.” Comedy Studies, 6(2), 129-140.
- Nichols, L.D. (2021). Working in and with Digital Media – Part 2. Lecture. WRI227.
- Nimble, K. (2012). “10 Tips for a Successful Social Media Campaign.” Retrieved 21 November 2021, from https://www.nimble.com/blog/10-successful-social-media-campaign-tips/.
The Waves of Poetry 
