How to Set up a Semi-Automatic Sharing System That Builds Relationships and Drives Traffic
November 7, 2020As someone who runs growth at a company that is getting >25% of our business from content marketing, when I found out about Snip.ly I got pretty damn excited.
I’d say something hyperbolic like “I practically did a backflip,” but in reality I just switched my desk from sitting mode to standing mode and started to dig into the software to figure out what I could do with it.
Not very exciting, I know – but that’s just how I work.
One of the biggest issues people face online is anonymity – no one cares who you are. The process of building relationships in your industry online is tedious and takes time, but it’s absolutely necessary.
This strategy isn’t designed to disrespect the work required to really gain a foothold in your industry. It’s just something that I came up with to make building relationships with other bloggers and industry leaders a bit easier.
The Idea
By using Snip.ly to automatically share the best content from your favorite blogs, journalists, or websites in your industry, you’ll do two things:
- Get on the radar of that person or site
- Share content that is already proven to be popular, and drive some percentage of engagers back to your properties.
Sound good? Let’s get into it.
Sidenote: I adapted this strategy from my friends at Authority Hacker. They’ve got a fantastic system set up for content promotion and this Snip.ly strategy is just one of many.
What You’ll Need
- Snip.ly
- IFTTT (If This Then That)
- Buffer or a preferred social media platform
- A list of top blogs in your industry
Step 1: Create a Snip.ly account and set up RSS Feeds
I’ll assume that you already know how to use Snip.ly at the most basic level. You have calls to action set up already and they’re styled properly, linking to the right place, etc.
Once that’s all done, go to Integrations > RSS Feeds.
Now, take the top 2-5 blogs in your industry and drop the link to their RSS feed in. Snip.ly automatically spits out a new RSS feed with your preferred call to action appended to the content.
Step 2: Use IFTTT to schedule shares in a sustainable way.
Now that you have the feeds of your favorite sites all Snip.ly-ified, head on over to IFTTT and either create an account or log in.
You’ll be using the RSS channel for the IF portion of the action, and the Buffer channel for the THAT portion of the action.
The idea here is simple: You’ve pre-selected great content, but don’t want to automatically tweet it out the instant it’s published. It’s much better to add a buffer (ahem) and send it to an app that places all of the shares in a holding zone so you don’t overwhelm your audience.
The recipe is the following:
If new RSS feed item from [snip.ly feed], then add a tweet to buffer.
If you’re creative, you can extend this strategy far beyond what I’ve outlined here:
- Send new RSS feed items to all social channels
- Send new RSS feed items to Google Sheet where you can customize Tweet then one-click add to Buffer from there (better engagement)
- Segment a site’s feed by category and pair that with specific Snip.ly calls to action (what I will be trying next)
Remember to engage with your influencers
The final step in this is optional, but highly recommended. You should aim to chat with the people whose content you are sharing on a regular basis. No matter who they are, chances are good that they like to hear their work is influencing people in some way or another.
It’s not uncommon to build relationships quickly this way. Pretty soon you may find yourself contributing the the outlets that you’re sharing if you approach it correctly.
About the Author (Guest Blogger)
Kevin Espiritu, Marketing at Book in a Box
Kevin Espiritu runs marketing at Book in a Box, a startup turning book writing and publishing upside down. He writes about marketing and business at Supreme Strategies, and life and other oddities at his personal blog. Gardener, skateboarder, rock climber, musician.
