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they enjoy. You can use these social metrics as indicators of the type of content you should continue creating. In addition, it's also important to mon- itor the reach of your social shares, or the viral growth of your content. Land- ing a share by a Twitter influencer can increase the reach of your content by enormous amounts. Let's say person X with 30,000 followers shares your content and only 2% of their followers read it – that's still 600 people! En- gage with influential individuals and try to get your content on their radar: endorsements and shares from them can take the virality of your content to the next level. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want (ie. retweet). Pick-ups Getting your content picked-up by bigger blogs and websites is a great way to extend your brand's reach and increase your exposure. Landing a big pickup results in more social shares and more eyes reading your content. While some sites are on the lookout to republish existing content, most influ- ential blogs only accept original con- tent that hasn't been published else- where. In such cases, submit as many guest posts as you can but remember to be strategic: you're not writing for these blogs just to be nice – you want to get brand exposure and/or back- links out of the free content you're providing. Make sure you include the appropriate links and mentions to your company in your piece and within your bio. On-page Analytics Analytics tools can be your best friend when it comes to under- standing the impact of your content marketing efforts on your site. Track- ing your month-over-month total blog pageviews provides a fantastic over- view of the general reach of your blog. 13 Behind the Scenes of Content Marketing 7 6

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