Medium: a tool to reach a larger audience
One of the most important and most difficult tasks for a start-up is getting the word out about your brand in an effective and inexpensive way. The typical bootstrapped start-up does not have the budget for an expensive PR firm, paid product placements, or track-back ads. You have to exploit the crap out of all social media channels to connect with your potential customers. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are the typical go-tos, but after awhile you might feel like the well is running dry. You might find the number of people sharing your content starts to fall off or perhaps it is getting more difficult to power new and engaged traffic to your blog. This is the time to:
Say hello to Medium.com
I like to think of Medium as an “Etsy” for blogs. Similar to an online shopping platform, Medium has an interested, engaged, and pre-established audience. This audience is hungry to read, learn, and share good content. It is such an incredible resource and one that should not be abused. Based on my own experience bootstrapping an online start-up, I put together five rules to follow when using Medium. These rules will help you reach new followers, new users, and new customers, and allow you to do so in an effective, responsible manner:
1. Write meaningful, in-depth content.
We all know click-bait when we see it and we are all guilty of clicking on it. These gif-laden, list-driven, pop-culture-ridden posts exist to drive numbers up. They increase traffic and appeal to the ‘shiny-things’ part of the human brain. They distract us and make us laugh. And there is nothing wrong with that. Interestingly enough, though, a recent study by Buzzsumo found that the most shared content was between 3,000 and 10,000 words. People actually crave long-form, meaningful content. After gathering data on all Medium posts, a similar conclusion was drawn: a 7 minute post is optimal (this is about 1,500-1,800 words). Obviously you can have 7 minute posts that drone on and bring nothing to the table, but the numbers indicate that well-written, in-depth posts tend to be shared most often.
Tip: Think of a topic that resonates with you deeply. Pretend as though you are in college again and really explore this topic. Share an experience that is unique to your life and exposes your vulnerabilities. People like to read personal, authentic stories. Take some extra time to develop these posts, have a friend edit and revise, and share these in-depth posts on Medium. Your hard work and effort will be rewarded by this smart and engaged crowd.
Great Example: “My startup failed, and this is what it feels like…” by Nikki Durkin (23 min read), personal story of failing in the start-up world.
2. Get creative with the layout.
One of the many well-executed aspects of Medium is the layout and overall design. The infinite-scroll feature lends itself well to longer-format posts. This feature, combined with the legible typefaces and center-column display make the reading experience very pleasant. There are no banner ads to disrupt your visual experience, so you can really get involved in a post.
Tip: If you are telling a personal story, include pictures. People love to read personal stories, but we all love to put a face to a name. Take advantage of the ability to include photos, quotes, and links in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Also, if you are writing a longer post, think about creating a “timeline” for your piece and create topic headings or chapters that divide up the text.
Great Example: “Hiking Skåla” by Cole Rise (5 mins). This post is a gorgeous visual story featuring photos by @ColeRise (follow him on Insta for more spectacular photos).
3. Write & share posts in a timely manner.
It cannot be denied that the internet has increased the speed at which we consume news and media. Trending searches and hashtags are here one day and gone the next. The truth is, you will likely get more views if you write about a trending topic in a timely manner. This is not a specific rule to Medium, but for blogging in general. Google Trends shows you what people are interested in at the exact moment it is being searched. This is a macro view, and includes all Google users. I also recommend that you use your own followers to develop interesting topic leads. Presumably, your current followers are representative of the type of follower you’d like to attract. So, if you see your Facebook news feed filling up with articles and posts about the book “Divergent” or about “business coaching” you might consider writing a post that involves these topics.
Tip: After you’ve written your post, don’t wait to post. Share it immediately with your followers. Tweet it at specific influencers in the field of interest and reference their posts if you were influenced by them. If people are genuinely interested in your topic, they will share it with their followers.
Great Example: “6 Things You Should Know About Your Clothes” by Shannon Whitehead (5 mins). This post gained over 300K views in large part because it appealed to Shannon’s current followers who are interested in sustainable, eco-fashion.
4. Use Medium tools: Stats & Collections
Some of the coolest parts of Medium are “behind-the-scenes”. After you have created your profile and start posting, you will see how your posts perform in the “Stats” part of your profile. You will be able to track the number of views, the number of reads, the read ratio, and recommendations. Delve even deeper into your “Stats” by clicking on the “Referrers” link under your post title. This will tell you exactly where your traffic is coming from. You may find that your post is spreading like wildfire on Twitter, and not seeing much love on Facebook. This information is useful in developing your next post. The “Collections” section is worthwhile for exploring new content you want to read, but also for publishing your post in topic-specific places. Medium users follow “collections” and are notified when new posts are published in these “collections”.
Tip: Think of topics that appeal to your followers. Use the “Collections” section to search for these related topics. This is where you will find new followers. Make sure to only submit content to collections that pertain to the topic. Don’t be spammy.
Great Example: The “Retail & Fashion Entrepreneurs” collection. I subscribe to this collection because it is an interest of mine. I am more likely to read posts on this topic, so I am a “primed” consumer of content in this category.
5. Read, and share, other people’s posts.
Part of growing a community is being an active participant in that community. So, if you find Medium to be a good tool for publishing content and gaining new followers, return the favor. Find posts that interest you, recommend them, and share them. If people comment on your post, respond, start a conversation. Try your best to be a thoughtful member of the community.
Tip: Follow Medium to learn more about updates to the site and how to use the site properly.
Great Example: “Following People on Medium” by Medium (2 min). This post shows you how and why to follow people.
Some of my personal favorite collections include “This Happened to Me”, “The Matter Archive”, and recently I really enjoyed reading “My Life with Piper: From Big House to Small Screen” by Larry Smith (42 mins).
