Why Medium Writers Need Marketing
Marketing strategies to boost readership on your Medium content
Introduction:
Many top writers on Medium claim that posting your story links on social media is a waste of time. They say to make it big on Medium you must publish quality content, get curated, and picked up by big publications not once… but consistently for a long span of time. These claims are not necessarily wrong, but for many of us, that is a long shot.
I hate to break this to you, but not everyone who joins Medium is an expert writer. Writing is not our profession. We know nothing about copywriting or how to best optimize our stories for curation. We are writing on Medium as a side hobby. We try our best to produce outstanding pieces but in reality, our stories barely receive any reads.
In order for Medium writers to stand out, we must learn to market our stories. What does that mean? It means we need to find ways to drive traffic to our stories. It means that we need to understand how to best optimize our stories for Medium’s algorithm and search engines. It means we need to work a little harder than we think we do.
My Experience:
I joined Medium mid-April of this year. I wrote my first article and published it on April 12, 2020. I proudly texted my close friends and linked them to my first article. Like many writers on here, I told them I am going to make it big on Medium… and make a ton of money!
I remained excited and wrote two more stories: one on April 16th and one on April 18th. I thought they were excellent pieces that would provide great value to readers. I thought at least one of the three stories I wrote would get curated. Boy… was I wrong!
The Results:
As you can see, I barely generated any views or reads on my content prior to April 21st. On April 21st, I stumbled upon a story that suggested writers need to find ways to drive traffic to their stories. I am a professional marketer by trade and it all started to make sense. How are people going to discover your work if you don’t market them properly?
In addition, even after getting curated for two tags and published in a publication with close to 400,000 followers, my story barely generated views. Yes, the first few days were great but after 3–4 days, the story was basically dead.
The above image is from an article that checked all the boxes many Medium writers hope to accomplish: get published in a large publication and curated. This shows that curation and getting published does not always equate to more views and reads. You will still need to work hard and market your stories.
Changes to my Medium Strategy:
I did research and applied marketing strategies recommended by other writers. I started sharing my stories on various social media platforms and writer groups. I started applying my SEO knowledge to my stories. As a result, my stats rose consistently each day. My Medium stories did not start gaining traction until I started taking marketing seriously.
Based on my experience (and I am sure many others), Medium’s algorithm is not going to magically show your story to thousands of readers. As a writer, you will need to work hard for views and reads. You will need to consistently share your story links on your social media profiles or in various social media groups. You will have to connect with other writers, read their content, respond to other writers, and hope they will do the same back.
Takeaways:
For all of the new (and old) Medium writers who do not have strong copywriting skills to get curated or make it into large publications often, know that you are not alone. If you want to generate views and reads on your content, you will have to understand how to market your stories.
Below are a few techniques that I recommend:
- Post on personal social media profiles so your friends and family can see your work. After all, these will be your biggest supporters. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit… you name it. You may even get a non-member to convert to be a paying member. That would be a huge win since you just gained a new supporter on Medium. Not to mention, you will also get a portion of their monthly membership fees.
- Join some Medium Facebook groups and make meaningful connections. There are daily threads where you can post your stories. However, don’t just post. Read other writers' work, drop a response, and a few claps. Comment on their Facebook posts signaling you read and enjoyed their content. If you are lucky, they will do the same. I generated most of my views and reads from paying members this way.
- Create an email list. Medium does not notify your followers when you publish a new story. Create a Google form to collect emails and add it to the bottom of your stories. Send out a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter informing your subscribers when you have new content. It doesn’t have to be fancy.
- Learn SEO. This will do wonders for your writing. Learn how to SEO optimize your title, subtitles, URLs, and images. This is a great resource to reference to improve your ranking with the search engines. There are so many ways you can optimize your stories so they reach their full potential.
- Lastly, if you have the money, you can even purchase ads to generate traction. Larry Kim talks about how you can make your content go viral and shown to thousands of members via advertising. This does require some in-depth knowledge of media planning, buying, and strategy. But it has proven successful.
Don’t let your stories sit and die. Both new and old writers should consistently market their stories if they want to generate reads and views on their content. Develop a marketing plan and stick to it. I hope you were able to learn something new and are excited to test new strategies for your writing.
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Thanks for reading!
