This month is all about setting goals to have a successful year. We’ve talked about starting a regular blog and the steps you need to take to set up a valuable content resource for your readers.

First, you explored who your readers are. You’ve determined what position they hold in a company, what say they have in the buying process and what their problems and concerns are.

Then you took a good look at the traffic to your site or existing blog. You evaluated the best time to post to your blog. You’ve determined how often you want to post to your blog and created a schedule you can keep up with.

No need to worry about the content of your blog. Download this free eBook for ideas.

So, what is the next step? You could start publishing immediately. After all, you came up with a content calendar that laid out what will be written about when and how those posts will tie-in to the greater marketing and buying cycle.

However, there’s one small problem. You don’t want all of your hard work to go to waste. What’s the point of creating valuable and useful content if no one ever reads it?

The reality is few people will be aware of your company or that you have started a blog in the beginning. You need to reach out and let people know about this resource.

Some people will have a specific question, and your post might turn up in the search results. But what about people who don’t have a specific question, but might be interested in your content?

How will you draw them to your newest post? They might browse your site, but how can you find out which headlines will resonate?

You want to A/B test headlines.

But, with your B2B hospitality or tourism blog, you want to do more than set up a test on your site. After all, a lot of people might never have heard of your company. How will they find your posts if you only A/B test on your site?

That’s where social media comes in.

A decade ago, your only option to test would have been on your site. And with the constantly changing nature of SEO, it could be difficult to choose which keyword or phrase you want to target with your audience. But now, with social media, you have a cheap and effective way to test headlines.

Your followers are people who’ve already expressed an interest in your product or company. But even better, their peers might be interested in your company. With social media, you can test headlines.

Every social media network will allow for some small amount of organic growth. It might be how you got your first followers. Even for company pages that have few followers, occasionally you’ll get a like or share from someone who doesn’t follow you.

The same principle applies to posts. You want to target your audience, even if they aren’t following you. When someone shares or retweets your post, your potential audience expands. A single retweet can bring your audience from a couple dozen to thousands.

So you’ll want to test headlines to see which resonates. When you share your new post to your networks, test two to three headlines. Check out these easy testing options.

Testing Option One:

Post three updates to a single network at the same time. In each update, use a different version of the headline you want to test.

Remember, only a portion of your audience will see your update when it goes live. Check how many clicks and shares a post gets after one day and one week. After 24 hours, you can see what the initial interest is. If the post is shared, a week later is a good time to see what the expanded reach and share is.

Testing Option Two:

Post a different update to the same network throughout the day. Each update will test headline options.

A different portion of your audience will see the update at any given time. This method works best on Twitter, where it’s normal for a person or company to publish several times throughout a day.

Testing Option Three:

Post a different update at the same time on different days. This is a way to test headlines to the same general audience. People tend to check social media accounts at the same time each day.

Different types of people are interested in one social network over another. When you post the same content under different titles to the same network, you’re testing for a specific portion of your audience.

Most likely the same people will be seeing the update. You can gauge which headline is most interesting by the clicks over different days.

Before you change your headline on your site, repeat the test a week or so later. If the same headline is still the favorite, then direct future traffic to that particular option. This is great for any evergreen content you create.

Social media is an easy testing ground for blog headlines. It is an inexpensive way to determine what your audience is interested in and what keywords to use in future posts.

Are you ready to incorporate social media into your content marketing strategy? Contact us for your free 20 minute consultation on what steps to take to create a detailed content marketing plan. Or check out our other services for more options.