Blogging is a great way to kick your ophthalmology practice's content marketing strategy into high gear—but only if you can get eyes on your posts. Creating great content is just one part of the inbound marketing puzzle. Next, you need to promote your content. Here are three tips for driving more traffic to your content.

1. Social Media

The foundation of social media is sharing ideas and content so it's a natural fit for your promotion efforts. Facebook is a great place to start promoting your content as nearly 70 percent of adults in the U.S. are on that platform.

For each piece of content you create, build several snippets–or short sentences to share along with a link to your content–and dole them out over a few weeks. Here are some ideas for snippets:

• Variations to the Title. Offer several different perspectives on approaching the content.
• Quotes. Pull out several sentences and use each as a way to entice readers.
• Statistics. Nothing makes the case quite like a well-researched fact. If you're using any in your content, use them to lure in readers to learn more.

2. Reach Out to Experts and Influencers

Getting a share from someone who already has a large audience is a fast way to get your content in front of lots of people. If you've quoted any experts or cited any sources, send a quick email or reach out on LinkedIn to see if they are interested in sharing your piece. Your success rate doesn't have to be that strong to have a big impact—one or two shares might be enough to get the ball rolling.

It can also be helpful to check your website for popular pages and add links to new content to pages that are already getting a lot of traffic.

3. Rework for Different Preferences

Some people prefer to watch videos or click through slides while others would rather read articles and blog posts. Rework your messages into several formats to cast the widest net. Here are a few ways to use the content from a single blog post:

• Create a video of a subject matter expert briefly talking and share on Vimeo and YouTube
• Create a slide deck and share it on SlideShare
• Convert the blog into a downloadable .pdf
• Create pictures and memes and share on Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr

Building up an audience for your ophthalmology practice will take time. The key to successful promotion of your content marketing is consistency and patience. If there's room in the budget, a few paid posts on social media sites can jump-start the process and expand your reach into new markets.