Please Stop Tag Bombing Me!
It makes no sense other than the obvious
I check my notifications every morning and usually, there are several of them in which I have been mentioned.
A year ago, I would have been thrilled to receive such notifications but not so much now because I know where it is going.
No surprise there that I have been blanket—tagged on someone else’s post yet again. 💣 💣 💣
Why do writers do this?
Some don’t even have a call to action before doing the deed but cleverly tag a100 writers. From what I’ve observed, only a couple out of the 100 who are tagged care to respond.
A very obvious aim for stars and maybe you’ll reach the moon kinda strategy.
Is that the point?
Honestly, it is just annoying. And I’ll explain why it is not going to benefit you as a writer in the long term.
2 reasons why tag bombing may backfire:
- You are not doing any favors to your credibility as a writer: I recently read an excellent article by Winston who summed up the importance of credibility: “ One of the essential tasks you must undertake when writing on Medium is building up your credibility; your persona; your style; your niche; above all, what you represent. If you don’t pay attention to this, you end up being what you attract.”
It may sound harsh but it is the truth. You don’t want people visiting your post just to see their name clumped together with a million others. And neither do you want them to visit your blog as an obligation in order to make you happy. You want them to come because they are excited to read you and know that what you share provides value to them.
Winston offers this advice to get you on the right track: “You have to reflect on which audience you are targeting and chart out a strategy that would guide the way you write to provide your readers with the value you can deliver.”
Recently, I was in a conversation with another part-time blogger, and this person assumed I know some social media strategy because this is what I do full time and they obviously didn’t because they have a full-time job. I clearly told them I am neither a full-time writer nor is my other job related to marketing in any way.
But in order to be a successful blogger, one must not only know how to write blogs for their audience but also learn how to strategize, promote and market their brand.
2 . You are encouraging the clap n runners: (Not familiar with clap n’ runners? Then get up to speed on Medium Lingo with my 60-second read: “Lingo from the Comments Section.”) When you blanket bomb, you can expect some reads mixed in with scanners, skimmers, and the notorious clap runners. Sometimes, you don’t even get a view — just a few claps and a stamp that so and so was there just because you tagged them.
There is very little genuine engagement unless you count ride or die friends.
Ask yourself if that is the goal and if so, then is this strategy sustainable in the long run?
2 things you can do instead:
- Do a call to action tag, a personal tag, or tag a few writers who are relevant to the article: In my case, I sometimes tag individual writers relevant to the topic I am writing on as well as tag writers who I feel are relevant to the monthly prompts on my Life column.
That strategy, I feel, makes it more personal and the results are positive too.
2. Write engaging content, and do the necessary legwork (as I have and still do) like reading, clapping, and commenting in order to build and maintain a loyal audience: I have had other writers call my journey on this platform ‘meteoric’ or something like that while another jokingly calls me a stealer of claps/comments (probably because of high audience engagement) but all I will say is nothing would have been possible if I had sat in my high tower and expected readers to come to me.
I started a year ago on this platform and even though I only publish a few times a week, I have shown up every single day to read, clap, comment and promote other writers.
Related reading by Yana BG
For tips and strategies on how to write content for readers who are loyalists and those who are skimmers, and scanners please read “How I Build my Audience as a Newbie.”
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