Ever thought about how starting companies create their names and gain exposure? It all comes back to content distribution, which is the backbone of every small business and the foundation of its marketing strategy.
Truthfully speaking, no company has successfully reached its audience without a proper game plan, so this article gives you a comprehensive discussion on how to achieve the secret that major sites have been using.
What is content distribution?
Content distribution is a strategic way to disseminate content to a large audience properly. It involves publishing, promoting, and marketing in various channels and media formats.
Even with your oldest forms of content, with the proper methods, it can still receive an increase in organic search and in traffic.
How Important is Content Distribution?
Content distribution is the only way to strategically reach a vast audience, especially with the flood of existing and new competitors. A marketer should be able to find smart ways to attract customers to their content and help them discover it.
Regardless of the amount of effort you put into your content, it deserves recognition. It is important because it ensures that it has reached the right audience. “Distribution Rules Everything Around Me,” says Ross Simmonds.
If you’re still not convinced, check out these statistics that say so:
- Twitter users tweet 456,000 per minute.
- Google records 3,607,080 and counts searches per minute.
- 89% of marketers see brand awareness as their number one goal.
- Consumers remember a brand only when they have interacted with it 5-7 times.
The list of statistics can go on and on but, the main takeaway from this is the fact that content is constantly sent out each minute, so you’ve got to step it up.
What are Content Distribution Channels?
Content distribution channels are the mediums used to share and promote your content. These are the places where your audience resorts to searching for information.
But it varies based on your audience and resources, since it is important to focus your efforts on what attracts your potential customers, hence replenishing your expenses.
Moreover, online marketing consists of four media channels: paid media, owned media, shared media, and earned media, which will be further discussed below.
Paid Media
This is a type of media that requires businesses to pay channels to help them promote their content. Google Ads and Social Media Ads (Facebook Ads, Pinterest Ads, Sponsored Instagram, and Sponsored Content) are two examples.
Pros: It can easily gather potential customers, direct brand exposure to your target audience, and increase credibility.
Cons: The major downside is the cost, especially when marketers lean towards the online platform to reduce any marketing expenses and allocate them to another aspect of their business. In addition, your ROI will deteriorate if you’re unable to perform thorough research and aim to focus your business on your target audience.
Owned Media
It is a full-ownership method in which you control the publishing and marketing of your content. For example, you could perform your own email marketing, publish your own blogs, and promote your own podcast.
Pros: This is free or with a bit of cost (if you decide to hire someone to handle your channels) and at the expense of your own pacing. You have full control over content distribution and the channel itself.
Cons: There is a limited range of distribution, and it can only cover those who know your channel or came across it while scrolling.
Shared Media
It is a method of posting content on platforms, e.g., social media channels, and having users share it with you. For example, there are memes you post on Facebook or Instagram, and the user tags or shares the post for his followers to see.
Pros: This is a free and easy method to use, especially when it involves other people granting you more credibility.
Cons: You have no control over user feedback, so be careful not to trigger any controversial issues that may lead to negative comments. If ever you come across one, respond immediately and professionally.
Earned Media
It is a method that utilizes influence to promote your content. For example, content creators may promote your products by tagging you, or a news outlet may recognize your work.
Pros: It is a free way to gain better exposure.
Cons: You have no control over who promotes your content, especially if the person promoting it has an existing issue that might affect your business’s reputation.
Tools use to distribute content to end-user
There are tools that you can use when starting your journey with content distribution. This is an advantage once you decide to build your business online because it provides you with efficient and stress-free tools that can guide you throughout the growth of your business. Here are some of the best content distribution tools we know as the best content distribution tools that you can try out to check whether they favor the goals you’ve established.
1. HubSpot
The Marketing Hub, by Hubspot will help you turn visitors to your website into leads. It offers features such as email marketing, analytics content creation, social amplification, etc.
2. Medium
Medium is a free platform and CMS that allows businesses to publish content. It is a wide platform with an approximate 300% increase in users for the past year that is continually growing and that seeks intellectual and relevant topics.
What makes Medium a good platform for publishing your content is that users read it; they don’t mind if it’s visually unappealing as long as it provides the information they require.
3. PR Newswire
It is a global press-release network for multimedia platforms for marketers, and corporate communicators. It encourages users to connect with and engage with their target audience.
With 1,520 users, it aids in reaching journalists based on specific industries, geographic areas, and topics to help expose your company.
4. HARO
HARO means “Help a Reporter Out.” It is an online service that binds journalists, reporters, and bloggers with sources, namely, subject matter experts.
Here’s how it works: Journalists send a request for sources, also called a HARO query, and from there, an expert responds.
5. ClickToTweet
ClicktoTweet is a free platform that allows users to promote, share, and track their content on Twitter.
With only two simple steps: By creating a soundbite, ClickToTweet provides a link that users can share directly on Twitter, promoting your content and expanding its exposure.
Additionally, with the tight integration of Twitter, you’ll be able to get insights and analyze the trend.
6. GaggleAmp
GaggleAmp is a cloud-based employee advocacy platform that enables a marketer to boost the distribution of workforce communication and social media relaying.
It targets marketing, internal communications, sales, and HR departments interested in leveraging social media to assist their corporate goals, including marketing, sales, and recruiting efforts.
7. AddThis
AddThis is a social sharing tool that increases engagement with customized marketing tools that adhere to marketing’s holy grail: sending the right message to the right person at the right time.
This tool is for mid-to-large-sized enterprises with 1000+ employees.
8. Mention
Mention is a social media tracking tool that allows brands to understand their audience’s perceptions across all their social platforms.
It includes features such as reviews about a brand or product and complete reports on the analytics of their company, as well as insights on the effectiveness of your marketing and PR activities.
It is for entrepreneurs, marketing teams, PR managers, social media managers, and professionals at agencies.
9. SharedCount
SharedCount is an application programming interface (API) that allows you to check engagement data with your social media posts.
It aims to give you a glimpse of which pieces of content are performing well and which need improvement. It could be with WordPress or any other platform that has a large API.
10. OutBrain
OutBrain is an augmentation tool that promotes a company’s best offers and reaches a positive ROI.
It has partnerships with global publisher sites, namely NYT and Mashable, providing you with affiliate ad campaigns’ exposure for skyrocketing quality web traffic.
11. WiseStamp
WiseStamp is an email tool that lets a company create and automate email signatures. Additionally, it has allowed companies to deploy their email signatures along with a hyperlink to the latest content in their email signature.
What are the popular Content Distribution Types?
There are numerous types of content to choose with each type requiring its own content distribution strategy and channels of distribution but not limited to.
Owned media channels
This is what your company owns. You have complete control over the content you want to publish, which is the most basic form of distribution because it requires the least amount of effort. These are the types of content included in this channel.
- Website/Blog– Once you’ve published an article, you’ll be able to promote it through your social media accounts to give it more engagement. For instance, you can add pieces of insightful information that users can share.
- Email newsletters– It allows you to build relationships with your audience by distributing content directly to subscribers, such as new information and updates for those who are already familiar with your brand.
- Ebooks– Ebooks are a long form of content, but they can engage your audience because of their expertise on a topic and their relevant information. surely promote its content. An effective ebook can gather leads and reach a wider audience due to brand awareness and credibility.
- Infographics– A study reported that visual content covers 93% of human communication, making it good for marketing. It is easily shareable and effortlessly made with a lot of tools programmed to create one. People favor infographics since they’re easy to digest and comprehend.
Paid Media Channels
This covers media requiring payment. Most businesses avoid this channel since they resort to excluding marketing expenses, especially with a lot of free tools and practices, but it all depends on your niche and goals.
- Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising– It is a type of marketing that requires the marketer to pay once a user clicks on an ad or link; most PPCs are part of an SEO strategy that prioritizes your business.
- Paid influencer marketing– It refers to paying leading content creators to promote your products or services. This method will gain you new customers due to the wide fan base the influencer has since they trust his or her recommendations, thus giving you more profit.
- Sponsored Content– An advertiser pays someone else to create promotional media. It is similar to influencer marketing, but the marketer pays for someone to create and share the content; it can either be with an influencer or another brand. It gains credibility and raises brand awareness.
Earned Media Channels
This is similar to shared channels since it involves other individuals sharing your content. The key takeaway of this channel is that anyone can share your content for free, hence the term “earned.”
This channel is a noble way of distributing content since it is hard to gain recognition due to the vast and growing number of competitors; it increases your credibility three times faster than any other way, and you hold a greater possibility of the amount of trust placed in this type of channel.
- Guest blogging– Guest posts provide an avenue for distributing content. It reaches a wider audience and, at the same time, raises brand awareness. When choosing your respective guest bloggers, choose those with authoritative websites that relate to your niche, then start planning for collaboration. The success you have at the end of these events can strengthen strong, long-term partnerships with experts.
- Press releases– Though these services require payment, there are platforms that allow you to publish for free, such as PRlog, where you can post by location or industry. This type of content is best used if you have new products or services or are supporting a large cause. It’s inapplicable if you use it for regular marketing posts.
- Social media groups– This can either be under the “earned” or “shared” channels. Nowadays, most businesses aim for social media platforms because of their influence and wider audience. By properly selecting which platforms to distribute your content on, you can easily gain leads.
What are the best practices used for Content Distribution?
There’s one misconception with content distribution, and that is publishing it and posting an announcement about your new content. Yes, it does reach your audience, but does it stay for a long time? Without a proper strategy, any content you’ve posted in the last month no longer exists; as the saying goes, “the best place to hide a dead body is on page two of Google.”
Research your target audience
The main objective of content distribution is to bring your content to the attention of your audience. For a starting company, this can be a bit stressful, so it is best to break down the pillars that make a strong foundation and then work your way up, starting with your target audience.
Why is it important to be able to understand who your target audience is? It’s because it narrows down the effort you need to exert when creating and marketing content. You’ll be able to focus on quality rather than quantity and provide the best displays that will undoubtedly draw their attention to your company.
A target audience is known for two things: behavior and demographics (e.g., age, gender, location, interests, etc.). Your goal is to match your products to the needs of your target audience.
Just to clear up some confusion with this, it does not mean that if a particular cluster does not meet the standards of being your ideal customer, you’ll shut the doors for them.
Searching for your target audience is the process of aiming your marketing resources and message at a group with behaviors and demographics that relate to what you’re selling.
Where do you start researching your target audience?
When you start conducting research, you need to distribute a survey to get results. Similar to the online world, your content serves as a survey. Once you start publishing your initial content, monitor what type of audience constantly views it with the help of Google Analytics or insights from different platforms. In addition, you can gather customer feedback by asking your followers about the highlights of your content and what needs improvement.
There are various features on different platforms that can allow you to do so; make sure to utilize these to help create your target audience. The two pieces of data are then combined to form your “bubble,” which specifies your target audience and creates your buyer persona. It encompasses the motivations and dislikes that you should consider when creating your strategies.
Audit your content
Auditing your content is the process of systematizing it based on its performance. It gives you the avenue to identify which content meets your company’s objectives. There are three essential elements that you need to take note of to identify what needs improvement and what points to keep.
1. Collect all your content
The first step to take is to rummage through all your published content, either manually or automatically with a tool.
If you choose to do this step manually, you can begin with the oldest posts and work your way to the most recent posts, or vice versa, without becoming confused.
Consider using marketing metrics, such as site performance, keyword rankings, and other details.
- Site Performance
- Page views
- Entrance
- Average visit period
- Bounce rate
- Exit rate
- Keyword Ranking
- Keywords that appear on the first page
- Total number of ranking keywords
- Site details
- Page title
- Meta Description
- Word count
- Page speed
- Backlinks
2. Content analysis
Now that you have collected all your data from Step 1, the next activity is to analyze and determine the performance of your website pages and content on other platforms.
- Take time to ask yourself these questions:
- Is it performing well from the perspective of web traffic and keywords?
- Is it performing well on-site?
- Do calls to action attract customers?
3. Determine the content gaps
Content gaps are cracks between a searcher’s query (searcher’s intent) and the results they receive. Addressing the “content gap” issue can help you rank higher since it answers the intent of the searcher.
Utilize tools that can provide you with keyword rankings that you can include in your content and that can help your site have more traffic.
Be mindful to include short or long-tail keywords that have a low keyword difficulty, as this indicates a better probability of users discovering your content.
How to Choose Best Content Distribution Channels?
The content distribution channel may be the next strongest pillar for your company’s foundation after your target audience. Following your research on your audience, identify what channel would align with their needs.
Yet, do not close your doors to other channels and optimize them as they reflect your brand and product. You can test two different types of channels at the same time to see which one works best.
Even the results you’ve accumulated may need a trial-and-error period to give you more credible evidence as to what channel can sustain better content distribution.
Decide on your content types
Following the preceding steps, the next thing you must do is identify the content type you wish to create. Usually, companies opt to publish all their content on blogs since it’s easier to modify and repurpose it in the foreseeable future once it gains traffic.
Moreover, experiment with different content types since not everyone likes blogs. Also, if you can see the changing demands of your audience, you can use the templates your team worked on previously to put out more content easily.
You can even use the various contents you poured out as a way to collect valuable data based on how your audience reacts to them, hence sharpening your marketing strategy.
Set your content distribution KPIs and goals
Your goals are what you deem as your success, so base your content distribution strategy on them and include your content Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
Choosing the right KPIs can assist you in analyzing your tactics and determining whether or not they are effective. A few KPIs you can incorporate into your goals include:
- Article views
- Shares and engagements
- Audience engagement
- Follower growth
- Inbound links
- Click-through rates
- Cost per lead
- The number of downloads or subscribers
- Conversion rate
- Length of sales
- The number of new leads generated
- Average session period
- Referral traffic
- Social media likes, comments, and shares
- Social media follower growth
- Content click-through rates
- Average visit on-site
Build an editorial calendar
In order to execute your work, you need to start getting organized, since this will be the basis of how you’ll work around your content.
The last thing you need is a messy workflow that can interrupt other members and their tasks.
Therefore, create an editorial calendar, which is a tool that a team follows to schedule their work on a daily to monthly basis.
There are tools that offer this service, such as Google Calendar or Trello.
It keeps your team up-to-date with where you are in a project and gives them an overview of the tasks they have to do in the upcoming weeks, and you can easily make any revisions to your workflow if a particular work ethic does not work.
Create your content
After thorough planning, you’ll be able to start creating your content. This depends on your resources, but don’t worry because there are tools available to help you create content, such as Canva for visual content (images, infographics, or videos), Exploding Topics for current trending content ideas, and AnswerthePublic, which provides a list of useful phrases and question people search for when searching for a specific keyword.
Distribute and market your content
It’s finally time to post your content. When posting on your designated channels, make sure that you are knowledgeable about the rules of each channel.
So if you’re posting on social media platforms, learn when the right time to post is or what hashtags get you the most exposure.
Measure and analyze your results
Finally, depending on where you distributed your content, the last step in this time-consuming process is to track your results using Google Analytics or the insights of a platform.
Set aside a specific time to measure and analyze so that you can compare past trends to future trends.
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Conclusion
This can change over time as you go along with your journey and expand your efforts. Overall, content distribution is a meticulous process. Just by following the outline, you’ll be able to see success.
But don’t overwhelm yourself with how intricate it is, because it can greatly help you with your business and content.
Committing to the online world can give you visible results. Once you’ve planned your strategies and set your goals, you’ll be able to profit from those tiring and stressful days and, most importantly, feel a sense of fulfillment once you see users admiring your work.