Winning Eyeballs - Content Distribution “The Exposure"

Companies worldwide keep on investing more and more in their content marketing strategies as a means of growing their audience online. But without the right content distribution plan in place, No matter how much time and resource you are putting in to build your strategy and crafting high-quality engaging sales copy, all of it will end up going to waste. This is where making the right content distribution choice becomes extremely important.

Undoubtedly, a lot goes into creating all that persuasive and lead-generating content. Content distribution is the phase of your content marketing strategy that determines whether or not your goals, audience insights, tactical choices, and creative executions are worth it. And with such a wide choice of media channels and platforms and such a fierce competition for leadership and success, choosing the right channel and marketing techniques can be a huge undertaking.

Are you looking for insights on how to effectively get your content in front of the right people? Are you worried whether or not you are using the right content distribution tactics to publish, promote and share your content with the right audiences?

Keep reading because this useful guide is full of handy tips and essentials that provide the right foundation for your content distribution and promotion.

Content distribution basics

Content distribution is about what marketing approach companies adopt to get their content in front of their target audience and what channels and formats they are choosing to do so. This includes everything from publishing to sharing to promote their content in places reachable by their potential customers so they can actively engage with them. Since this comes right after content creation, you must already have your whole distribution plan laid out so that you can have a roadmap to follow.

Content distribution channel types

There are three types of channels where you can distribute your content. These are characterised as Owned, Shared, and Paid.

Owned Content Distribution:

These distribution channels are owned by the company itself. This includes blogs, email newsletters, social media, or microsites.

Earned Content Distribution

These are third parties who distribute and share your content on their platform for free. These can be in the form of press coverage, guest article contributions, retweets or shares, or product reviews.

Paid Content Distribution:

A few channels require you to pay them to distribute your content to a highly targeted audience. Your content can be distributed in the form of social media ads, pay-per-click ads, sponsored content, and paid influencer content. The most common paid channels include Facebook, Linked In, Google, and Instagram.

Content types for distribution

There are many different types of distributable content that you shoud consider when formulating your content distribution plan. Each sort of content will require extraordinary distribution strategies. For instance, you can do Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Or you can make upload your content in the form of videos on Vimeo and Youtube. Or you can go with the written content on your website, blog, newsletter, and social media channels. The following are some different content types for distribution.

Digital books
Videos
Interviews
Podcasts
Case studies and examples of overcoming adversity
Infographics
Blog posts
Webinars
Emails
Presentations
Whitepapers

Content distribution process

Although content promotion is a whole different process, still you should keep it in mind when strategising for content distribution. Your Content distribution strategy should revolve around the following essential elements:

Audience: Your audience includes people who are aiming to convey your content. In other words, your potential customers

Strategy: your plan of action consists of complete information on how you will engage your audience and communicate with them and which channels you will be using to reach them

Channels: The media where you will publish and promote your content to reach your target audience.

Relevancy: Helping customers take care of their concerns or addressing their necessities

The results: Reaching your objectives and adding to your main concern.

Now that we are familiar with the basics, let's dive into the details and see how does content distribution process work.

Filter your options

To start with, you need to have a deep look at all digital media options you have where you can publish and promote your content. Estimate the relative value of each publishing platform. Filter out your options so that it is easy for your team to effectively produce, track and measure content with each outpost you add to your marketing matrix.

Formulate your plan of action

There is no denying that distributing your content on multiple platforms is better than distributing it on only one platform as it helps you stay competitive and grow your influence in a shorter time. However, When you're launching a new campaign, it's best to start with 1 platform that you own, like your blog. This ensures that you can create 1 piece of content that has the chance to do well.

There are multiple advantages to using your website as a home base for distributing content. It's also helpful to build an audience there to who you can draw traffic for your other channels, like social media.

Choose the right channels

Although you may not realise this your content marketing strategy has a lot to do with your choice of distribution channels. It’s a make-or-break kind of a thing. No matter what size your business is. Whether you are a small business owner or an accomplished entrepreneur who is looking to make the biggest splash possible with a massive, multi-content content launch, if you don’t make the right choice of channels, all your efforts are going to waste. There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding whether or not a channel is right for you. These include determining your audience characteristics and gauging if they are in line with your content persona, Deciding the rules of engagement, communication style, brand tone, brand resources, and capabilities.

Create your content

Now that you have your content distribution plan sorted, the next step is to CREATE. Create the best content you can. Creating high-quality content depends on your resources, team size, industry, and brand. Your content should be equal parts SEO-friendly and readable.

And, here comes content distribution!

Finally, it's time to distribute, promote and share your content with the world. Another key consideration at this point is to optimise your content on each channel. With that said, keep a constant eye on how your distributed content is doing in terms of KPIs and metrics.

Stay informed about your Google Analytics, your social media analytics, dashboards, and your blog performance depending on your content distribution channel. This will help you set up a baseline and determine which areas of your content distribution strategies the following month.

Okay! So that’s pretty much it! Now that you are familiar with all the essential elements of a good content distribution strategy, keep on going over this process from time to time. Don’t let your best assets fade into oblivion. Make the right decisions and nothing can stop your brand from making it big!

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