Content—it’s on every digital marketer’s mind. They say content is king, so online sites have become pretty good at cranking out the content on a regular basis. A video here. Blog posts there. Until you have plenty of content available … and no results to show for it.
Creating content without a content distribution plan is like filling up a grocery store without opening the doors. If you don’t invite people in, let them know what’s available, and give them a reason to care, the inventory isn’t useful to anyone.
What Is Content Distribution?
Content distribution involves publishing your content across various media channels. This is how you reach out and connect with an audience.
Many marketers set content distribution aside, thinking it’s not something to pay attention to until you have content produced and media channels in place. Not so. Instead, planning out a strong content distribution plan before you create your editorial calendar, gives you a chance to produce the type of content that will engage with the audience. It ensures you create compelling content every time.
Businesses understand that content drives business. On average, around 7.5 million blog posts are published each day. That’s almost 2.8 trillion blog posts a year! Yet very little of it will ever be seen. One study found that 96.55 percent of pages online didn’t receive a single visit from Google.
Think about your online goals for a moment. If you’re like most brands, you:
- Create a site to increase your reach and grow an audience
- So you can build up your traffic and gain more sales
- To have a higher profit margin and grow your business
But the only way to do that is to reach out to more people who aren’t aware of what you do as of yet. Content distribution increases brand awareness, which increases profits and brand loyalty. The more you distribute, the better you get at the process.
- You learn what people want
- You create more of it
- You engage on a higher level with the people who want to do business with you
Content Distribution Channels
The internet is filled with content distribution channels. Try to use too many of them, and you’ll get lost in the process. That’s where a plan comes into play.
There are three types of content distribution channels:
- Internal
- External
- Paid
Internal channels are the platforms you own and control. They include your sites, blogs, social media profiles, email, videos, etc. While you don’t own the actual platform for your Instagram or Facebook account, you do control the content being placed onto it. Your content distribution plan should be created to maximize results based on each platform’s strengths and outreach.
External channels are platforms beyond your control. This happens when third-party sites talk about you. If a product review, guest article, Google search, or online community provides a link to your data, that’s an external channel. You don’t pay for these links or exposure. Instead, it’s validation that someone likes what they see, and shares it with others in their circle.
Paid are the channels and platforms you pay to get results. This can include pay-per-click, social media ads, paid influencers, or display ads. It’s often referred to as “pay to play.” The more you’re willing to spend, the greater your reach.
Dig Deeper
5 Practical Tips For Boosting Your Landing Pages
How To Be More Likeable In The Online World
3 Steps to a Successful Content Distribution Plan
Different people prefer to consume different types of content. It’s your job to figure out what your audience wants and what you like to create. If one type has little appeal to you, you’ll have a harder time creating it. This is a delicate balance of finding out what you’re good at and tweaking it so your audience adores what you’re making. It can be a combination of blog posts, ebooks, videos, podcasts, infographics, presentations, newsletters, and surveys.
Once you have your content in place, there are three main components enabling your brand to build a solid content distribution plan:
1. Evaluate Which Channels Are Right for You
Many brands assume that success comes from sharing content everywhere. They create profiles on all the major platforms and try haphazardly to keep up with posting. This approach will never achieve results.
You’re much better to start small, pick your preferred platform, and maximize potential before moving on. If you have visual appeal, you might start with something like Instagram. Get good at sharing content, referring people back to your own site, and maximizing traffic and profits by using the paid ad platform.
2. Develop Your Own Distribution Plan
Once you’ve decided on your channels, determine the content distribution process. This can include who will post, who will create content, how many times you should post, who will engage, and who will handle advertising.
Establish your goals, outline your priorities, and seek out help as needed. Remember, your goal should be to get really good at maximizing potential on this one platform before you take your knowledge to another one.
3. Leverage Your Results
This is all about results and follow-through. Where can you improve your results? If people are engaging with your content, how can you create more of it? How can you make the content better? How can you reach a larger group?
Like all forms of marketing, this is about going deeper with your strategy and becoming more engaging over time. Build up your funnel to identify what triggers sales and produces the most value. You may have fun creating a specific type of content, but what’s the point if it doesn’t produce results?
This also gives you a chance to personalize your message further. Start targeting specific audiences. You can create different channels for people to follow to split off a larger, more broad category. This also allows you to optimize everything you do for even more targeted results. Google notices every piece of content created and rewards those who are seeing results.
Growth happens over time. This isn’t something you’ll find instant results with today. But if you’re in business for the long run, isn’t it better to start the right way today? A content distribution plan can open the door to better customers, larger profits, and a more valuable company overall.
What are you waiting for? Get started developing your content distribution plan today.
