Content Marketing Distribution: 13 Tactics to Optimize Your Plan
Content marketing distribution should actually be the primary focus of your content marketing strategy. If we’re thinking about this in terms of the 80/20 Rule, creation should only be 20% of your content marketing strategy. Distribution should be where you spend most of your time.
The point to start figuring out how to share a brilliant new piece of content isn’t after it’s already created. By that stage, you need to be ready to launch it out into the world.
Here are 13 channels you should consider adding to your content marketing distribution plan.
1. Twitter threads
Notice I didn’t just say to tweet your content links. You should absolutely do that as well. But lately threads have been where the engagement is at on Twitter. People are looking for longer form content. Yes, even on Twitter! Tweet threads allow you to connect multiple tweets so you can complete a longer thought or tell a full story without being limited to 280 characters. It’s basically micro-blogging, and people seem to love it. It’s a more creative way for you to get attention.
2. Facebook groups
There’s been a lot of migration away from Facebook lately because of a number of high-profile issues in the news. Marketers have continued to sing the praises of Facebook groups, though. Getting active in these groups is a great way to build community and to promote. Adding a caveat here. The promotion needs to be done in a subtle, natural way. You’re likely to get booted from a group if you come in spamming everyone with links telling them to check out your posts or whatever. See the next item on this list for a possible work around.
3. Social media graphics
Social media platform algorithms favor content without external links. So your content distribution plan needs a dash of innovation to beat that. Graphics answer the need here quite well. Create a beautiful image that conveys some of the basic info in your content. Add your website link or brand name to give yourself credit. Then share that on various platforms, including in Facebook groups or anywhere else online (I’ve even started sharing mine on Pinterest). It tends to help build your brand and drive traffic.
4. Infographics
A full infographic is always a big hit if it’s designed well. Visual communication is much more impactful than text alone. So converting your content into an infographic is a great way to amplify your message. I recommend creating a teaser version of the infographic to share on social media rather than trying to post the full thing. It just doesn’t translate very well. Check out how I turned this full infographic into a social media snippet for LinkedIn.
5. Reddit
Not enough B2B marketers are taking advantage of the “front page of the Internet” for content marketing distribution. Reddit is a great social platform for direct, one-to-one conversations. And marketing-focused subreddits exist.
6. LinkedIn posts
We’re witnessing the growth and evolution of LinkedIn in real time this year. Content creation and distribution on LinkedIn has exploded. But the majority of engagement takes place between individual users, not on company pages. Leverage your personal profile to share content, and get your full team involved. Same rule applies as with Facebook groups. Overly promotional content tends to fall flat. Focus on community building and providing valuable content directly on the content to build interest. Other users then naturally end up migrating to your site to find out more about you or get more value.
7. LinkedIn Pulse
LinkedIn Pulse is the built-in blog section of the platform that lets users write much more long-form content. Posts have a 1300-word character limit. But Pulse articles don’t have the same restrictions. Use that flexibility to create teaser content that will draw people to your website. Here’s an example of where I used a LinkedIn Pulse article to link back to the full blog post.
8. Webinars
I don’t know of many B2B companies that aren’t producing webinars right now. They feature as a must-have in the B2B content marketing playbook. If you’ve got a stellar piece of content, why not let it inspire a stellar webinar topic? The content then serves as a follow-up piece for anyone who registers.
9. Videos
Video marketing content generates a lot of demand these days. It works well on nearly every platform, and embedded video provides SEO strategy benefits. Creating video content is simpler than ever these days. Fancy equipment isn’t a requirement. If you have a computer and software like Zoom, you’ve covered the basics. A variety of apps offer easy editing capabilities. And if you’re already producing webinars, repurposing those video files into smaller chunks quickly expands your video content library.
10. Podcasts
Some notable marketers call podcasts the #1 marketing channel for brand building. The opportunity for content distribution exists around podcast marketing, for those that are willing to invest the time to learn how to execute well. These are similar to webinars and videos in that they offer an alternate format to reach another segment of your audience (and grow your audience while you’re at it).
11. PR pitches
I include this one on the list with the extra note to please use caution here. Journalists are fielding a lot of pitches. They, like anyone else you ask attention of, don’t want BS, so don’t take a piece of fluff content and try to present it as substantial. But if you’ve got a meaty piece (something with some great research or original stats for instance) then you can absolutely present this to journalists who cover your space. A number of publications publish well-designed infographics. One of my infographics recently ran in PR Daily (and I didn’t even pitch that one! They found it in a tweet).
12. Medium
A lot of marketers and brands sing the praises of Medium. It’s a great place to re-share your content and reach a completely new audience. I won’t go much into detail here. It’s a pretty straightforward tactic to repost your content here (tons of articles teach you the technical side if you’re interested). But if you’re interested in testing this channel, I recommend checking out some of my favorite brands on Medium: Netflix and Airbnb.
13. Influencer networking
This is a big one these days. Influence is currency, and you can absolutely seek to find the right influencers in your space to share your content. What’s great about this is that you can partner with anyone who has a strong voice of authority within the communities you target. It can be an employee, a client, a business friend. They might even agree to be an evangelist for free or for the favor of you also sharing some of their own content marketing.
Did I miss any channels you think need to be included in a content marketing distribution plan? Add me on LinkedIn or tweet me!
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