Tips for Efficient Content Distribution Strategies

Efficient distribution is a major contributing factor to any content marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter how much effort you have put into crafting your content and making the copy impeccably engaging or if you have infused knowledge from various content marketing strategy tips. Still, if you have missed out on efficient content distribution, your content will not get noticed beyond being published.

The distribution phase is a checkpoint you just cannot miss. With the availability of multiple platforms for your social media accounts and distribution channels, it has undoubtedly become easier to spread the word and garner attention than you could ever have. To bolster your content marketing strategy and ensure the content’s optimal discovery, you need to start by focusing on the word ‘distribution.’ Here are a few tips to help you in this process.

9 Content Distribution Strategy Tips

1. Jot down a content distribution checklist

You may have your content marketing strategy all figured out. And we are sure you’ve also repeatedly heard of how you need a checklist. Nevertheless, it is still crucial to pay heed and put it into practice.

A content marketing distribution plan is essential, whether a memo on your phone or an actual list on paper. It gives you a plan to follow and a pattern that can be relied upon. 

Focus on these four questions when building your list.

• What are the content distribution channels you aim to use?
• What time would be the most favorable period for your content to reach your target audience?
• What would be the best-suited format for conveying the message you want through your content?
• What resources do you have, or what methods are in place to measure or quantify its success?

2. Evaluate the options you have for distribution

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Just because there are multiple platforms for you to post your content, it doesn’t mean that you have to post it everywhere. Doing so will in no way increase the reach of your content. It surely will reach many people, but they may not necessarily form your target audience or be receptive to the message you are trying to convey.

Hence, this approach to content marketing will not impact your business positively. Therefore, it is crucial to gauge the value of each platform along with the types of content you’re looking to post before you go ahead and share your content on it. 

• Assess the media options available 

A good content marketing plan involves a balanced mix of content distribution channels. Primarily, there are media channels over which you have ownership as a company – this ranges from your email, podcast, blog, website, etc.

Then there is shared media, which other organizations and businesses control. The third platform becoming increasingly useful to many small businesses is paid media. This category facilitates opportunities for you to promote your content.

But if you are at the starting stage, it would be an excellent choice to find that one media platform or channel via which you would want to promote your content. 

• Benefits of distribution on an owned media platform

It is easier to control the flow of information if you are distributing it on an owned platform. This could be your website, blog page, Facebook page, etc. Secondly, and more importantly, it becomes the home base for the traffic generated by your content. 

You need to choose the right distribution channel for your content, keeping in mind the pros and cons of each and the message you aim to send across to your target audience. 

3. Criteria to help you identify the appropriate distribution channel

The following are some important criteria to help you choose the right channel to infuse content distribution into your marketing strategy:

• Figure out your target audience
• Check if your audience’s engagement intention aligns with your content’s message
• What kind of content is your target audience most receptive to or will readily accommodate? Is it videos, images, text, or stories?
• Consider what your brand offers to this target audience and how they can be kept hooked to that content
• Keep checking your resources and what best you can offer with what’s available. This is one of the key content distribution strategy tips you should keep in mind.

4. Choose a few distribution channels to start with

Now, after you’ve chosen your mix of paid, owned, or shared media channels or platforms, consider the following points while selecting particular channels under the above categories: 

• Out of the current channels you are using, if any, which ones are actually successful?
• According to your analysis, what is the reason for success on those particular platforms?
• Are any of these low-effort, high-impact channels? 
• Which channel fits your preferred content format choice? What are the factors that make it so adaptable? Can it be reached on any other platform?
• Which content distribution channels/platforms are the most consumed by your viewers/target audience?

5. Take advantage of email marketing

Email marketing is still advantage in your content distribution strategy. It has been around for a while and many studies indicate that it continues to remain a popular and powerful strategy, even among millennials and Gen-Z’s. It’s crucial that you’re building a targeted email list.

A successful tactic to do so is by offering actionable and in-demand content, such as an instructional video or ebook, for free when users sign up for your mailing list. Ensure that the piece of content you offer as an incentive should:

• Be as targeted as it can be
• Adds immediate value for the reader, for instance, teaching them a strategy, showing them a technique, etc.
• Promises to constantly deliver (and make sure you keep up to that promise)

By providing immediate value through your content, you ensure that your readers will want to continue staying subscribed. Furthermore, they will be motivated to regularly check your emails and even be receptive to it.

6. Don’t ignore micro-influencer marketing

It’s a known fact that influencer marketing can be highly beneficial. However, most marketers assume that this is only beneficial if the promotion is done through macro- and mega-influencers. Unfortunately, not every brand has the means to pay such a hefty fee.

Emerging influencers and micro-influencers more often than not have genuine engagement with their followers than macro- and mega-influencers. While you may have to initially work hard to find and get in touch with these influencers, it will most likely pay off when you find the right one who can reach your niche audiences.

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7. Optimize content for maximum search

It is important to use elements like metadata, keywords and phrases, call-to-action texts, and backlinks to boost its reach organically. If you already have high-quality content, infusing distribution becomes the easier step. In case your in-house writers are not churning out sufficient and required content, it would be lucrative to hire freelance writers for paid projects who can bring a fresh voice to your content creation. 

It is also essential that you observe and measure – if not quantitatively, then at least in a qualitative manner – how this new voice is performing on your owned platforms. And observe whether or not it is bringing in more engagement.

Your content needs to be optimized to be automatically discovered by the audience beyond your owned media platforms. Doing so will impact the overall performance of the content. 

8. Track your content’s journey

It is always beneficial to know how your content travels. A user-journey strategy would be a good idea to include in your overall content marketing strategy.

Figure out where your audience is encountering the content within your network. Study the distribution process of your network as well. And observe how and where recent trends and practices intersect with your content or the message it conveys. 

9. Repurpose successful content

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It is always a good idea to have various content, including additional text, visuals, etc., to ensure that you have enough to share. But, just in case you do not have sufficient resources or are working with a limited number of content creators, a smart way to have enough content even while facing a shortage of it is to repurpose content what you already have. 

Refurbish or repurpose whatever content you have into all possible formats (depending on what platforms you plan to include in your content marketing strategy).

According to an insider content distribution strategy tip, breaking a larger piece of content into snippets or smaller pieces might also be efficient in increasing its value. You can then use these pieces on different platforms without repeating one. 

Key Takeaways

• It is essential to know the voice of your content and your target audience.
• An essential step in setting up your SEO content marketing strategy is to choose the right platform for distributing your content.
• A content distribution checklist is essential to keep you aligned.
• Before you distribute your content, it has to be optimized to appear in the search engines organically.
• You must decide the time slot, place (platform), and format for content distribution.
• Also, find a method to gauge the success of these factors.
• Work smart by repurposing your content as and when the need be. 

Conclusion

Content marketing is always going to have its challenges. But, once you plan the strategy and your distribution, you will be in a better position to ensure that your content reaches the right audience. Use these tips mentioned above for effective content distribution.  

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