As a content marketer, what is the number one thing you suggest to potential clients? “Get expert help.” Just because they can manage by themselves doesn’t mean they should. After all, content creation and distribution is not about just making do. It’s about doing it the best way.

Often, it would do well to follow that advice yourself.

You may have zeroed in on methods and means of distributing and automating your content. But that doesn’t mean the time, resources, expertise, and reach available to you can match up with those possessed by specialists.

So here are some outfits that should complement your services:

1. Content distribution companies

Haven’t we all come across an article that we stop to read, and at the end of it, be greeted with a link to another piece, and then another, and then another? Soon, without realising it, we have spent a good amount of time poring over countless pieces of content.

More often than not, one unifying thread binding all these stories is that they appear labelled as something along the lines of ‘recommended’ or as articles that ‘you may like’. That is how companies distribute content.

Content distribution can be useful to content marketers in the following ways:

• Regardless of the quality of your content, users may not visit your website if you’re an upcoming name in the industry. Content distribution companies can help you gain credibility while you simultaneously spend time on SEO and social media promotion.
• However, this aid isn’t just meant for those starting out in the field; thought leaders also maintain their online presence by having their content syndicated frequently.
• Gaining access to one publication site isn’t the endgame. Publishers often get into syndication partnerships, and getting featured on one may mean eventually benefitting from the outreach of additional partners in the future. A greater number of eyeballs also translates to an improved chance of customer acquisition.
• Since it directs users back to your website, content distribution can also result in a boost in organic traffic. Moreover, depending on where it is syndicated, content can gain the stamp of quality and authority from search engines like Google, therefore ranking higher in search results.

Outbrain, for instance, says that after it started recommending content on behalf of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, revenues of SanjeevKapoor.com went up by 20%. Outbrain is just one of the better-known content distribution companies, the others being Taboola and Colombia.

2. Publisher-branded content studios

The growing need for branded content has given rise to content studios, and publishers themselves are joining the bandwagon, marking a shift in the traditional relationship between the brand, the agency, and the publisher.

In the US, the 141-year-old Washington Post launched ‘Washington Post WP BrandStudio’, while in India, digital news publisher First Post has started ‘F.Studio’.

As The Drum, which reports on the advertising and media sector, said in a July 2018 article, “Marketers are increasingly turning to branded content units emerging from the traditional publishing sector, which help brands articulate their story in a manner akin to the editorial voice of said mastheads.”

Given their years of experience, publishers are clued in to what their consumers want and therefore know how to create content best for their platform.

Their expertise in having catered to audiences since the time of traditional advertising methods also means they understand that consumers get put off by content that feels like a direct sale. Thus, they can serve as reliable guides when it comes to helping marketers produce and share content that is heavily veiled as a story relevant to the target group.

Moreover, due to the reported decline in print advertising, publishers are increasingly setting up branded content studios to serve their clients in the digital realm.

3. Marketing automation companies

If content marketing is centred around communicating tailored content to a specific group of consumers, marketing automation is the enabler that makes that effort quicker and more efficient.

Karra Hendrix, product managing marketer at Act-On succinctly explained it thus: “True marketing automation allows you to track each touchpoint that a person has with your brand, take that in, and adapt your messaging accordingly. It should enable you to not only automate processes, but anticipate your buyers’ needs and accelerate their buying journey.”

The marketing automation sector is predicted to grow to $5.5 billion in 2019, through the optimisation of the following set of actions:

• Nurture and qualify leads – By feeding inputs about the criteria and expected outcome to automation software, marketers can categorise their audience into buckets. This helps them cater better to the requirements and queries of leads. However, the same result can also be achieved through a more direct route through automated contact forms.
• Generate profile-specific responses – This feature carries forward from the previous one. By leveraging website cookies, marketers can study site-based behaviour and score the prospect. This helps generate content customised to the buyer’s journey.
• Curate content – A consistent social media presence is essential in an age where the digital landscape has become the point of communication between marketers and consumers. One way to ensure this is by putting out curated content that not only informs your audience but also builds friendly relations with the creators. Manually curating content will not only be a waste of human resources but will also take more time than if automated.
• Distribute content – Marketing automation is best known for content distribution through email. Tools like MailChimp not only send out your content but also provide an easily navigable analytics system that helps study responses such as the open rate and the click rate.

Companies that can help you with actions include Adobe, IBM, and CleverTap.

The bottom line

When looking for help, you can find numerous companies to collaborate with to make your experience in the market smoother and less time-consuming. However, the three types of companies discussed above are the ones that should continue to serve as your primary aids.

References:

What is Marketing Automation and How Does It Help Marketers?

3 Brilliant Marketing Automation Hacks for Content Marketers

Content Syndication Basics: Who, What, Where, When, Why & How

Is Content Syndication Still an Effective Marketing Strategy?

The New York Times’ T Brand content studio: The simple formula that works