Creating a good product is only half the story. History is littered with stories of how a great product was let down by marketing that didn’t get the word out about how good it was, and an inferior product won the race. In the same vein, the creation of great content is only half the story. To ace content marketing, you also need to put the created piece in the right place.

Importance of distributing content in the right way 

‘Putting content in the right place’ is nothing but making sure that relevant information about your product goes out in a format that suits your target audience, through the right channels. You can’t market a two-seater convertible sports car to a middle-aged mother of three by quoting its acceleration and lap times. No matter how good the car, it isn’t reaching the right audience and it isn’t in the correct format. The world today has a very confusing array of content distribution channels, and choosing the correct one can be tricky.

Different channels and tools of content distribution 

There are three main channels of content distribution: one channel consists of the media that the creator owns, the second is shared, and the third is the sponsored kind.

Owned channels, as the name implies, consists of the creator’s own space on the Internet, including their website, blog, emailers, and newsletters. If the blog posts are published on social media directly, as in the case of LinkedIn blogs, those also become part of owned channels. Their advantage is that they offer complete control of the content that is published – and to a large extent, the way it is presented.

Earned channels are third-party outlets that promote and share your content – customers, bloggers, journalists, etc. This type of content distribution can be in the form of mentions on social media, shares, product reviews, PR, etc., and can work wonders for bringing organic reach and building trust in your product. On the flip side, it isn’t in your control and you can’t rely just on this for your content distribution.

Paid channels are exactly what they sound like. These channels charge you for distributing your content, often working on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis. Apart from PPC, it could also include paid ads and influencer content. While PPC works best on search engines for creating leads, the other options are great for social media channels.

To ace content marketing, you also need to put the created piece in the right place. Click To Tweet

Some good strategies for content distribution

We just discussed the various channels through which content can be propagated. But how does one use this effectively?

Learn what the most effective distribution channels are. You might have a great idea for content, but the distribution needs to live up to the idea’s quality as well. If you haven’t ideated yet, look at your preferred distribution channels and plan your ideas around them. This will help streamline the process of content creation and distribution and offer better results than creating content with no clue of what your most effective distribution channels are.

Build a subscriber list. No matter how you intend to distribute your content, you need to build, nurture, and grow your community online. These are your ‘repeat customers’, and they are more valuable than their simple numbers indicate. They are influencers in their own right, and validation from someone who believes in your content with no ulterior motive is worth its weight in gold. This can be long, hard work, but if you’re in it for the long haul, the results will be well worth the effort.

Guest posting is an option that can be exercised judiciously. Even if you don’t have a budget, if you can present yourself well and show the guest poster how you can bring value to their brand, there is a good chance that they will say yes. Over time, you will have the opportunity to develop the relationship further, opening the doors to multiple guest posts and maybe even using their channels to distribute your content.

Similar to guest posting is influencer marketing. Companies like Red Bull and GoPro managed to become household names by encouraging social media influencers to promote their products. Today, influencer marketing is a widely accepted avenue of content distribution. Just make sure that the influencers you choose have values that resonate with your brand, and that their audience is the same audience that you’re seeking.

Some common mistakes and how to avoid them 

1. Not making the content distribution strategy part of the ideation. You need to make the distribution not only a part of the ideation process, but even sometimes let it define the ideas that make the final cut. A great idea without a proper plan to distribute it ends up being a bad idea.
2. Concentrating only on one type of distribution. For the best results, a good mix of organic and paid distribution usually works well. So, you can go with both owned distribution as well as paid distribution.
3. Focusing heavily on paid campaigns. Sure, paid campaigns to help you feel good about the rapid growth of numbers, but never look at them as a long-term strategy. Your ultimate aim should always be quality, not quantity, else you’ll have numbers that will spike and fall equally quickly. Organic growth must remain your long-term plan.
4. Not setting clear goals for each distribution method. You cannot set identical goals for each distribution method because each of them will have different levels of effectiveness. You’ll simply have to experiment, find out what works best, and then move forward with it.
5. Sharing a post only once. The lifespan of shared content is very short. About 2.75 million blog posts are published a day on WordPress alone. You might be missed by an audience that is seeking the information you want to put out, so sharing it multiple times via different avenues will not hurt at all.

Even with all that’s been said here, remember there are no rigid rules. If there’s anything the new normal has taught us, it is that times can change very quickly, so don’t be afraid to take a few risks and employ (or adapt to) new channels that you think might be a good idea. Being ahead of the curve has a lot of benefits. Good luck!

Related articles:

1. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing

2. https://scatter.co.in/the-comprehensive-checklist-that-brands-need-to-follow/

Contributors: Aditya Kumar and Swapnil Adsul