I know you’re sick of hearing predictions and trends for 2015, but content distribution is something you should really focus on this year.
The whole “write epic shit” mantra is only partly true.
There are plenty of writers, bloggers, and businesses putting out GREAT, helpful, and valuable content and still falling flat.
Because writing amazing content is actually step two …
Step one is having a solid content distribution strategy in place to get your content MOVING once it’s published.
Let’s start by explaining what content distribution is, and then we’ll share our 2015 content distribution plans with you (and yeah, you can totally steal them!).
What Is Content Distribution?
Think of content as the car, and distribution as the roads and highways your car drives on.
If your car is stuck in the garage (not moving) you’re not getting anywhere, and …
[Tweet "Both cars and content are built to move!"]
In essence, content distribution is how your content gets delivered, and much like other media, it has Owned, Paid, and Earned tactics.
Owned Media
- Your website
- Your blog
- Your emails
- Your resources (think: eBooks, checklists, etc.)
The problem with Owned Media when it comes to distribution is that it only allows for a “if you build it they will come” mentality.
Organic traffic is not only getting smaller on the web because of things like information overload (aka: content shock), but is also being affected on social channels because of new updates like Facebook’s “pay to play” announcement.
Paid Media
- Advertising (think AdWords)
- Social advertising
- Content syndication (ex: Outbrain)
- Press Releases (think BusinessWire)
You’ve got to have some skin in the game for paid advertising of your content, but depending on how deep your pockets are the sky’s the limit.
Online and social advertising are some of the easiest ways to gain entry into paid media with your content.
Earned Media
- Syndicated blog posts (I label these posts as earned, because even though you own the content you’ve earned the right for someone else to find it valuable enough to share with their audience)
- Guest posts (Note: you usually don’t own the content you create for someone else, they do. But you’ve earned the right to write for them)
- Influencer outreach (Note: this can be paid or be a partnership that is earned)
The sharing of your content is a form of content distribution, and should be a part of your overall plan.
However, shares of content also depends on influencer ratings … so the bigger the influencer, the more likely it is your shared content will move beyond the influencer to their circles.
5 (Plus) Content Distribution Ideas To Steal From Us
While we’re not into stealing of the plagiarism variety, we’re freely offering up these ideas to steal for your own movement of content.
1. [Owned] Create content cycles for your sales funnel.
Make sure each piece of content allows someone to “leap frog” onto another piece of content.
Examples:
- Website, to blog, to newsletter subscriber
- Website, to eBook, to free course subscriber
- Webinar, to blog subscription, to free consultation.
Keep nurturing until they buy!
2. [Owned, Paid, Earned] For your blog, make a solid plan for getting your posts seen by more people.
We did this by:
- Creating a special community for blog subscribers — they get our blog post delivered to their inbox each week along with one EXTRA (that non-subscribers don’t see or receive) goody, like a downloadable cheat cheat or personal tip [Subscribe below to be one of our community members and see it firsthand!]
- Running targeted, paid ads to our blog posts
- Boosting blog post updates on Facebook for added exposure to fans and friends of fans
- Using Triberr to connect with new blog readers and influencers
- Posting twice per week instead of once per week (frequency)
- Using a plugins — like Revive Old Post — to help circulate old (but relevant or evergreen!) content, and making it easy to share with a share bar (we use Super Socializer)
3. [Owned] Add new channels for distribution.
Some people say this is the year of video.
Others think podcasting is the darling for 2015.
In any case, I decided to join digital friend Mallie Hart to add a new medium to share content through: our just-launched podcast, Ready, Set … Podcast!
4. [Paid & Earned] More targeted networking.
This falls into our #LessNumbersMorePeople mantra for 2015.
I’m saying “YES!” to more outreach, like guest posting, hosting Tweet Chats and G+ Hangouts, as well as signing on to be a monthly author for Mark Schaefer’s {grow} blog.
5. [Owned] Create more nurture content.
We’ve been busy changing content that:
- Didn’t match our tone and voice
- Didn’t convert well (according to a data audit of 2014)
- Didn’t tell our story
And we’re doing this by:
- Updating the B Squared Media website with new, on brand copy and better calls-to-action
- Creating vertical specific (ex: Marketing, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing) collateral for the nurture cycle of our sales funnel
- Updating visuals and making new ones to represent our mantra (Think Conversation, Not Campaign) and tell our story
- Creating a new FREE email course on getting more clicks on your content through clever calls-to-action
What Will Your Content Distribution Plan Be This Year?
Did I miss any ways you’re taking content distribution by the horns in 2015?
Please be a super sharer and let us know what we missed, what you’re doing, or more ideas for getting your content seen in the comments section below.
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