Master Content Distribution: Get Your Content Prize in Front of the Right Eyes

Sure, you know how to create great content but many businesses have yet to conquer the art of distribution? I knew it! However, there’s no need to hang your head in shame – content promotion is still one of the trickiest content areas to master.

It’s also one of the most important. Many industry experts advocate that you should place an equal amount of time into your distribution methods as your beloved content creation. We’ll investigate a few of the most powerful distribution methods available to ensure your content gets in front of the right audience at the right place and time and in the right volume.

Before You Choose Your Distribution Methods:

First you need to define your target audience, your objectives and the metrics you will use to measure the success of your content marketing distribution.

1. Reach out to Influencers for a Credible Quote

Creating the right relationships with relevant influencers is one of the most important things you can do to significantly amplify the reach of your content. That’s because these influencers have amassed a huge social media following and hold access to and influence over your target audience. Adding an influencer quote to your article will add credibility from a trusted and well respected source and, if shared by the influencer, can significantly propel the reach of your article and brand.

Here’s How You Get a Quote from a Busy and In-Demand Influencer:

• Research the most relevant and influential influencers for your target audience using a tool like BuzzSumo.
• Build a relationship with your chosen influencer/influencers before approaching them. Remember with inbound marketing, it’s always best to give before you ask for anything back.
• Reach out to your chosen influencer with a simple tweet asking if they would mind if you sent them a short email.
• Once you’ve been given the go ahead, send the your influencer a short, snappy, polite and to the point email.
• Make it as easy as possible for the influencer to contribute by stating the topic, asking a specific question and giving an approximate word count.
• To learn how to craft the perfect influencer pitch visit this article: ‘Influencer Cheat Sheet: ‘How to Connect, Engage & Get What You Want.’

How to Encourage Influencers to share your content:

Email: When you have completed the piece, contact the influencer thanking them for their contribution and linking them to the article, letting them know it has been published.

Twitter: When you share your blog post on Twitter, include your influencers’ Twitter handle and let your target audience know they have contributed a worthy quote for your piece.

Partnering with a well known brand or influencer is a great option for creating whitepapers or longer form blog posts. Think about it: you invest significant amounts of time creating these in-depth pieces. It, therefore, makes sense to give it the distribution love it deserves and vastly extend your reach to the right audience.

2. Partner with a Well Known Brand or Influencer

Partnering with a well known brand or influencer is a great option for creating whitepapers or longer form blog posts. Think about it: you invest significant amounts of time creating these in-depth pieces. It, therefore, makes sense to give it the distribution love it deserves and vastly extend your reach to the right audience.

Add Value When You Approach Your Chosen Brand or Influencer:

Co-writing a piece of content with a well known brand or influencer allows you to make use of their audience and reach as they’re sure to share the article too. When approaching the brand or influencer you need to ensure you’re adding value and communicating the ‘why’ of your proposition instantly. For example, do you have a decent sized audience they can piggyback off or will your piece allow the brand to look like a thought leader in your industry space?

3. Promote on Relevant Third Party Promotion Platforms

Example of Third Party Promotion Platform: Outbrain

About Outbrain:

Outbrain is a paid promotion platform that focuses on native audience engagement and placing your content in front of the right audience. It allows you to get your content distributed and displayed on the world’s biggest and most widely read online media properties like CNN, Slate and ESPN. Outbrain places your content in the most relevant placements on these websites, ensuring that the surrounding content is relevant to your own and something that your target audience are actively searching for.

How Outbrain Works:

Outbrain only accepts content that offers informational or entertainment value. It doesn’t accept promotional copy or content that doesn’t genuinely add value. To find out more about what you can and can’t do you can visit Outbrain’s guidelines. It works on a pay per click model, allowing you to set your budget daily. It’s a cost effective model as you only for the visits you receive.

4. Submit Your Work to the Correct Content Communities

A content community is a community (or hub) that concentrates on a particular niche topic or industry. Content created surrounding this niche topic and/or industry is shared with the community and members and readers are invited to discuss the content and engage with community members. It’s best to first establish real relationships with community members, share content from other brands and comment on posts published by individuals.

After you’ve added value and built up a few relationships you can set about sharing your own content. Now that you’ve already established a presence on the community, members will recognise your name and are more likely to engage with your content. Our advice? Find a content community relevant to your target audience and start building lasting relationships today with prospective customers.

Example of Content Communities That Are Relevant to Digital Marketing Include:

Inbound.org, Growth Hackers and Hacker News.