Creating content is great, but it’s just the first step in your marketing strategy. When you write articles, prepare reports or record videos, you also need to make sure you’re promoting them effectively. This means trying out new content distribution strategies whenever you can.
A well-thought-out content distribution strategy can help put your content in front of the right people and ensure that your efforts generate positive results.
How to create an effective content distribution strategy? Read on to find out.
Find out where your target ICP is located online
You’re not trying to get your content in front of just any audience, but rather a qualified audience.
First, you need to identify who you are targeting and where they prefer to consume content. Here are two ways to find out where your ICP is located and what they like to watch:
- Analyze the demographics of your website visitors, newsletter subscribers, and social media followers using Google Analytics.
- Participate in sales calls. Sales calls are an incredible source of information for marketers, as this information comes directly from customers. You can find out exactly where they spend their time online, what they are looking to consume, and what they care about.
Once you have all this information, you can form a complete picture of what content you should be creating to help your ICP solve their problems and where they want to see that content.
Analyze content attribution to see which channels are driving traffic
If you want to be 100% sure that you are choosing the right distribution channels, you should evaluate the historical performance of existing content using Google Analytics or Semrush.
- In Google Analytics, go to Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition
- In Semrush, go to Traffic Analysis and enter your domain.
These reports offer two benefits:
- You can identify the parts that are currently performing best and start thinking about where you can redeploy them.
- You’ll be able to see how your content has performed across different channels, helping you decide where best to distribute future content.
Choose your distribution channels
Now that you know your audience and their behavior patterns better, you’ll be in a better position to choose which distribution channel(s) to use.
Some other things to remember:
- Paid channels offer quick results, but they are not really sustainable in the long term. They require constant investment if you really want to see a return.
- Owned channels take more time but generate long-term results, meaning you get much more bang for your buck in the long run.
Whichever method you choose, make sure it aligns with the customer insights you gained from your research and keep your owned channels optimized for SEO.
Decide which KPIs to track
A strategy like this is nothing without KPIs and measurable metrics.
The KPIs you choose will depend on the distribution channels you have selected. Here are some examples:
- For a fully owned channel like your blog, two of your KPIs would be conversions and user engagement. You can track both of these metrics using Google Analytics.
- For a paid channel, such as a social media ad campaign, your KPIs would be conversions and lead generation. For this, you would need to use GA4 to track impressions, conversion rates, and the landing page bounce rate.
- For an earned channel, such as being featured on another blog with a guest post, your KPIs would likely be brand awareness, lead generation, conversions, and engagement. Metrics to track would include referral traffic, conversions, and shares.
Use a content calendar to track content and distribution
A content calendar is an essential piece of your content workflow. It helps you coordinate your channels, apps, and collaborators, so you don’t have to deal with a Slack group full of messages or a million open tabs.
Many companies use spreadsheets, Airtable, or Notion to track what content is published, on which channel, and when, so everyone is on the same page.
Unfortunately, since none of these tools are in sync with the content, you’ll need to make sure that each application you use accurately reflects what’s happening in the pipeline.
Create (or repurpose) content
If you’re looking to create fresh content, we have a step-by-step strategy on how to create blog posts that actually drive revenue.
You already have a lot of pre-existing content, so it’s time to repurpose it. Turn webinars into blog posts, a blog post into a LinkedIn carousel, the options are endless.
Use a distribution tool to help you
Distribution can become a tedious task, especially as you grow and scale. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that can help you publish on all kinds of platforms. HubSpot, Letterdrop, and Medium come to mind.
Ideally, you want your distribution tool to automate as much as possible so you can focus on strategy.
Measure your results with performance measurement tools
There’s no way to know what’s working and what’s not without tracking your results, and this is where your KPIs and metrics come into play.
You can rely on Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and native analytics from social media platforms to help you make informed decisions about:
- What content to repurpose.
- Which channels have the best engagement.
- Which channels to switch to.
Return to your analytics constantly to establish a baseline of what to expect and how you can improve.
There you have it! Eight steps to an effective content distribution strategy. Of course, content distribution won’t do you any good if you don’t have top-quality content. Need help with your content marketing strategy?
