Let's be real. Content Marketing only works if you have a distribution strategy. Take a closer look at the numbers around content marketing and you'll realize this too. The volume of content being created by businesses and consumers is approximately 2.84 million blog posts written a day. The sad reality? Despite the constant mantra of how important content marketing is for gaining leads, a lot of the content produced won’t even be seen. Out of the average 2 million blogs being posted a day, 800,000 falls into this unseen category. That's 50% of your creation lost in the dark

So how do you combat this? Keywords and the quality of your content will set you apart, but it might not be enough. This is where your content strategy (specifically the distribution aspect of it) steps in. You want your distribution so set that the organic reach generating from it is at a point where people are actively searching for you. 

In a capitalist utopia, businesses wouldn’t need help with distribution because their readers are naturally searching up the topic of interest and the most recent content are the ones that show up first. It doesn’t take much to realize that this isn’t happening, and for companies to rise up and remain competitive, new innovative techniques around gaining attention as well as market share of the products need to happen.

You’ve probably realized that there are plentiful distribution options for content. Understanding what type of content will peak above the rest requires knowledge of what users are looking for. And even then, it won't matter if the right users don't see it.

Audiences are built around specific interests. Take Red Bull Media House, they’ve built a dedicated audience that consistently comes back for more content on extreme sports. If you are publishing generic content, chances are they are not resonating with anyone and actually end up costing you money.

Study What Works then Share it in Groups

Tracking data points like users click on ads, sites and community’s users engage with, and referral sources from Google Analytics can help shed light on structuring your content style and theme. If your audience is comprised of professionals who actively participate in LinkedIn groups start pushing content onto Linkedin. Engage with group members to show your seed of noticeability. When you have content that provides value to the group not only do you have a recognized name and face, but the participants are more likely to read it and share it with others. 

Keeping track of the key data mentioned above will reveal interesting trends in site visits and sales. Once these trends are determined, it can be used to streamline the marketing strategy and adjust distribution strategies which have proven to be effective by many successful companies and brands. It all comes down to adding value if what you are sharing is useful people will recognize that.

Below is a great example of interacting with a community frequented by a targeted audience: Quora.

Be A Guest

Guest blogging is a fantastic icebreaker when it comes to seeking distribution avenues. This is actually how Buffer gained their first 100k customers. It’s a quick way to tap into an already established network. Seek out popular blog sources frequented by your target audience and ask to submit a guest piece. When it comes down to securing a positive response, research goes a long way to make sure your proposal is saturated with information on your host. Initially, look for blogs with a smaller audience and seek to highlight any mutually benefits your content would bring if published. Look at the most active and engaging content currently published to the site, this should provide ideas on topics of high interest. Some sites have restrictions on guest blogging or won't let guest posters link back to their own site, we recommend that you don’t try and guest blog on those sites. Instead, try to focus on sites that will help you with your distribution hurdle. The goal is to establish a mutually beneficial relationship, they get an awesome blog post and you get readers and links back to your site.

Be Social

Share, share, SHARE all your content to relevant social networks. The more visibility the better and if your article really hits home with the audience the chances of people sharing with their network are high.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Repurposing content is actually a smart way to save time and get results. Sometimes the right content reaches the right person in the wrong way. Making a few adjustments to help users see the topic in a new way might just change their way of thinking about it. Sometimes it just takes a new angle to make customers see that they really need a product.

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Consider cross-posting as well. Medium, LinkedIn, and Email are all great places to put long-form blog posts and tweak them for the platform. To get the best results from this understand where your audience spends their time. If you don’t the safe thing to do is post the content to all platforms. Measure your results then note channels work for repurposing your content.

We wrote a blog post on how to make your old content generate thousands of leads so if you want to read more click here.

Build new networks,

Finding new avenues to market to new users is the only way to keep ahead of the competition. Scouring the web for new places to work should be a weekly task. Any site that offers interest in your content should be flagged for potential future guests posts. No stone should be left unturned and no website should be left unvisited. Every place on the internet that people gather is another opportunity to build viewership.

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If you enjoyed this blog or have an idea for our next one, give us a shout at hello@ghostit.co