As more organizations turn to content marketing, many mistakenly hope to see results without promotion. Content is left on a website with little to no engagement, leading to further discouragement and abandoned blogs. Vital to the success of your content is a great promotion or distribution strategy.
We’ve rounded up the top content promotion strategies to try out this year. Keep in mind that some strategies work better for different industries. Experiment with one or two or combine several for the best results.
1) Medium
Some businesses use Medium as their primary blogging platform, but most use it to republish existing content. Using the import function or a WordPress plugin, you can easily republish blog posts to your Medium account. To avoid SEO issues, wait at least two weeks before republishing and note your blog as the original source. Tags make it easy for users to discover your content and who also have the option to follow your account.
2) Quora
Quora is a user-generated question-and-answer platform. For some, Quora (and Reddit, to a lesser extent) drive an incredible amount of site traffic. To get started, fill out your profile and add credentials. Then search for a topic or industry to find relevant questions to answer. Find queries that relate to the content you’ve already created. Your answer should reference and include at least one well-placed link or back to your content.
3) LinkedIn Publisher
While company pages are unable to use the publishing function on LinkedIn, individual users (your employees and executives) can. Members can post original content or republish a blog post. Like Medium, you should wait at least two weeks before republishing and make sure to note your blog as the original source. With over 500 million members, your content can be shared with an entirely new audience.
4) Reach Out to Sources
If you’re including research, visual aids, or quotes from other sources, reach out and discuss your article with them. Let them know when the article is scheduled to be published, and thank them for sharing their resource and insights. Send them a link to your article or blog post once it’s online so they can share it on their social media channels.
5) Interact with Facebook Groups
Join a Facebook group that matches your target audience. You’ll find questions and discussions that you can easily contribute to. Provide helpful answers and include links back to your content. Avoid becoming too spammy and slowly build up the frequency of your interactions to establish trust. You can also create a new Facebook group around a product or service your business provides.
6) Reach out to Influencers
Influencers can put your content in front of an entirely new and massive audience. Buffer suggests e-mailing an influencer and asking for a quote to include in an upcoming post. If they agree, let them know when the piece is expected to be published, then send a link for them to share. There are several great tools, like Buzzsumo and Followerwonk, that can help identify influencers in your industry.
7) Schedule & Automate Social Media Promotion
Promote a post on social media more than once using an automation or scheduling tool like Buffer or Hootsuite. Doing so puts your content in front of new audiences and increases the likelihood of post-engagement. Try changing the copy of your post each time to keep it fresh. You can also hire professional writers to craft your social media content for optimal results.
8) Send to Your E-Mail List
E-mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. In most cases (hopefully all), subscribers willingly sign up and are eager to engage with your content. Send your list an e-mail with your latest blog post(s) and encourage them to comment and share if they find it useful.
9) Use Infographics
Infographics are excellent visual content pieces that appeal to a large audience. Taking the content from a blog post, create an infographic to visually communicate your message. Then share it across social media and link to your original article. You can also post to platforms that specialize in visual content, like SlideShare or Pinterest.
11) Leverage Your Employees
Every time you publish a new blog post, invite your employees to share it on their social media networks. This may seem like a given, but many organizations fail to leverage their employees for promotion.
12) Reformat and Share
There are dozens of ways to reformat and repurpose your content. Pretty much anything your brand has written is fair game to become something new. Most often, blog posts are repurposed to create videos, ultimate guides, or podcasts. By using already existing content, you’re saving valuable time and resources.
13) Update Internal Links
Starting with top-performing posts, insert internal links to new content or struggling pages appropriately. Doing so allows readers to easily navigate your website and discover new resources.
14) SEO Keywords
To boost rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), your content should be highly valuable and include relevant keywords. Updating older posts is a great way to boost performance. Look for posts that have performed well in the past, perform keyword research, and update and repost to your social media channels. Be careful not to change the focus of your original post while you’re updating.
15) Guest Blogging
Guesting blogging can bring a huge amount of traffic back to your site. It can also help to develop thought leadership and industry authority. Look for blogs that publish content in your industry with an engaged readership. Doing a simple Google search or looking at competitor backlinks will lead you in the right direction. Make sure your pitches align with the publication’s audience and content, and always read the submission guidelines beforehand.
16) Syndication
Syndication involves republishing a piece of content on another site. There are a few drawbacks (SEO, site authority), but many organizations find that increased traffic is worth the risk. Find a relevant site that’s open to syndication and pitch your most popular posts. Always include a link back to the original post for SEO purposes.
17) Peer Groups
Most industries have communities, forums, and peer groups that anyone can join. For example, the marketing industry has Inbound.org, several Slack communities, and LinkedIn groups. These platforms aren’t for self-promotion but can be used to answer questions, share relevant content, and build brand awareness.
18) Add Share Buttons
Share buttons make it easy for readers to share your content within their circles. Most content management systems provide plugins that are easily installed. Another option is inserting a click-to-tweet button, so readers can share important data or quotes directly from your content.
19) Content Distribution Networks
Content distribution networks display content recommendations at the bottom of popular sources. You’ve probably seen an example below an article with a headline reading, “You might also enjoy…” These ads can look spammy but have the potential to reach an enormous audience. To run ads like this, get started on a popular platform like Taboola or Outbrain.
20) Paid Content Promotion
If your business struggles to build organic traffic, paid promotion may be a smart choice. Paid promotions include paid social and display ads and are typically grouped together as pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements. Before running any ads, first, determine a budget and what audience you’d like to target.
No matter which strategies you choose, it’s important to start with high-quality content. Platforms like nDash can connect your business with experienced writers that specialize in your industry. Always track the results of your strategies to ensure you’re investing in the right ones.
Did we miss any of your favorite promotion strategies? Leave us a comment below!
Editor’s note: This post is by nDash community member Jessica Turner. Jessica is a freelance writer and content marketer with a background in digital marketing in tech and politics. To learn more about Jessica, or to have her write for your brand, check out her nDash profile page.