Content Distribution – Evolution and Importance of Distributing Content
What is content distribution?
Content Distribution is increasingly taking centre stage as an important step in digital marketing. It is the way of promoting content in different media.
After years of learning about how to create content users really care about online. The digital sphere is increasingly thinking about how to generate the greatest possible exposure for that content. There are many competing voices online, as well as many channels to “conquer”. Hence, getting a strong handle on content distribution is the next crucial step for digital marketers and brands.
How to distribute content
First of all, let’s see what are some of the most common ways to distribute content nowadays. In the current state of digital media distribution tactics should vary across continents, industries and sectors. A content distribution strategy heavily depends on this as there is no “one-size-fits-all” logic when it comes to crafting an elaborate content distribution network. However, there are always some basic fundamentals. Being part of a marketing department allows you to distribute content by organic social, guest posting, online forums (I’m looking at you Reddit) and influencer outreach. If lead acquisition is the no1 goal of your business though, you should probably take a good look at paid social and personalised emails. Finally, repurposing content and turning it into different media is a great tactic, especially if the new form is video. Google loves video!Do you need a digital content distribution strategy?
The answer is a resounding yes! As with everything marketing related, a strategy is the alpha and the omega of every digital marketing activity. Every strategy starts from the goals of each company/ department. If for example the ultimate goal of your marketing director is to drive brand awareness by expanding to new audiences you’ll have to craft a different strategy than you would if the target was to engage and retain existing customers. So once the purpose is clear then it’s time to start devising the plan. Who is the audience that I want my content to reach? What is this audience interested in and wants to know? How will I attract this audience? All these are essential questions that need to be answered way before any activity is to be taken!The Steps to Take When Distributing Content
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Finding your voice
One reason why smarter content distribution is becoming an increasing priority is the proliferation of platforms now available to brands. From Tumblr and Snapchat, to Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter, there are now hundreds of spaces for brands to share their content. Each of those is connecting them to a different niche audience.And it’s not just social media platforms which matter. Review sites, in-store displays, big screens at live events to name a few. There are so many opportunities for brands to get a bigger slice of the pie in terms of views for their content. A huge number of these opportunities are being missed. For every content sharing opportunity which is missed, a valuable opportunity is wasted. Remember – omni-channel content marketing will pay off.Amidst all of these channels and content outlets, it’s no mean feat for brands to stay active in every possible digital space. This is the precise challenge which has spurred on demand for more intelligent, effective and more technologically advanced content distribution. When distributing content don’t forget about visual content marketing which is trending in 2018.
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Making the valuable visible
Here at Miappi, we’ve been talking about “making the valuable visible” for years. Our evolving social media aggregation tools have been making it easy for brands to discover and surface valuable user generated content (UGC), presenting it on site, screen, apps, kiosks and digital signage. Now that we’ve honed our helpful UGC discovery tools and beautiful social walls, we’ve set our sights higher. We are developing tools that make amazing content even more visible than ever before.We’re inspired by tools like Hootsuite which are constantly innovating fresh ways to get content under the consumers’ cursors. Those who matter to your brand. That’s why, in the very near future, we’ll be announcing a fresh array of developments. All of them geared towards distributing content more effectively. Keep your eyes peeled!
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The content distribution landscape
From the release of Hootsuite’s Amplify, companies like this are on the front lines of content distribution. They are regularly developing new, time saving and voice amplifying tools for brands. Brands that are eager to get their fine tuned content out there. Hootsuite Amplify in particular allows brands to drive revenue by connecting social to sales. It also developed inbuilt tools which give you the power to target messages by location or demographic profile.And it’s not just Hootsuite. The social marketing expert’s competitors are also engineering pioneering ways to reach more screens, more easily. Falcon.io’s content publishing calendar now makes it simple to convert posts to Facebook and Instagram ads to maximise reach. At Spredfast users can set up filters to automatically remove and publish the best and worst content across multiple platforms. The Percolate team, meanwhile, are working to totally unify content and social marketing. Sprinklr on the other hand helps brands provide “seamless experiences that matter across all social channels”.
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Sophisticated distribution with Hootsuite
It’s Hootsuite, however, that we feel is making the greatest strides towards more sophisticated content distribution. Their ever-evolving platform includes packages of fantastic content distribution-geared tools including:
- Hootsuite Impact
Ideal for proving the ROI of content marketing campaigns, this package is all about precise measurement and monitoring. Its features vary. From tracking your competitors’ top-performing content types, to real-time strategy insights into how your followers interact with your content. In addition to this, there are also specific recommendations to continually increase your reach. This suite of tools will help you learn where your content is powerful and how effective your distribution methods are.
- Hootsuite Amplify
This collection of tools is all about connecting your brand to more people. It’s also about boosting brand advocacy, enhancing social selling and generating more UGC to distribute across your digital channels. From syncing your social with your CRM, to track leads beyond social to find out how they engaged with your content, this package will help you ace social selling and learn a great deal about the impact of wider content distribution.
- Hootsuite Campaigns
Running contests and campaigns via social is a fantastic way to generate UGC you can distribute widely, thus showcasing the best of your brand. Hootsuite Campaigns makes managing, monitoring and optimising these campaigns easy. It’s also helping you create the kind of content which will sway visitors when shown at checkout and entice click throughs when showcased in marketing emails.
