Creating high-quality content requires a thorough knowledge and understanding of the marketplace as well as the messaging development and writing skills needed to produce engaging copy. But that’s not all. How you distribute your content to your audiences is just as important as the content itself. Without a proactive content distribution plan to share and build traffic, a perfectly good article, blog or white paper will collect dust in the fast-paced realm of digital content.

8 Ways to Enhance Content Distribution

1. Start with your own website. Your website should be the main headquarters of your content. Whether you utilize blogs, articles, white papers or other content, be sure all content is published on your site and always include backlinks to your domain. This helps prospects and customers to find your company when they access your content elsewhere, while also assisting with SEO.
2. Build a subscriber list through sign-ups, connections and other list-development sources and use it to distribute your newsletter and conduct consistent email outreach. It’s effective. In fact, 59 percent of B2B marketers say email is their most effective channel for generating revenue.
3. Make sure social media profiles are brand-aligned and linked. Social media is a powerful distribution channel to reach audiences. Before posting anything to social media, be sure your contact information, links, logos and company descriptions are accurate and reflect your brand appropriately.
4. Use a variety of platforms. Often, a single platform isn’t enough to increase content visibility. Prioritize what many consider the “big three” social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. LinkedIn, in particular, has become vital to B2B marketing campaigns with 80 percent of social media leads coming through the platform. But don’t forget about more niche communities such as Scoop.It, Paper.li, Flipboard, Slideshare or Vimeo and other smaller platforms that can increase outreach as well.
5. Utilize social media management/content-distribution software. As you increase the number of social media platforms you use, keeping up with an aggressive distribution schedule can be a challenge. Social media management tools, such as Hootsuite or Buffer, can greatly ease this process. These platforms enable you to connect all social profiles in one place, create a publishing schedule and maintain consistent business communications.
6. Publish in print and digital trade magazines, industry journals and other B2B news sites. These resources can help establish you or your company as a thought leader and recognized expert while increasing your visibility and name recognition in the marketplace. Prospects and customers seek knowledge and information to help them solve challenges or become better at what they do. When you provide these resources for them, you build trust and credibility with your target audiences.
7. Leverage connections and influencers. Thought leaders in your industry have a lot of clout when it comes to appealing to your audiences. They have curated and engaged audiences who value their insights. Leverage your connections and build new ones with thought leaders in similar industries. Encourage them to share your content to piggyback on their audience outreach. According to UpFluence, a shared piece of content via thought leader influencers can increase ROI eleven-fold.
8. Create a schedule. Consistent and frequent communications are essential to a successful content strategy. Different types of content and different platforms have distinct recommended frequencies. For example, blogs can be short and highly frequent, whereas an in-depth white paper would be longer and published less frequently. Take a look at our recommended contact frequency per content type here, but testing what works for your firm and your audience is key.

Nurture Your Distribution to Your Audiences

It is easy to make the mistake of sharing your content and letting it rush down the river of endless digital content. But rather than post more, nurture the engagement of each post. Melih Oztalay, CEO of SmartFinds Marketing states, “Simply sharing the content is not going to be sufficient to overcome the noise in social communities. It’s best to pick one article per week and nurture it to get people engaged.” Choose which content to focus on for that week, and then share and track engagement in the comments or start a conversation with known audiences.

While content distribution might seem like just another item on your long to-do list, the difference between content that uses a distribution plan and one that doesn’t is huge. As with any initiative, test what works best in your marketplace and with your team, and adjust as needed. Most importantly, understand that content is only as powerful as its outreach. Get smart about how you manage multichannel content distribution, and there’s no doubt your exposure will increase.