Page 117 - The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your content, your marketing, and your business - PDFDrive.com

channel for their content distribution.2
For many companies, Facebook is the most cost effective way for brands to

distribute content at scale. Of course a lot depends on the nature of your content,
message, and core audience, but don’t overlook Facebook as a method of content
distribution.

11. Crowdsource content creation and distribution.
Involving experts in your content usually assures access to their networks, too.
This accounts for the popularity of roundup posts from well-known authors and
experts. Even including one quote from an expert, or a reference to one of their
blog posts or books, can ignite your content. If you highlight them in the content,
they’re likely to help you promote the piece too.

12. Syndicate.
Almost every industry has some resource that’s curating relevant, timely content
and summarizing it in a regular newsletter, website, or newsfeed. If a curated
content site doesn’t exist in your niche, consider starting one. It’s a helpful way
to keep industry leaders on top of the news, and it can position your company as
the go-to place for valuable information.

If curation services already exist, develop relationships with these resources
and learn what it takes to add your content in the channel. In addition to the
obvious exposure, this work can also lead new audience members to your home
site and possibly provide valuable backlinks that will enhance your status with
search engines.

I want to conclude this section with some sage advice from journalist Dorie
Clark. Dorie has built her brand almost entirely through other people’s
distribution channels, including Forbes and Harvard Business Review. But it’s
not a perfect strategy, and it requires balance. There’s a risk supplying content to
platforms that you don’t own.

“I go back and forth about this distribution strategy,” she said. “On one hand,
you can get an immediate boost of credibility from associating with well-known
brands, and when you’re first starting out, you really need that. You also have
access to an established readership base that otherwise might not discover you.

“But the downside is that Forbes or the Harvard Business Review owns those
readers and those relationships, not you. It’s a much slower, but perhaps more
valuable, process to build readership on your own blog or content site. I’ve tried
to thread the needle by continuing to blog for larger outlets but try to drive
people (through my bio links or by mentioning my site in the body of the article)
to my website, where they’ll hopefully sign up for my mailing list. Growing my