How to Refine Your Content Distribution Strategy

Sometimes it feels like content marketing is a bit of a blackhole. You conduct keyword research, analyze competitors, and build the perfect piece of content, just to turn it over to the digital world and hope for the best.

A content distribution strategy can cut through the noise of the internet, helping your content succeed and be as effective as possible in an oversaturated internet. If content is king, content distribution is certainly the knight in shining armor.

Great content marketing requires more than the creation of high-quality, relevant content. A modern content marketing strategy must be complemented by a strong content distribution strategy in order to ensure maximum reach and effectiveness.

In this guide, we’ll go through everything you need to know to refine your content distribution strategy in 2024.

Key Takeaways

• Content distribution strategy is the “how” of content marketing—the tactical publication and dissemination of your content so it reaches your target audience effectively.
• Content distribution occurs through three channels: owned media, earned media, and paid media.
• Content distribution strategy allows you to amplify your brand message and encourages the resharing of your content.

What Is Content Distribution Strategy?

Content distribution strategy is the process of selecting the appropriate content channels for your target audience and sharing content that is optimized for those channels.

An effective content distribution strategy can ensure that your content reaches the right audience. A strong strategy can increase brand awareness, improve return on investment, improve lead quality, make efficient use of your resources, and maximize growth.

Pull Strategy vs. Push Strategy

Content distribution is done through a combination of pull marketing strategy and push marketing strategy.

Pull marketing strategy refers to those marketing campaigns that bring customers into your owned media channels, specifically your website, to encourage lead conversion and other key events. Pull marketing, also called inbound marketing, tends to warm leads and build relationships before generating conversions.

Push marketing strategy refers to marketing that places your brand in front of potential customers through advertising and native publication of content on other platforms. Push marketing, also called outbound or direct marketing, can be effective when done with thoughtful targeting.

A strong content distribution will leverage both push marketing and pull marketing, repurposing content and utilizing different media channels to ensure your content delivers both long-term and short-term performance.

Content Distribution Channels

Content distribution occurs in three channels: owned media, earned media, and paid media. Each of the content distribution channels features its own types of

content, although there is some overlap between the channels.

Owned Media Channels

Owned media channels, also called company channels, are those media channels that your company owns, including your website, blog, email lists, social media profiles, and mobile apps. Owned media channels are fully under the control of your business but can have a limited reach.

Popular content types on owned media channels include:

• Webpages
• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• Infographics
• Whitepapers
• Case studies
• Newsletters
• Local listings

Earned Media Channels

Earned media channels are third-party channels outside of your control, such as user-generated content, articles, backlinks, and reviews. Earned media channels can be exceptionally beneficial but sometimes challenging to gain, as there is an element of unknown to them.

Common content types on earned media channels include:

• Articles
• User-generated content
• Guest posts
• Backlinks
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Reddit mentions
• Reviews

Paid Media Channels

Paid media channels are those channels that feature your content through paid advertising or sponsored content. Content distribution through paid media channels is highly measurable but can be expensive, depending on the market. Paid media channels are great for highly-targeted campaigns and audiences.

Popular content types on paid media channels include:

• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Social media advertising
• Promoted content
• Influencer marketing
• Sponsored content
• Retargeting advertising

Choosing the Best Content Channels for Your Goals

When building your content distribution strategy, there are a few key factors to consider.

First, think about your target audience and buyer personas. From your target audience and buyer personas, you can identify which marketing channels your potential customers will be seeing and interacting with.

Like with all marketing decisions, budget will also be a factor. Paid media channels are often considered the most expensive, but it’s also important to consider the manpower and time it will take to create content for owned media channels or conduct outreach for earned media channels.

A key aspect of content distribution is the repurposing of content for different channels. Once a piece of content is created, it can be shared on social media, linked in an email, included in a user-generated social media post, and promoted with a PPC ad. Copy should be adjusted for each channel based on best practices.

Finally, consider what the right balance of the different channels will be. Some channels are more effective for long-term growth, like SEO-optimized blog posts, while others can pay off quickly, such as targeted PPC campaigns.

1. Review Personas and Audiences

Keep in touch with the latest in market research to identify how you can best tailor your content and messaging for them. You can dig into your own customer data to look for trends and opportunities, even conducting surveys for more detailed information.

By reviewing your audiences, you can ensure that you are meeting your potential customers where they are, in the right media channels and with the more relevant content types.

2. Conduct a Content Audit

To see the current state of your content marketing strategy, conduct a comprehensive content audit. A content audit provides a complete inventory of the assets on your website, which you can then analyze to identify any missing features that can be optimized, such as unique metadata and detailed image alt descriptions. Additionally, you can review what content is working best to ensure you are highlighting it and promoting it on other media channels. You’ll be able to see which content pieces are outdated and may benefit from a quick refresh. A content audit can also help you build better topic clusters and make the most of your SEO strategy by organizing all of your current content in front of you.

3. Implement Content Distribution Tools

Content distribution tools can open new media channels for your content as well as make it easier to syndicate your content. Content distribution tools can include social media marketing tools like HubSpot and Buffer as well as more focused distribution networks like PR Newswire.

Content distribution tools can save you time and allow you to focus on your overall strategy rather than the mundane tasks of republishing content.

4. Centralize Your Brand Message

When content is being distributed across a range of channels and platforms, that content can begin to take on a life of its own. A key aspect of refining your content distribution strategy is tying that content back to your core brand message and business goals. This can take the form of reviewing the content as it is distributed or updating brand messaging exercising.

By keeping a strong brand at the core of your content, your business can become more recognizable across the various media channels it appears on.

5. Build a Content Calendar

One of the most important aspects of content marketing is planning ahead, ensuring that you don’t let content creation become less of a priority in the buzz of the marketing space. By building a content calendar, you can stay on track with your content marketing strategy.

On this content calendar, it can be helpful to clearly identify the different media channels each piece of content will go to. You’ll be able to quickly see any gaps or opportunities to repurpose content across channels, as your content marketing plan is all in one place.

6. Diversify Content Types

It can be easy to get caught up in a repetitive process of creating the same style content over and over again, like sending out an email newsletter twice a month or publishing a new blog every few weeks. However, a strong content distribution strategy should incorporate diverse content types, as these new content types can break up the monotony of an oversaturated market and draw in new leads.

Step outside of your comfort zone to try out earned media content like podcast guest spots or thought leadership articles. Create a video or infographic that can tie into a blog post or other piece of existing content you have.

7. Customize Content by Channel

Content distribution involves the repurposing of content for different channels, such as sharing a blog post on social media or highlighting a webpage in an email. In any instance, the copy around that content should be customized based on the channel you’re using.

For example, if you share a blog post on LinkedIn, consider writing the accompanying copy in the unique voice of LinkedIn, which typically highlights a problem and explains how you overcame it. Be sure to utilize any hashtags or other features of each platform.

8. Pursue Collaboration

Influencer marketing is here to stay—and it can work in far more industries than you may initially think. Influencer marketing is unique in that it functions as a paid media channel but can have similar benefits to an earned media channel, as influencers have a strong following and inspire trust in their audience. Consider if influencer marketing or brand collaborations can work for your content.

Additionally, regularly review your mentions and interactions on social media and other channels. Encourage user-generated content and engage in interactions.

9. Implement a SEO Strategy

SEO, or search engine optimization, has much overlap with the content marketing space. A typical SEO strategy will feature blog posts that are optimized for specific keywords, and effective SEO supports the content on your owned media channels.

A strong SEO strategy will support the organic performance of your content, which can, in turn, encourage earned media channel mentions of your brand. SEO is an integral part of the owned media channels in an effective content distribution strategy.

10. Embrace Timely Topics and Trends

When building a content distribution strategy, leave space for additional topics to be added into your calendar and lean into the latest trends and news. By keeping your finger on the pulse of your industry, you not only have a better chance of gaining traffic but also signal that you are a thought leader in the space.

11. Measure Analytics

Set clear, measurable goals for your KPIs and schedule recurring reporting reviews to see how your content is performing across channels. Key metrics to review include traffic by source, conversion rate, shares, click-through rate, and reach.

Identify which pieces of content are performing the best and review if there are additional opportunities to repurpose or update that content, and consider doing the same for underperforming content by revising it.

12. Stay Current with Marketing Trends

Digital marketing is currently in a state of flux, with the evolution of AI technologies and ever-changing channels affecting how marketers create and distribute content. A great content distribution strategy is never fully refined, as your marketing team should continue to stay in-the-know with marketing trends and topics.

You can partner with a digital marketing agency like Vaulted to ensure you never miss an opportunity to stand out and distribute your content effectively. At Vaulted, we’re experienced in making the most of your content to maximize your results.

5 Key Benefits of a Successful Content Distribution Strategy

Content distribution strategy is a sometimes overlooked aspect of modern marketing. When implemented correctly, though, a content distribution strategy can deliver highly valuable results and key benefits for your business.

Benefits of a strong content distribution strategy include:

• Better brand visibility: By disseminating content across different types of channels and in different formats, your brand can get in front of your target audience consistently, establishing your brand name as recognizable and authoritative.
• Increased conversions: An effective content distribution strategy will reach your target audience where they are and deliver tailored content directly to them, which will, in turn, increase conversions and generate leads.
• Better ROI: Content distribution makes the most of the content you have already produced, saving you time and money.
• Valuable data: Content distribution strategy can help you get a complete view of your customer journey, as you can explore impressions, clicks, conversions, and related metrics.
• Relationship building: Users can engage with your content on channels and in formats that are familiar, with sharing that content highly encouraged, so your audience can begin to see a positive relationship with your brand.

Content distribution allows you to make the most of the content you created while giving your audience the opportunity to recognize and engage with your brand across different channels.

How a Marketing Agency Can Help Your Content Distribution Strategy

Successful content distribution requires the juggling of multiple different content formats, platforms, and tools. It can be easy to become overwhelmed or to regularly miss out on potential content opportunities.

By partnering with a digital marketing agency, you can implement a content distribution strategy that’s customized to your needs, goals, and current marketing campaigns. Marketing agencies are also experienced in ensuring that all of the appropriate tracking tools are in place to help deduce attribution and reporting.

At Vaulted, we’re well-versed in the best practices of content distribution, with access to the latest marketing tools and information about content trends that we can put to use on your behalf.

Get in Touch with Vaulted

Great content is an essential pillar of successful marketing, but getting that content in front of the right audience is easier said than done. A strong content distribution strategy can ensure that you make the most of your content.

Vaulted is a full-service marketing agency with storied experience in content marketing, including content distribution strategy creation and implementation. We’ll work alongside you to curate the right balance of content for owned media, earned media, and paid media channels for your business goals. We’ll paint a complete picture of where your content can be most effective and report detailed analytics to track progress.

Our marketing services go beyond content marketing, with website design, development, SEO, and more available to complement your content distribution services.

To get started, get in touch with our team today.