Various Channels Of Content Marketing

Have you ever wondered how will your content reach the audience? If you have not given it a thought yet then you must because content distribution is an important aspect. You should be aware of all the content marketing channels.

Suppose a director makes a South Indian movie and releases it in America. Do you think it will receive the acclamation which it would have, had it been released in India? Of course not, because the majority of the population don’t speak the language.

Therefore not knowing the right path to content distribution can jeopardize your business.

Worry not! This blog is here for your rescue.

Content distribution is sharing and promoting the content you have created to create brand awareness and generate leads. Analysis of the correct platforms and channels for your content is significant.

On what basis do you decide which content marketing channels to use?

1. Paid marketing channels 

These channels are ones that you pay to promote your content. Many paid sources help you with content distribution and ease your work.

• Paid searches on Google

Have you noticed the ads in the first few results when you search for something on Google? Those are paid searches. You can invest time in SEO or pay your way through it.

If you choose Google AdWords, it pops your site in the results at the top. If someone clicks on your site then you are liable to pay.

• Facebook promotion

Facebook post promotion is an effective platform. You can choose your particular demographic and your content only pops up in the news feed of those people.

It’s is seen by the majority of the people and you can set your budget according to which the promotion will be carried out. It depends on the number of days you want your content to be seen by the maximum number of people.

• Instagram ads

Instagram has the maximum traffic. Promotions can be quite fruitful here. Even companies like Mercedes Benz swear by it as they saw an increase in their website traffic by promotion on Instagram.

You just have to select the number of days you want your post to be boosted so that it appears on people’s accounts. Then make your payment accordingly. Now sit back and trust Instagram.

• Promotion through Influencers

When you pay a famous blogger or known personality to promote your content, your content reaches its fan base. Influencers make an impact because people trust them. When they post a positive review, people want to get their hands on your product.

Choose influencers carefully. Research what kind of people follow them and whether they match with your target audience who may be interested in your product.

2. Owned Channels/Platforms

The business has its website and accounts on various social media platforms. Such channels are totally in the company’s hands. The company does not need to pay to publish their content on such platforms. But then they need to walk the extra mile to make sure it reaches the target audience.

• Social Media platforms

Look around you. Everybody is on their phone. We spend most of our day on social media. We live in a digital world.

If the company creates their accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, they can post content without shelling out a single penny. It requires some work, in the beginning, to increase the followers so that when you post content, it reaches the potential leads.                

• Company’s website

What better way than promoting content on your business website? You can direct the visitors to your product by posting content that engages them. Make sure the readers can directly reach the main page to buy the product by linking it to the blogging site.

• Distribution through mail

Make sure the people who visit your website leave their mail ids to receive emails or newsletters. This can make your marketing game top class. People are reluctant towards sharing their mail address but if they genuinely find your blog helpful, they will want to read more. Email marketing is cheap and very effective, voted second according to Ascend Survey.

• YouTube brand channel

Posting videos on your brand’s YouTube channel can be a smart and interesting way of distributing your content. Videos are responsible for 80% of the traffic. Due to the simple reason that many people prefer watching something and get hooked quickly compared to reading a blog.

It doesn’t require much effort plus it entertains more. Most people who don’t like reading will not make an effort to read your blog but watching a video does not require much effort.

3. Earned Channel

Earned channels are a direct reflection of your work. If you make a positive impact and people are genuinely happy with the results after using your product you won’t need to pay anybody to promote it.

• Shares on Social Media

There’s no bigger motivation for people to buy a product than a genuinely happy customer. If a customer posts a positive review or shares your content on their story or repost it, then their followers are influenced. Few people consider paid promotions as fake but when they see unpaid comments on a product their trust on the brand increases.

Strategies to implement content marketing

Apart from quality content and effective distribution, content marketing requires many other things. Planning out your path towards success makes the journey easy. Strategic planning is of utmost importance. Without it, you’re an amateur. 

Let’s discuss the steps in detail

1. Set your goals

It is very important to know what you want out of your campaign. Be it increasing the traffic or likes on your page, it could also be to maximize revenue. Every goal requires budget investment. Therefore, knowing your goal will save time and money later on.

If you don’t have a strategy about the goal right at the beginning, the campaign can go haywire. Strategic planning requires a goal. Hence, the very first task is to keep your goals decided and strategize accordingly.

2. Track your performance

To keep a check on the events and their results along with the time invested, it can help you with future improvements. You can also get motivated and work better if you record your daily success.

3. Assemble data/ Know your audience

I cannot stress this point enough that to create your content you need to know your audience. You must assemble demographic data from your website visitors, email subscribers, social media followers, and customers. Review your audience’s gender, age, income, location, and education. You can also ease the task by checking on Google Analytics or your social media analytics tools. 

4. Choose your content style

There are various content marketing styles. I have listed a few.

• eBooks
• Interviews/ Podcasts
• Videos
• Webinars
• Case study or success stories
• Blog

You can choose any of these styles but they require different distribution strategies. Therefore, you need to decide which styles you will work with and the ones you’ll focus on more compared to others.

5. Content distribution

As mentioned above, content distribution is very crucial. Quality content is useless if it doesn’t find its right audience. Each type of content requires different content distribution strategies.

For example, podcasts can be distributed on Spotify or SoundCloud. Videos will preferably do well on YouTube.

6. Follow up for credit

Make sure that whenever anybody shares your content they mention your company’s link. This will enable people to directly land on your website. If you have done the work, you surely deserve credit for it.

Content marketing is simple if you plan it right. Invest and you shall reap the benefits. All the best for your endeavors. We have also listed – 7 Interesting Steps To Write Great Content For Your Website.