Attention spans have shortened, news cycles have sped up and many brands have come to believe that they must create more content to be seen. But does that work for your brand?
More content does not garner more attention; relevancy does.
Cision’s new white paper, “The 3 Stages of Expanding Your Content’s Reach: Creation, Distribution and Amplification,” provides a detailed guide to help you create a truly great piece of content and extend its lifespan by distributing it to the right audiences in the right ways.
Struggling to get eyes on your content? Here’s a glimpse at what to consider when building out, or improving, your content marketing strategy:
Let Goals and Audiences Guide The Way
Guesswork should not guide a content marketing strategy. Brands must establish what their goals are and who their target audiences include before bouncing ideas around and creating content. Once those two pieces are put together, relevancy will transpire much more.
Keep in mind that content must do more than attract new prospects and drive more sales. Look at other audiences like current customers, influencers and employees. Use media monitoring tools to listen to their conversations, segment their psychography and gather insights on their demography.
Jump over any departmental silos to get a better understanding of what each department is working towards and how content can help. Determine what readers should do once they read a story. For example, employees could be asked to help spread the word, whereas prospects would likely be prompted to talk with a representative.
Push Content Out Many Doors
Distribution is no longer a one-and-done deal. With so many communication channels, communicators must determine the right distribution platforms for each audience if they expect anyone to share their stories. That can be a combination of press releases, social media posts, influencer marketing, sponsored content and more.
Here’s one way to think about it. Only 20 percent of your strategy should focus on creation. The other 80 percent should focus on promotion. Center these efforts on a combination of paid, earned, shared and owned media, known as the PESO model, to see more success.
Additionally, alert those who previously consumed your content when more is available. Subscription forms, email newsletters, RSS feeds and paid media all make it easy to inform audiences about additional ways your brand can solve their problems.
Repurpose to Realize More Results
Modern-day communicators have a tool shed full of tactics for recreating and repurposing content. For example, blog posts, social media posts, infographics and video clips are all ways to break down larger pieces of content and reach audiences across multiple platforms.
To understand which audiences prefer what format, topic and platform, measure all content efforts. Include tracking links and ensure repurposed content is just as easy to share and engage with as the original piece of content.
Readership data can help determine when to change direction or repeat campaigns that surpassed sharing expectations. Brands that fuel their stories with data analysis will evolve with the changing communication landscape, leading with their stories, rather than struggling to get them seen.
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