B2B Content distribution Plan is one of the most important steps you need to consider when creating online. With a good implementation and a key selection of the distribution channels, you can assure successful traffic to your site, and a better reach to your target.
In this guide, you will learn how to create and organize your B2B Content Distribution plan to put your content right in front of your audience in as many ways as possible.
Alright, you’ve written a great article/ebook/guide/autobiography/other. It took you precious time and research, but you are pretty happy with the final results; it actually turned out better than you expected, so pressing the publish button gave you satisfaction to the moon and back.
But now what? Is this the end? Will you leave that great amount of work to root at the bottom of your website? Forgotten on a landing page you only shared once on Twitter?
Don’t you dare!
You worked hard on that document; it’s time to put that content to work for you, don’t you think?
The website is competitive enough to drown fresh and valuable content that lacks a strategic promotion plan. When creating a new piece, you must always think of the next step, and the best ways to approach it to your target audience and potential clients in the SaaS industry.
This process can also help you to structure better your creative process and visualize the many ways your content can take after it has been published. If you want to go far, you need to be as flexible and adaptable as possible.
Let’s see what to take into account before starting with your distribution plan.
What to consider before starting your content distribution plan
Content distribution is the process of sharing, publishing and promoting your content through different communication channels. Currently, social media plays a key role in guaranteeing your distribution strategy success, since there are many channels where content can go viral within hours if it makes it to the right eyes.
Blogs, forums, and niche specialized sites are also great ways to make the most out of your content, but you need to choose wisely where you are gonna share next.
Not every single site or social media channel is your right fit. So before starting, invest some time in evaluating the potential of each potential distribution channel.
Consider the interaction of the channel, the target that is engaging there, and the value that others bring to the table. Evaluate how every community works, the rules and codes they use – if any, and get familiar with dynamics, timings, and best practices to avoid being spammy.
This previous study is worth the time investment, and it will prevent you from spending too much time on a channel that will barely bring you any results.
Why do you need to have a content distribution plan and strategy RIGHT NOW?
Distribution takes your content to the best audiences. If you’re still unsure of who is your best target audience or exploring new ones, presenting your content to a wider audience can help you find the best communities and the most interested in what you have to say.
Team alignment: everybody can share the same type of content through different channels. This will give your team members a sense of belonging and great internal alignment and understanding of what your contents are about and how sharing them strategically can be beneficial for the entire team.
Your distribution strategy can also help you to establish better goals for your content strategy and a more precise measure of your distribution efforts to establish better parameters for the future. By analyzing the channels where you have been distributing content, you can establish better systems for the next content, and make your distribution more proactive and effective to reach your desired goals.
Once you start distributing properly, you will never look back at your old ways. With a great strategy, every step to make your content visible can create valuable nuances.
What type of content can you distribute?
You can put in the distribution queue all those contents in which you and your team have been working for a long time; your most valuable pieces such as:
- Blog articles
- Case studies, success stories
- Ebooks
- Infographics
- Podcast and interviews
- Videos
- Webinars
Make these long contents reach the audiences that will find them valuable, no matter their length.
What type of content distribution channels do you have?
When distributing content, keep in mind that not all channels are born equal. Some might belong to you, some might be the property of others, and some might work under payment. Make sure you adjust to every type.
- Owned channels
These are the channels that belong to you, such as your website, social media, newsletter, and/or blog. All of them can help you distribute your content within your current following and nurture them regularly.
2. Paid channels
These channels work with previous payment, and can be really useful for your distribution if you have a budget and a plan to go big.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC): you pay each time someone interacts with your ad via impressions or clicks. Google ads is the top platform for it.
Sponsored: you might have seen everywhere in the social media channel famous and infamous faces promoting all types of products and services. The truth is that sponsored content is a daily habit most brands would include making the most out of their distribution strategy.
The key to succeeding in this field is to choose your influencers right; someone that has already a community that’s attractive to you and that will be more close to consuming your product/service.
You gotta be subtle, otherwise, your product can look forced and tacky. There are many bad examples of this, but we might go over them just for fun in another article.
Niche influencers: what are some top creators in your niche? Word of mouth is powerful, and this is what influencers do right. Social proof is key here.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ads: paying to get your content boomed in front of wider audiences isn’t a bad idea at all. You just need to be very selective on which channel will bring you the most benefit.
Advertising in these channels can be relatively affordable and can help you reach big audiences. The key here is to nail it at segmentation and know exactly who you want to see your ad.
LinkedIn ads: though it can be a really good option, it’s significantly more costly than the platforms we’ve mentioned before, with prices per ad that can be more suitable for companies with larger marketing budgets. It’ll definitely deserve an entire article to get more in details.
3. Earned (in social media) channels
In this case, third parties promote or share your content. They can be both customers, colleagues from the same field, other people interested in your content, etc.
Here you will include details such as mentions, shares, reviews, guest posts/podcasts, forum debates.
Now that we’ve reviewed the many options you have for content distribution, let’s dig deeper – to a a step by step to set up your strategy.
Do some research first: who is your target audience?
Having an understanding of who your people are and what they need is key. In order to find it out, you’ll need to collect data and ask yourself many questions.
Your social media profiles and website can provide you with a lot of interesting information to design your buyer persona and determine the type of content they’re interested in and the type of social media channels they frequent the most. This way you can choose where to reach them more effectively since you’ll know and understand the social platforms they love the most.
This research will take you to another important step; the content should not just be good. It has to be the best. I know, you may think you’re nailing it at the moment, but think twice, do you need to audit your content and see if there is anything you can do better? Sure thing.
Optimize your current content
Before creating new pieces, take a look at what you have done already. Update, rewrite, change pictures, internal and external links and leave your piece ready to start a new life. Your old content can help you do your first tests within your new distribution channels and will help you create your next content with optimization in mind and with the first evidence of your distribution efforts.
Consider what has been your content impact so far, if there are some types of content that have performed better than others or have generated a better engagement. You can review your channel analytics and detail what has been your activity lately, considering the premises that will interest you the most for improving your goals.
Identify content gaps. Is there any topic you’ve been ignoring so far? Is your audience asking for a specific guide or resource to solve their pain points? Take note of every detail that can help you craft your future content to provide your audience with as much value as possible.
Choose your channels for Content Distribution Plan
Okay, this is getting interesting. Once you’ve done the hard work of research and optimization, it’s time to choose what you consider as the best channels for your content.
Here are some channel examples you may want to consider:
LinkedIn. Needless to say but, if you are in the B2B SaaS industry LinkedIn MUST be in your plans.
Twitter. The good, the bad, and the ugly of this channel are that you need to keep it short. Be straight to the point or use threads to make your concepts specific.
Facebook. Though Facebook pages for companies aren’t working well these days, Facebook groups can be very active and interesting. Make your selection and provide with the value their people there, without being spammy or selly.
Instagram. It’ll depend on your niche,
Reddit. This is one of the most powerful windows of the Internet yet. Subreddits, as they call their groups, are full of active users that upvote on their favorite contents, and carefully choose those that are
Quora. This channel can provide you with interesting answers and questions you wouldn’t have considered before. Active listening is key.
Growth hackers.
Email distribution. Are you making the most out of your newsletter yet? If not, time to do so! This is an easy way to reach your mailing list with juicy and useful news – just don’t abuse regularity.
Youtube, Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcast. If you are generating visual content, these channels are a must in your checklist. Whether you’re creating podcasts or recording interviews, you have to explore all of the potentials of the video/audio platforms and reach those audiences looking for these specific types of content.
You can craft your list according to your own needs, and experiment, experiment a lot!
Decide your type of content
Time to get your KPIs ready for action!
Setting up your goal is fundamental if you want to see what efforts are working better and how you can improve your content distribution.
Some interesting KPIs you can consider:
- Traffic and reach
- Engagement type
- Top content shared and visited
- Impact: clicks, conversions,
- Sentiment: comments, shares
These may vary depending on the type of channel you’re distributing your content to, and need to be adjusted accordingly.
Don’t overcomplicate it: be realistic and establish SMART goals.
Establish a checklist for your content distribution plan and strategy
Distributing can become a mess if you don’t establish a routine to make it happen. Organize your days in a way that you can incorporate distribution to your daily tasks easily, and follow a patron that can later serve you as a guide to review what you have done and where.
One of the best and easiest ways to keep it as simple as possible is to create an excel document checklist where you fit your main distribution channels and the actions you will take on each of them to reach your goals.
If you’re more into tools, Trello, Google Calendar, or Mention can help you here. As long as you understand your own organization, any of these systems can help you focus on the distribution tasks without missing anything.
You win by distributing it. You win with shares. You win by earning links. You win by getting featured in newsletters. You win when a prospect shares your content with their boss. You win with more qualified leads. You win by taking action.
Analyze your results: is there room for improvement?
As you start with distribution, take some time to analyze and dig deep into your first results. Don’t wait too long before doing this analysis; it’s better to adjust on the go and
After a few weeks of implementing your distribution routine, you will start seeing the first results, and thus you can compare them with your KPIs and adjust accordingly, incorporate new channels, or leave those that aren’t too relevant.
Testing a lot helps because content that doesn’t work in one channel can perform x5 times better in another, so even the smallest change can help you thousands.
Create once, but distribute until the end of time.
And if in doubt, the Funky Crew is always available to give you a hand or two in creating a content distribution plan and strategy.
