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Your product is awesome and it will solve every problem, faced by every human on the planet.

Great! If that is the case, everyone who comes across your content (blog post, picture, social media status, update or email) will definitely be interested in whatever you have to say. If, however, your product has a slightly narrower list of benefits, you need to face the fact that some people just won’t care what you have to say.

Since your product or service isn’t really for everyone, it is time to stop distributing your content as if everyone in the world was interested. You’re wasting lots of time, and in some cases lots of money, as you try to “spread the word”. And even worse than the waste, you are watering your content down so much as you try to appeal to everyone, that you miss the chance to deliver really great information specifically for your target audience.

The alternative is to create really focused content, designed to answer the questions customers and prospects are most likely to have. Next, map out a content distribution plan which will put the great content you create in places your target customers are most likely to see it.

6 Steps for Effective Content Distribution

  1. Define your target customer – Get over the idea that anyone who can fog a mirror qualifies as a prospect. The tighter your description of the ideal client, the easier it will be to figure out what to write and where to distribute it.
  2. Look at your metrics  Study web traffic and social media performance. Where do you get the most interaction? And what type of content generates the most responses. It isn’t rocket science. When you find out what people like, give them more of the same. If blog posts about employees do well, write more employee profiles, if your readers like and share “how-to” guides, focus energy on writing more of them.
  3. Choose your platforms – You do not need to be everywhere. To manage your time and your resources, it is fine to step back from platforms which don’t work. A great example of this in action was when Copyblogger, a prominent blogging and social media consulting firm, deleted their Facebook page. They did this even though they had 30,000 followers because they were having significantly better results elsewhere. You will be more successful if you do a great job in one place rather than a mediocre job everywhere. No one will notice if you don’t have a presence on Twitter, they will  however, notice if you do it badly.
  4. Go beyond social media – Your prospective clients visit many websites. Take some of your best content and pitch it to the site owners. Large popular sites probably get multiple submission requests and they ignore most of them. It takes persistence to get published, but exposure on a high profile site with links back to your site are very valuable both as a way to attract readers and boost your SEO. Another approach is to offer a blog exchange where they feature your content and you feature theirs.
  5. Make friends – In every industry there are people who are influential because they are thought leaders, known for sharing industry-specific information. Just as you might submit your information to a website or publication, reach out to these industry experts and ask them to share a link to your blog post, photo or infographic. Before you ask them to promote your information, read their content. Then you will be able to explain how it supports or complements what they typically write about. Don’t abuse your friendship by asking for a share every day. Save the requests for something that is really valuable. Then say thanks with an email or reciprocal share of their content.
  6. Pay to Play – When all else fails, you may have to consider paying to get visibility for your content. In some cases, you may have to pay an influential writer to share your information. Just like any advertising vehicle, be sure they really have the audience before you write the check for their interactions. Do they really have an audience worth paying for? If you are ready to pay for placement, it may be time to consider buying advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If you are going to pay for advertising, be sure the content links back to some type of conversion form.

Need more ways to target your visitors with your content? Make sure to check out our Online Advertising Guide to help you plan a budget for your distribution strategy.

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