By Tina Kelly

With so many different channels available and seemingly countless platforms to choose from, getting your content in front of the right audiences can be a daunting task. Here we offer tips and tricks for building a diversified content distribution strategy that’ll help you get your content where you want it to go.

Step 1. Dive Into Analytics

One of the most important things to keep in mind when developing an effective content distribution strategy is that it should be driven by data and facts. That means your first step should be to take a look at your website’s analytics to see where users are coming to your site from. You should also survey your search console to see what organic search terms people have used to arrive on your site.

All of this data will help you identify a number of foundational pieces for your strategy, such as what’s currently working to bring people to your site, where you can improve in the channels you’re currently using and what channels you might benefit from that you aren’t currently using.

Step 2. Determine Your Audience(s)

Next, determine who your audience is. And while you likely already have a general sense of who you’re trying to market to, you need to take it a step further.

Think about who you are specifically trying to reach with your content and where they spend the most time. What social media platforms do they use the most? Do they spend more time on their computers or smartphones? By the end of this step, you should have a good idea of where you can most effectively reach your audience.

Step 3. Choose Your Channels

Now that you’ve determined the audience you’re trying to reach and the best places to find them, you need to choose the channels where you’ll distribute your content.

As a general rule of thumb, you should always include organic search in your distribution strategy. It’s a no-brainer — if you’re creating digital content, you should optimize it. This can be accomplished by using keyword research to understand what people are searching for and answer those questions in your content.

Beyond that, there are lots of content distribution channels to consider — from email and social media to paid search, display ads, retargeting ads and more.

It’s important to remember that not every channel makes sense for every organization. For example, nonprofit organizations generally have more success with Google Ad grants, organic search and Facebook, whereas a travel/tourism organization might find that Instagram and TikTok are more reliable ways to distribute content.

Step 4. Set Up Tracking and Measurements

Equally as important as finding the channels where you’ll have the most success is setting up ways to track your content distribution efforts and measure your success.

Whatever your key performance indicators include — whether it’s increasing awareness, improving engagement, driving conversions, etc. — you need to be able to see how well your content is doing on each channel so you can make adjustments and optimize your efforts in the future.

Be Realistic With Your Strategy and Goals

While this advice serves as a general framework for building your content distribution strategy, it’s important to be realistic as you start putting these distribution strategies to use. Make sure you have your priorities in order and go after the places you’ll get the biggest lift.

On the flip side, don’t feel obligated to use every channel that exists in your strategy. There will be places that clearly won’t help you accomplish your goals, so it’s best to leave those behind and focus on where you’ll get the most traction.