Disturbute And Promote Content
You've planned and created content.Now let's look at how to distribute and promote it.In this lesson, you'll review ways to promote and distribute content,create a content calendar,and examine content trends.
The next step after content creation is distribution of that content.Let's hear from HubSpot to learn more.There's a certain way you want to leverage your content through distribution.The right distribution technique getsthe right content in front of the right person at the right time.Your content can be a powerful tool to attract visitors,convert leads, and so on,but you have to distribute it to help it actually achieve those feats.Use your website pages and business blogs,not only for the content,but to also host the different content offers that you've created.Landing pages will act as that gatekeeper for your content offers.Social media is a fantastic tool to use when promoting your content.There are many different social channels you can use,so keep your buyer persona in mind andthink about where they might be spending their time.Use a social media scheduling tool to help you save time.Calls to action can be placed on your website to enticeyour website visitors to download or request your different offers,and use email to let prospects know aboutthe exciting new pieces of content you've created.All of these methods work,you just have to be promoting continuously.If that e-book is still relevant six months after you created it, promote it again.Just make sure to freshen up the promotion of it,as opposed to sending out a tweet,an email, and so on,with the same verbiage as the first update.Think of the content distribution as a way to maximize the shelf life of your content.Amplify that content.Don't make the mistake of getting a lot less engagement than youshould for the amount of time you're spending on creating content.
Like you heard from Hubspot,content on its own won't do much.You have to distribute it and promote it.You can categorize the promotion of content in three ways: paid,owned or earned, also called POE.Paid media or content is content you pay to place on a website that you don't control.When you pay for placement,it's also called advertising.Owned media or content is content you authorand typically runs on your own website or properties.Earned media or content is media that others write about you.The most effective marketing utilizes all three types of content: paid, owned and earned.For example, if you are a new company and have low traffic on your website and blog,you will not generate enough sales just by publishing on your own channel.You'll need to publish to other channels and, perhaps,pay for promotion via Twitter or Facebook ad or findinfluencers who can spread the word about your content and message to their audience.Hubspot breaks down promotion as organic and paid. let's hear more.Organic content promotion is designed to increase the visibility ofyour content and the effectiveness ofyour marketing campaigns without spending money on ad space,boosted content or promoted content.Some of the most effective organic content promotion channelsare search engine optimization,email marketing, social media,live promotions, live events or webinars,influencer networks and let's not forget the good old fashioned word of mouth.A benefit of doing organic promotion isincreased brand authority across various platforms.Because the amount of content you can promote is not limited by a budget,you're able to use multiple platforms to promotequality content and increase awareness about your business and brand.However, the challenge is that you'll need to ensureconsistency around developing and publishing content regularly.In contrast, paid content promotion allows youto show your content to a highly specific audience.In most cases, you're able to customize the target audience pool as well as the message.But you'll have to spend money in order for anyone to see your content.The most common channels for paid promotion aresearch engine ads that are placed on platforms, such as Google,Yahoo or Bing and paid social media campaigns on platforms such as Facebook,LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.A benefit of paid promotion is the ability to develop and deliverhighly targeted content to consumers who will find the content most relevant.A challenge when doing paid promotion is securingenough budget in order to achieve your desired results.To overcome this challenge,its best to experiment with a small budget todiscover the best ways to achieve your desired outcome.The most efficient way for organic and paid content promotion towork together is promote well-performing content.Content that performs well will have above average engagement with it such as likes,shares, retweets and link clicks,which drive traffic to your website.
A successful content strategy focuses on quality over quantity. But there’s still a lot to keep track of. It’s a good idea then to organize your content creation with an editorial calendar.
As you are likely starting to see,there is a ton of content out there and new content popping up every day.In general content tends to follow emerging consumer behavior.Let's take a look at some content trends.One of the big turning points in digital marketing,is when brands started to incorporate user-generated content.User-generated content is content like blogs, pictures,videos that consumers themselves carry around their brand, product or service.At first, many brands feareduser-generated content because they wanted to maintain control of their brand.But digital marketing now isa two way conversation and that means consumers are going to have their say.And as the tools they have like iPhone,social media platforms or messaging apps get more advanced,users have become more and more creative.But the good news is, you can leverage their enthusiasm and they canbecome a valuable source of content creation, distribution and promotion.BuzzFeed has successfully harnessed the power of user generated content.Let's hear what they have to say.Well, what's been so interesting about this whole notion of user-generated content,is we are growing up in a generation that is so not afraid to be in front of camera,so not afraid of using technology to create post-productionand create valuable clips and videos of themselves.And so, what we even term and define as user-generated is completely changed.What I see next is that content is going to playa much greater role in helping marketers createthese smaller news groups and target them in a way that is much morepowerful and speak to them through that content so that their brands actually resonate.
As consumer behavior shifts over time marketers have to respond with new content.Let's look at what the future of content marketing looks like.Nearly two thirds of smartphone owners usemessaging more than five times a day to communicate with others.From Facebook's mobile messenger tothe popularity of apps in non-Western markets like WeChat,consumers increasingly communicate outside of public social network pages.Where consumers go, marketers follow.And as a result paid media has begun to appear on messaging apps.Google has jumped on the trend with this new click to message ads.Companies can set up a message extension that givesusers an easy way to text companies by launchinga users SMS app witha pre-written message tailored to the product or service they're interested in.For example, if you're a travel advertiser and someonemessages you after searching for New York City hotels,they can send or edit your pre-written message tax.Like "I'm interested in a reservation.Please, text me back with more information".Chat bots are computer programs designed to simulatea conversation with the human using audio or text.Brands are developing chat bots that give consumers assistance.For example, Hyatt Hotel Group developed a chat bot application based onFacebook's messenger API that allowsusers to chat with a bot that can help book reservations.- flowers created a bot that allows users toask for bouquet recommendations and order flowers without leaving Facebook.There's even a chat bot for marketers. Virtual reality.VR is a computer generated simulation ofa three dimensional image or environment that users interact within a seemingly real way by usingspecial electronic equipment such as goggles or gloves fitted with sensors.Brands are already using the medium to deliver experiential marketing.Marketing that makes you feel like you're actually experiencingthe product or service versus just hearing or reading about it.With virtual reality brands can teleportcustomers anywhere and put them inside the story.You've probably heard of Amazon's Echo or Google home.These are smart home devices that consumers can use to order delivery,set the room temperature,and even play music with verbal commands.Domino's was the first fast food brand to create an app onthe Echo platform that allows users to order pizza with verbal commands.As more devices or appliances like refrigerators and coffee makers become smart,more marketing opportunities are sure to follow.Artificial intelligence, AI, uses algorithms to figure out increasingly complex tasks.Tasks that have been largely left to humans.AI powers Apple's Siri and her counterparts,Microsoft's Cortana, IBM's Watson, and Google assistant.As these voice operated assistance grow in adoptionit's likely marketers will vie to be top of these virtual minds,much like they did when search engines emerged.Further, AI in its subset machine learning will be used to handlemarketing tasks that require a lot ofresources like content production or content analytics.Already companies such as Narrativa and Narrative Science useAI to create human quality text based content.New consumer behaviors emerge all the time and content follows them.Be sure to keep an eye on these content trends andutilize them when it makes sense for your audience.For even more on the future of content marketing check out HubSpot research.There is a link in the instructor notes below.If you're not going to fully commit to a content marketing strategy,don't do it until you can.But if you're ready commit,whether it's blogging, podcasting or another kind of content,pick one platform where you're going to build subscribers and delivercontent consistently over a long period of time.It can take to months to see results.We'll cover what kind of results you'll look for in lesson five.
Resources:
Let's quickly recap this lesson.You need to distribute and promote your content for it to work for you.A content calendar will keep your plan on track,and keep an eye on content trends.Okay. You've planned, created and distributed your content.Now what? It's a piece of the puzzle many marketers forget.Find out what, next.
The next step after content creation is distribution of that content.Let's hear from HubSpot to learn more.There's a certain way you want to leverage your content through distribution.The right distribution technique getsthe right content in front of the right person at the right time.Your content can be a powerful tool to attract visitors,convert leads, and so on,but you have to distribute it to help it actually achieve those feats.Use your website pages and business blogs,not only for the content,but to also host the different content offers that you've created.Landing pages will act as that gatekeeper for your content offers.Social media is a fantastic tool to use when promoting your content.There are many different social channels you can use,so keep your buyer persona in mind andthink about where they might be spending their time.Use a social media scheduling tool to help you save time.Calls to action can be placed on your website to enticeyour website visitors to download or request your different offers,and use email to let prospects know aboutthe exciting new pieces of content you've created.All of these methods work,you just have to be promoting continuously.If that e-book is still relevant six months after you created it, promote it again.Just make sure to freshen up the promotion of it,as opposed to sending out a tweet,an email, and so on,with the same verbiage as the first update.Think of the content distribution as a way to maximize the shelf life of your content.Amplify that content.Don't make the mistake of getting a lot less engagement than youshould for the amount of time you're spending on creating content.
Like you heard from Hubspot,content on its own won't do much.You have to distribute it and promote it.You can categorize the promotion of content in three ways: paid,owned or earned, also called POE.Paid media or content is content you pay to place on a website that you don't control.When you pay for placement,it's also called advertising.Owned media or content is content you authorand typically runs on your own website or properties.Earned media or content is media that others write about you.The most effective marketing utilizes all three types of content: paid, owned and earned.For example, if you are a new company and have low traffic on your website and blog,you will not generate enough sales just by publishing on your own channel.You'll need to publish to other channels and, perhaps,pay for promotion via Twitter or Facebook ad or findinfluencers who can spread the word about your content and message to their audience.Hubspot breaks down promotion as organic and paid. let's hear more.Organic content promotion is designed to increase the visibility ofyour content and the effectiveness ofyour marketing campaigns without spending money on ad space,boosted content or promoted content.Some of the most effective organic content promotion channelsare search engine optimization,email marketing, social media,live promotions, live events or webinars,influencer networks and let's not forget the good old fashioned word of mouth.A benefit of doing organic promotion isincreased brand authority across various platforms.Because the amount of content you can promote is not limited by a budget,you're able to use multiple platforms to promotequality content and increase awareness about your business and brand.However, the challenge is that you'll need to ensureconsistency around developing and publishing content regularly.In contrast, paid content promotion allows youto show your content to a highly specific audience.In most cases, you're able to customize the target audience pool as well as the message.But you'll have to spend money in order for anyone to see your content.The most common channels for paid promotion aresearch engine ads that are placed on platforms, such as Google,Yahoo or Bing and paid social media campaigns on platforms such as Facebook,LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.A benefit of paid promotion is the ability to develop and deliverhighly targeted content to consumers who will find the content most relevant.A challenge when doing paid promotion is securingenough budget in order to achieve your desired results.To overcome this challenge,its best to experiment with a small budget todiscover the best ways to achieve your desired outcome.The most efficient way for organic and paid content promotion towork together is promote well-performing content.Content that performs well will have above average engagement with it such as likes,shares, retweets and link clicks,which drive traffic to your website.
A successful content strategy focuses on quality over quantity. But there’s still a lot to keep track of. It’s a good idea then to organize your content creation with an editorial calendar.
You’ll want your content calendar to at a minimum list the content’s title, author, and publish date.
Each publishing period, typically monthly, should outline a theme and pain point, who is targeted, the main format that will be used, who is going to create the content, and how the content will be tracked and measured.
Also, remember timing when creating your calendar. For example, you’ll want to plan ahead for holidays and understand when your audience is actively seeking information.
You can use tools like Google Trends to understand the search patterns of your audience. We’ll go over Google Trends in detail in the Search Engine Marketing course.
Finally, you might have one calendar for content creation and another for content distribution and promotion. Or you can combine them. It’s up to you. HubSpot has a number of calendar templates you can use.
We have also added a Content Calendar Template to the Workbook Spreadsheet
As you are likely starting to see,there is a ton of content out there and new content popping up every day.In general content tends to follow emerging consumer behavior.Let's take a look at some content trends.One of the big turning points in digital marketing,is when brands started to incorporate user-generated content.User-generated content is content like blogs, pictures,videos that consumers themselves carry around their brand, product or service.At first, many brands feareduser-generated content because they wanted to maintain control of their brand.But digital marketing now isa two way conversation and that means consumers are going to have their say.And as the tools they have like iPhone,social media platforms or messaging apps get more advanced,users have become more and more creative.But the good news is, you can leverage their enthusiasm and they canbecome a valuable source of content creation, distribution and promotion.BuzzFeed has successfully harnessed the power of user generated content.Let's hear what they have to say.Well, what's been so interesting about this whole notion of user-generated content,is we are growing up in a generation that is so not afraid to be in front of camera,so not afraid of using technology to create post-productionand create valuable clips and videos of themselves.And so, what we even term and define as user-generated is completely changed.What I see next is that content is going to playa much greater role in helping marketers createthese smaller news groups and target them in a way that is much morepowerful and speak to them through that content so that their brands actually resonate.
Content Trends
Content has become more interactive. Marketers know that content that involves the audience keeps them more engaged, and since there are an increasing number of ways users can interact with content online, marketers increasingly use interactive content.
1. Quizzes
Quizzes are an increasingly popular form of content. Not only do they engage the audience, they can also provide users with interesting content to share on their social networks. You may have seen some posts from friends on Facebook for instance, with results from a vocabulary or personality test they took, encouraging you to take the same test. But, sites also use quizzes to get engage their audience in relationship to the product they offer.
Here is an example of a quiz on Betterment, a personal finance site, allowing users to test their finance and investment knowledge.
2. Clickbait
Clickbait is another content trend you no doubt came across.
Clickbait is content - headlines and/or images - that are provocative and used to get people to click through to a web page.
You may have encountered clickbait headlines like: "You will never believe what this woman did after her fiance proposed to her" or “You won’t believe what happens next”, etc.
Here are a few examples of clickbait:
Clickbait works because it preys on our innate curiosity.
Don’t mislead people!
While sensational headlines garner readers or viewers, if the headlines or images don’t relate to or live up to the actual content, users end up disappointed and wary of similar headlines or content. As a marketer, you should stay away from misleading your audience. It will hurt your brand and your message. You want to attract people who want or need your content, not people hooked but ultimately not interested in what you have to offer.
In fact, Facebook and Google penalize marketers who use headlines that don’t relate to the actual content, filtering their content or lowering the probability that their ads appear.
3. Listicles
As digital content has increased, the attention span of users has decreased. Listicles emerged to help readers get key facts quickly. Listicles are articles presented in the form of a numbered or bullet-pointed list. Listicles are popular because they are easy to peruse and readers feel like they’re able to consume a lot of content in a short period of time.
Listicles started out as simple text-based summaries. Buzzfeed arguably took them to the next level by including images and gifs.
Here is an example of a Buzzfeed Listicle:
4. GIFs
GIFs have gained popularity in recent years. You can find them on websites, in listicles, in email messages, etc. A GIF is a series of compressed images that are scrolled through in a loop. The result looks like a tiny video that keeps repeating itself. GIFs are easily shared, and they have the dynamic appeal of a video but they don’t require the user to hit ‘play’. They are also a great way to convey emotions quickly.
Here is an example:
You can create GIFs using tools like e.g. Photoshop, but there are also tools out there that let you search and create GIFs easily without the need for technical or Photoshop skills, like e.g. : Giphy
5. Emoji
Emoji have been around since the late nineties but are now a hugely popular way of communicating primarily via text messaging. With the increased popularity of tools like WeChat, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger etc., emoji have become embedded in the texting language.
Brands have jumped on this trend. For instance, Domino’s, a popular pizza brand, lets customers order a pizza for delivery by tweeting or texting a single pizza emoji. 6. Podcasts
Podcasts are all the rage and brands have jumped on board.
When you consider that the average podcast is 35 minutes long,much longer than readers usually engage with a single article on a website, podcasts can be an excellent avenue for engagement. Of course, podcasts require a lot of effort to create. But, if you have content that can engage your audience, it may be an interesting medium to consider.
An example of a branded podcast is "Open for Business" a podcast Ebay created together with Gimlet media. Each of the six episodes in the podcast focuses on a different aspect of running or starting a business, appealing to Ebay’s potential customers.
7. Native Advertising
Native advertising is a more recent trend. Native advertising is when you pay for placement of content on a third party site in a format similar to content on the site it is displayed on. It is comparable to ‘advertorials’ in magazines. The idea is that a marketer can blend its ad in the content of a site so that it does not stand out as much as an ad, but is perceived more as part of the content of the site.
Other terms for native advertising are native ad, native content, sponsored content and contextual advertising.
Native ads can be effective. It doesn’t disrupt the user experience and offers helpful information in a format similar to the other content on the site, so users engage with more than they would with, say, a banner ad. But it is important to avoid misleading users, so clarity and prominence of the disclosure is paramount. Users should be alerted to the fact that this content was paid for.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), an advertising business organization that focuses on industry standards published guidelines for Native Advertising in its Native Advertising Playbook.
Here is an example of a native ad from Clorox on the Refinery29 website. This content is sponsored by Clorox, yet, it takes on the form of a regular article on the site.
You will also find several native ads on the Yahoo! Homepage (typically identified as ‘sponsored’), like in the example below:
As consumer behavior shifts over time marketers have to respond with new content.Let's look at what the future of content marketing looks like.Nearly two thirds of smartphone owners usemessaging more than five times a day to communicate with others.From Facebook's mobile messenger tothe popularity of apps in non-Western markets like WeChat,consumers increasingly communicate outside of public social network pages.Where consumers go, marketers follow.And as a result paid media has begun to appear on messaging apps.Google has jumped on the trend with this new click to message ads.Companies can set up a message extension that givesusers an easy way to text companies by launchinga users SMS app witha pre-written message tailored to the product or service they're interested in.For example, if you're a travel advertiser and someonemessages you after searching for New York City hotels,they can send or edit your pre-written message tax.Like "I'm interested in a reservation.Please, text me back with more information".Chat bots are computer programs designed to simulatea conversation with the human using audio or text.Brands are developing chat bots that give consumers assistance.For example, Hyatt Hotel Group developed a chat bot application based onFacebook's messenger API that allowsusers to chat with a bot that can help book reservations.- flowers created a bot that allows users toask for bouquet recommendations and order flowers without leaving Facebook.There's even a chat bot for marketers. Virtual reality.VR is a computer generated simulation ofa three dimensional image or environment that users interact within a seemingly real way by usingspecial electronic equipment such as goggles or gloves fitted with sensors.Brands are already using the medium to deliver experiential marketing.Marketing that makes you feel like you're actually experiencingthe product or service versus just hearing or reading about it.With virtual reality brands can teleportcustomers anywhere and put them inside the story.You've probably heard of Amazon's Echo or Google home.These are smart home devices that consumers can use to order delivery,set the room temperature,and even play music with verbal commands.Domino's was the first fast food brand to create an app onthe Echo platform that allows users to order pizza with verbal commands.As more devices or appliances like refrigerators and coffee makers become smart,more marketing opportunities are sure to follow.Artificial intelligence, AI, uses algorithms to figure out increasingly complex tasks.Tasks that have been largely left to humans.AI powers Apple's Siri and her counterparts,Microsoft's Cortana, IBM's Watson, and Google assistant.As these voice operated assistance grow in adoptionit's likely marketers will vie to be top of these virtual minds,much like they did when search engines emerged.Further, AI in its subset machine learning will be used to handlemarketing tasks that require a lot ofresources like content production or content analytics.Already companies such as Narrativa and Narrative Science useAI to create human quality text based content.New consumer behaviors emerge all the time and content follows them.Be sure to keep an eye on these content trends andutilize them when it makes sense for your audience.For even more on the future of content marketing check out HubSpot research.There is a link in the instructor notes below.If you're not going to fully commit to a content marketing strategy,don't do it until you can.But if you're ready commit,whether it's blogging, podcasting or another kind of content,pick one platform where you're going to build subscribers and delivercontent consistently over a long period of time.It can take to months to see results.We'll cover what kind of results you'll look for in lesson five.
Resources:
Let's quickly recap this lesson.You need to distribute and promote your content for it to work for you.A content calendar will keep your plan on track,and keep an eye on content trends.Okay. You've planned, created and distributed your content.Now what? It's a piece of the puzzle many marketers forget.Find out what, next.
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