Content marketing enables you to effectively communicate with potential and existing customers in a meaningful way. Content marketing helps to drive trust in a brand and creates a connection with the customer. Customers who have trust in and feel connected to a brand are more receptive to any subsequent marketing messages, which makes them more likely to react positively.

But while producing good content is vitally important, this alone will not produce effective results. You have to also consider how you are going to get your content out there so your customers see it across a number of platforms.

Investing in the promotion and distribution of content is as important as the creation and production of it. Ensure that the invested promotion is targeted and consumed by the right audience in order to deliver maximum ROI.

To help get you started, I’ve pulled together 30 places that you really should be sharing your content to gain maximum exposure and customer engagement.

1) Google+

Like every social media channel going, Google+ is at its most effective and influential when you’re actively using it. Posting regularly is the key to the Google+ castle and, as ever, interesting content is the king. Continuously creating appealing, shareable images, posts and videos is vital to interacting with and growing your target audience.

Google+ is also scored much higher by Google for rankings, so it has a bigger impact on your SEO than other social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

2) Company website

It sounds obvious, but your own website is likely to be the first place customers come to check out your offering, so – make sure there’s a section on there that you can promote content and latest news.

3) E-newsletters

If you have an existing database of customers, maximise the content you’ve already published elsewhere by sharing via an email newsletter.

4) Email signature

Ensure that you are maximising your employees’ correspondence with customers by creating an email signature that employees tailor to their name and title but also includes links to website, LinkedIn and other social media sites.

5) Business cards

In addition to other contact details, include the company website URL or the site that holds most of your content, whether it be YouTube, blog or Slideshare.

6) Slideshare

Maximise your content presence with audio, presentations, ebooks and video.

7) Facebook

Distribute posts, data graphics and photographs to maximize your reach in addition to sharing links to your content hosted on other sites.

8) Pinterest

Aim to collate high quality photography so you can include at least one pinnable image in each article or post you publish. To encourage people to click through and drive traffic back to your site, include your URL within the picture.

9) Tumblr

If sharing visual content, this is one of the best platforms and is particularly effective if targeting a younger audience.

10) Twitter

Use this as a platform to share information from your website and blog and mention people who are cited in your content to encourage them to share or retweet to their followers.

11) YouTube

Share your videos on YouTube. The key to maximising the impact is to create the shareable idea to encourage talkability and make it go viral. See my recent blog on the importance of the ‘shareable idea’ for more information.

12) LinkedIn

Use your personal or company profile to promote content directly to your connections and within relevant groups.

13) Sharing buttons on social media

Maximize earned impressions by including relevant social sharing buttons.

14) Providing a guest blog

Providing unique content to a relevant blog which shares your target audience is a great way to maximise reach. Matt Cutt’s blog on how to approach guest blogging opportunities in the right way is a good read.

15) Annual report

Annual reports are an ideal opportunity to highlight major achievements and content efforts, position you as a thought leader in your field.

16) Using signage in store to promote content

Use signs in store to communicate content. This works best if you use an easy to remember URL. Or try using a QR code which works very well for fast tracking people to your website for additional information.

17) Handouts to distribute in store

Use the opportunity to hand out information directly to customers in store, sharing relevant content.

18) Associations

Associations can provide the perfect ‘middle man’ for sharing your content, on and offline.

19) Receipts

Another great way to reach your existing customers directly in store. Use receipts to include the URL for your primary content site with a call to action to obtain more information.

20) Intermediaries

Liaise with middlemen who engage with your prospects and request they share your content on your behalf.

21) Event attendance

At events, make sure you go prepared to provide customers with more information whether it be via memory stick or hard copy paper handout.

22) Remember your internal communications

Sharing content internally and keeping employees in the loop can be just as important as sharing it externally. Do this via internal publications, intranets and staff emails.

23) Media release

Media, in particular online news channels are a superb way to share your content with some having thousands of unique users each month. To liaise with media, it’s best you issue a media release to highlight your major content pieces. It’s useful to have a news hook to justify the issuing of the release such as a new product launch or recruitment drive.

24) Play Books and Play Store

Use the Android’s store to promote your ebooks and podcasts, helping to build a broader audience.

 25) Tradeshows

For maximum impact at trade shows, make sure you incorporate your content offering into the handouts you distribute.

26) Presenting at Conferences

If presenting at a conference, highlight your content offering. If appropriate and possible, create an offer specially for conference delegates.

27) Amazon

Amazon is a good source for ratings and reviews of eBooks and books and provides another channel to reach potential readers.

28) Paid Content Distribution

If you have suitable content ready to go, there are some content distribution services available online – like Outbrain, Adblade and OneSpot – that distribute advertorial style content. Or if you go for one of the SEO packages I offer, we can write and distribute all your content for you – hassle free!

29) iTunes

Use iTunes as a platform to build a broader audience, by creating podcasts and uploading them

30) Key influencer outreach

Nurture a relationship with bloggers and industry thought leaders and they may help share your content further. You can do this directly or your PR or SEO company can did it for you.

 

Have you found any content marketing distribution methods that have worked particularly well for you? Let us know.

For more ideas on how to make the most of your online content, sign up to my weekly blog or contact me directly on 011 33 20 21 21.