In the first part of our mini series, we talked about creating an awesome content marketing strategy in 2022. In this article, we are going to delve deeper to give you a better understanding of what marketing channels are best suited for your content and how you can choose them.
Before you get started though, it’s essential that you ask the right questions so that you get the most out of your content distribution strategy. We have identified the primary ones that you should clarify:
- Define your objectives – what is it that you want to achieve from the campaign?
- Target audience – who is the content meant for? What are their concerns? What characteristics do they have?
- Identify possible channels – this falls into a number of categories i.e. owned, earned and paid. See the infographic below to illustrate what these mean.
- Decide your platforms – based on where your audience usually is, what your budget is and how much time you have.
- Establish how you will measure performance.
- Carry out a few tests to ensure that everything is working correctly.
For the purposes of this discussion, we are going to take a closer look at the channels to see which ones will drive the best results for your campaigns. As well as this you will learn about what best practices you can follow to distribute your content effectively.
Where should I start when I’m choosing my marketing channels?
A great place to begin is to include one or more platforms that also act as search engines themselves. These are sometimes called evergreen channels as their popularity and performance has remained largely the same, for example:
- Blog posts.
- YouTube.
- Pinterest.
As discussed, reaching your target audience is critical to getting your content consumed. Building engagement organically (as opposed to advertising for example) is obviously much more difficult and it inevitably takes time. The best channels to progress this though is through:
- Podcasts.
- LinkedIn.
- TikTok.
What kind of content should I publish on social media platforms?
We know that it is very tempting to post the same type of content across all of your social media channels because it’s time consuming otherwise. But here’s why you shouldn’t.
First of all, each channel has its own particular way of showing information. Image sizes for example differ across channels. What works for Pinterest will not for the likes of Facebook or Instagram. Since attracting your audience is your primary objective, the material needs to be easily seen and readily consumed by the reader or viewer.
You can however repurpose your content for your different channels. Rather than having to reinvent or come up with new ideas, you can optimise usage by changing the layout or structure to suit the requirements of the channel instead. That way you can maximise further opportunities for your content to be seen.
Likewise, you have to bear in mind the preferences of your audiences as well as the kind of information that you want to communicate. In some instances this may mean video content works best while, for others, short messages as in Twitter produce better results.
Instagram is very much a visual platform therefore images and videos with eye-grabbing appeal such as text graphics, educational content, screenshots, memes and inspirational messages tend to do well.
Originally this network was only about text however it has become known now for link previews, videos, photos and gifs.
LinkedIn is a business oriented professional interface. Here, you can take the opportunity to develop yourself as a thought leader and share work inspiration. It is permissible to talk about your company and share information from your leaders. Long texts are perfectly acceptable and if you do share links, be sure to add your own commentary to it.
As a platform, Facebook is very versatile and lends itself to a variety of post formats. Videos and images tend to be the most commonly used but don’t be afraid to experiment. And, of course, constantly measure performance regularly to determine what people are engaging with as this can change.
The primary objective of Pinterest is for visitors to collect and save ideas so anything that is informational, educational and/or inspirational will help to get attention.
YouTube
YouTube is all about videos and the most popular subject matter for these include funny animals, video game walkthroughs, how-to guides and tutorials, product reviews, celebrity gossip videos, vlogs, comedy/sketch videos, shopping sprees/hauls, unboxing videos, educational videos, parodies and pranks.
TikTok
The network here became a huge success because of its live streaming and dance-off and sharing challenges. Like many others before, it is starting to evolve to reflect more diverse content while still being true to its original video format content. Now there are branded hashtag challenges, partnerships with creators, tutorials or you can benefit from joining a viral craze (Hootsuite).
Producing great content is all about having an in-depth understanding of what your audience’s interests are, what they need and what would help them when they are looking for solutions. For all consumers, we want to feel engaged, entertained, educated and informed where appropriate and at different moments. We don’t want, or need, to be bombarded with serious conversations all the time. Timing and variety is key to creating a community that feels inspired and heard.
Are you a skilled photographer? click here and discover how to monetize your passion by selling your photos online.