Content promotion is mistakenly often treated as the final stage of content production, taking place only after the content goes live. In a solid content campaign, however, promotion should be the first step, which carries the production along, and should continue through launch, and well beyond.
Identify Your Audience
Before content production begins, identify your target audience. For whom is the content intended, and what are their needs?
Outline what you plan to offer them, why they should care, and what actions they will take after reading the content. Understand what could prevent them from taking action or engaging with your content, and how you can solve this issue.
Connect With Influencers
Once you are clear on your audience and your goals, it is important to find influencers. These are the people with whom you can create mutually beneficial relationships to put it simply, you learn from them, and then create content those people will find useful.
Begin by reaching out to your influencers. Send personalized messages to the key people on your list, asking for permission to send them a link for review and feedback. Identify which influencers you can target with a cold pitch via Twitter or LinkedIn, and feel free to include some of those. Be sure to allow plenty of time for them to review the content.
Keep a list of who responds, and let them know as soon as the content goes live, and request that they leave a comment to help facilitate the discussion. This can be one of your greatest assets in promotion. Newcomers may see authoritative figures in the industry commenting on and sharing your posts, and could be far more likely to read and engage with your content.
Maintain Momentum
As the initial excitement over your content begins to die down, keep it active. Moderate and respond to comments. Retweet the nice comments, and thank people for sharing.
Take a look at which social channels are performing, and invest in those. If none performed particularly well, try again with different headlines or targeting criteria. Submit your articles to email newsletters and weekly roundups.
Don’t forget to reclaim your links. It’s likely that people shared your content without crediting you, so consider using these tactics to bring credit back to your brand.
Finally, don’t forget to thank your contributing influencers for their help, and keep those relationships alive. Re-evaluate your original list of influencers, and see who turned out to be more critical to your success than you initially suspected. Ask if they would be willing to provide feedback in the future, and remain connected! They can be your greatest asset in reaching a broader audience.
Are you looking for help promoting your content throughout the creation process? Contact Sweet Rose Studios today for help with your content initiatives!
