"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
Not to get too philosophical, but the message behind this musing has similarities to that of content promotion. For our purposes, it can be used to allude to the creation of content that nobody will consume. If promotion isn't part of your content marketing strategy, your content could go unnoticed and fail to make the proverbial "sound".
If you want your content to make an impact, drive traffic to your website and bolster lead generation efforts, you must have a content promotion strategy in place. This is just as important as content creation - remarkable content that nobody consumes not only has no value, but is also a waste of time and resources. These 4 content promotion tips will help you expand the reach of your content and boost your overall content marketing strategy, so that the content you've created works as an effective digital marketing tool.
1. Leverage Social Media
Social media is valuable because it allows you to leverage the connections of all your fans and followers. It can increase exposure, create awareness and contribute to overall brand authority.
Furthermore, social signals such as Likes and Shares have been confirmed to affect organic search engine rankings.
You already have a social media presence - leveraging that presence to promote your content is an inexpensive and effective strategy.
2. Conduct Outreach
Building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with key influencers in your industry should be a priority as it can significantly help with brand awareness.
If you can get well respected websites or knowledge experts to carry, publish, distribute or promote your content, it will vastly increase its reach and by association, the reach of your brand.
3. Focus On Public Relations
In much the same way as outreach, PR can increase traffic, create brand awareness and bolster your brand messaging.
By leading with high-quality content, your PR efforts can ensure that your brand messaging resonates with your audience, converting them into brand ambassadors.
4. Use Paid Advertising
Promoting your content organically is crucially important, but paid advertising campaigns are also a critical facet of any SEO strategy.
Paid content promotion is an invaluable tool for getting your content seen by the right audience on the right venues, and improving your online presence. Whether display advertising, paid social or pay-per-click, paid advertising allows you to target your content toward your ideal audience.
Conclusion
Many make the mistake of eschewing content promotion, choosing to focus instead on content creation. However, these are two sides of the same coin and are equally important.
The more effectively you seed the content you create, the larger of an impact it will have and the more effectively it will work for your brand. Be sure that your content strategy always has a content promotion plan in place. Otherwise, the material you spend time and effort on will fail to improve your marketing and SEO efforts.
