The Key to Cutting through the Avalanche of Content – Insights from Experience Inbound 2015

It’s 2015 and content marketing is taking the world by storm. Did you know that over 2.73 million blog posts are written and published daily? These numbers can be daunting when you realize you are just one contributor in a pool of millions of pieces of content.

The key to effective content marketing isn’t just creating great pieces of content to read. It’s about but being able to give that content massive exposure. Luckily we were able to gain some great insights into overcoming this hurdle after attending Chad Pollitt’s keynote, “How Content Promotion Changed Our Inbound Marketing Forever” at Experience Inbound 2015.

The Audience Problem within Content Marketing

There’s no denying that content can create real leads and business, but as of late marketers are taking the time to create great content that only results in a few views or downloads. In fact, as Pollitt revealed in his talk, only 37% of marketers believe their content is effective! Further still, organic reach of social platforms like Facebook is down to 2% and continuing to drop.

What this means is that although you’re making great content, it’s becoming more difficult to get significant visibility because everyone is fighting for the same eyes. It’s like getting your name picked out of a 3 million person hat; slim odds.

But what if instead of your name being written on a small card like everyone else, your name could be written on a poster board? Your odds instantly increase. The equivalent of this in content marketing is content promotion. This is what Pollitt offers as the key to breaking through the content overload.

Creating Content Exposure – Content Promotion

It’s clear now that the, “create it and they will come” approach won’t provide meaningful results. Great content won’t be seen unless you put in the effort to campaign it after creation! This is where content promotion comes in. Pollitt makes it a point to stress that great content marketing is being able to promote content to the right people. He cites that most content marketers only spend 15.2% of content marketing budget on promotion, but should really spend at least 40%. Once you hit the publish button, the majority of your work begins.

Most likely your content promotion strategy consists mostly of two channels, content distribution (a.k.a. paid media), and content broadcasting (a.k.a owned media). But you’re probably neglecting what Pollitt offers as the key channel for influence – content coverage (a.k.a earned media).

Getting content cited and covered by influencers or media outlets that already have built-in audiences can break through the noise and get your content seen. While newer digital strategies have become the preferred promotion strategy, traditional PR tactics still prove to be the most effective. By pitching the media and industry influencers to cover your high-impact content you can drive thousands of impressions and increase brand awareness, conversions, and traffic all tied to your content campaign.

Adding this layer to your content promotion strategy will create a three pronged approach that gives you an effective sweet spot that garners results.

Learn more about Chad Pollitt and effective content promotion here!