How can you optimize content distribution across channels?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you start optimizing your content distribution, you need to understand your current performance and challenges. Analyze your existing content, channels, audience, and metrics to identify what works and what doesn't. You can use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, email marketing reports, and content marketing platforms to collect and visualize your data. Look for patterns, trends, gaps, and opportunities to improve your content distribution strategy.

2 Define your goals and KPIs

Once you have a clear picture of your current situation, you need to set your goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for your content distribution. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Your KPIs should be aligned with your goals and reflect the outcomes you want to achieve with your content distribution. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, your KPIs could be reach, impressions, shares, and mentions. If your goal is to generate leads, your KPIs could be conversions, sign-ups, downloads, and sales.

3 Choose your channels and formats

The next step is to choose the best channels and formats for your content distribution. You should consider your audience's preferences, behaviors, and needs, as well as your own resources, budget, and objectives. You can use the PESO model to categorize your channels into four types: paid, earned, shared, and owned. Paid channels are those that require a financial investment, such as ads, sponsored posts, or influencer marketing. Earned channels are those that you gain through third-party recognition, such as media coverage, reviews, or testimonials. Shared channels are those that you leverage through social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Owned channels are those that you control, such as your website, blog, email list, or podcast.

You should also choose the best formats for your content, depending on the channel, the message, and the goal. You can use different formats to repurpose your content and adapt it to different platforms and audiences. For example, you can turn a blog post into a video, an infographic, a podcast episode, or a social media post. You can also use different formats to create a content series or a content hub that connects your pieces and guides your audience through a journey.

4 Create a content calendar

A content calendar is a tool that helps you plan, organize, and schedule your content distribution across channels. It helps you avoid duplication, inconsistency, and gaps in your content distribution. It also helps you align your content with your marketing campaigns, events, and seasons. You can use a spreadsheet, a software, or a template to create your content calendar. You should include the following information for each piece of content: title, format, channel, date, time, goal, KPI, target audience, keywords, and call to action.

5 Monitor and measure your results

The final step is to monitor and measure your results and adjust your content distribution accordingly. You should track your KPIs and metrics regularly and compare them with your goals and benchmarks. You should also collect feedback from your audience and analyze their behavior and engagement. You should use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, email marketing reports, and content marketing platforms to collect and visualize your data. You should look for insights, trends, and patterns that can help you optimize your content distribution. You should also test different variables, such as headlines, images, formats, channels, and times, to see what works best for your content distribution.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?