5 Content Distribution Techniques to Boost Engagement

Is there anything worse than feeling such a sense of accomplishment after posting an awesome blog post, just to end up feeling incredibly disappointed when you realize that no one read it? In the world of content marketing that’s pretty much as bad as it gets.

We’ve all been in that position before, and unfortunately, if you don’t make any adjustments to the way you share your content, you aren’t going to see much improvement. Sure, creating quality content is definitely one crucial part of the puzzle. However, distributing it is the other equally important piece.

Today is all about that second puzzle piece. If you need help creating your actual content, check out this ultimate content creation guide for some tips. Then head back here and check out these content distribution techniques to boost engagement.

1. Utilize republishing platforms

If your blog doesn’t have a lot of readers, it doesn’t matter how great your content actually is. Thankfully, there are platforms out there that do have a lot of readers that you can publish your own content on. This is a great way to expose new readers to your content and draw them into your website.

Medium is one such platform that we personally use with some of our blog posts. Medium is an online publication that has over 60 million readers and covers a wide variety of topics, making it an appealing option for a lot of brands. Best of all, it doesn’t cost anything to post!

Medium also has a good set of stats that you can access for each post which can give you a good idea of how your posts are performing. With time, you might start to see patterns as to which content is performing the best. This can help inform your future strategy in terms of new content you create. Combined with numerous distribution techniques, you are sure to see a major boost in engagement.

2. Share multiple times via social

At first glance you might think that this is a bad idea or a quick way to annoy your audience, but when done properly, it’s actually a great technique that will help boost your engagement and get your content in front of more of your audience.

Thanks to various algorithm updates, social media doesn’t work the way it used to when it comes to organic reach. For that reason, sharing one piece of content multiple times it actually a great way to maximize your social media engagement.

Sharing multiple times does not mean that you should tweet out your blog post once an hour all day long. That is definitely one way to annoy your audience. Instead, come up with a few unique captions for every piece of content you create. We also recommend having a few different visuals that you can use as well.

Take the above example from Buffer– both tweets are for the exact same article, but two different images and two different captions make each tweet unique. Even if a user sees both tweets, they either won’t realize that it is for the same piece of content, or they will find each tweet interesting (and hopefully at least one will inspire them to click).

In addition to unique captions and images, test out various times for sending out your content. If you always tweet out at 9 a.m. you are probably connecting with the same people over and over. Instead, test out different times and see how your engagement varies. We recommend using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts so that you don’t have to manually send out content at all hours.

There is new research all the time about when the best time to post on social media is. Here is an article on the latest research to use as a jumping off point. However, don’t limit yourself to what you think is the best time. Test things out and see how your specific audience engages. If they happen to engage the most at midnight, who cares what the research says? Post at midnight!

3. Repurpose your content in a visual format

Each blog post you create does not have to exist as only a blog post. Repurpose it and transform it into something visual like an infographic or a video! You already know that visual content performs incredibly well, so why not take the content you’ve already taken the time to research and create and extend its reach by turning it into something different?

Infographics in particular are commented on and shared 3 times more than other types of content on social media. Sprout Social recently published an article on social media trends, for example, and then subsequently turned that article into an infographic (part of which is pictured above). Instead of having to come up with an entirely new topic and find the right research, you can work with what you already have.

Not only does visual content perform better, by creating various types of content you are able to reach your audience in unique ways. Some people may gladly head to your blog and read your posts, while others might prefer to consume visual content and only engage with you via social media. By repurposing content in multiple ways, you are sure to have something for everyone!

4. Engage in some guest blogging

A great way to boost engagement for your brand is to extend your reach to a new audience. A great way to get that done is by guest blogging! This allows you to share your expertise with a new, yet related, audience that may then click back to your website to see what you are all about.

Make sure when you do guest blog that you are connecting with the right blogs that do have a similar audience to your own. When writing your content, make sure to include some links back to your website and blog posts. Not only will this help encourage clicks back to your website, but also generating those backlinks are good for SEO!

Guest blogging is certainly time consuming, but it is well worth your effort. Consider forming a partnership with the guest blog you select so that they can share a blog post with your audience in exchange for one of yours. This way, you are reaching a new audience but are still putting out content at your own blog.

5. Directly engage via web push notification

Finally, directly engaging your audience when you have some new content is a great way to boost engagement. Instead of worrying about algorithm changes on social media or emails getting sent to spam, send a message directly to your audience via web push.

Web push is great because it’s so easy for users to opt in- just click one button! From that point forward, you can send them push notifications whenever you want to. We highly recommend segmenting your audience so that they receive campaigns that are relevant to their individual interests.

When it comes to your blog posts, for example, you can segment your audience by topic and alert users when a new blog post is out for a topic they have previously read. This is a great way to personalize your campaigns, which is something that people are increasingly coming to expect from the brands they choose to engage with.

All a user has to do is click or tap your notification and they go direct to your content. This is a great way to boost your engagement. Make sure to also add some action buttons to your campaigns to boost your click through rate!

Wrapping Up

You work hard to create quality content that you know is going to really engage your audience. Now all that’s left to do is distribute it correctly! Hopefully these content distribution techniques to boost engagement will help you boost your content’s visibility, engagement, and most importantly, ROI.

By utilizing republishing platforms, sharing smartly via social media, repurposing your content visually, guest blogging, and engaging via web push, you are getting your content in front of your audience in numerous ways and are sure to see a major improvement.

What’s your favorite content distribution technique? Let us know by sending us a message!

If you want to start using web push as one way to distribute your content, get started for free with Aimtell, or learn more about web push by reading our Beginner’s Guide.

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