B2B Content Distribution Strategy: 12 Best Practices and Examples

How do you develop an effective content distribution strategy that delivers results? You're not alone if you struggle to answer this question.  

In fact, according to a recent survey, only 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content strategy. 

The truth is, creating high-quality content alone is not enough. However, with a proper content distribution plan, your efforts will yield excellent results.

That's where an effective content distribution strategy comes in. 

As entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk once said, "Content is king, but distribution is queen.” 

In other words, distribution is just as important as content creation.

With so much noise and competition, standing out and getting your content in front of the right people is crucial.

This article will guide you through 12 essential steps to develop an effective B2B content distribution strategy. 

Keep reading to learn how to boost your content discovery, brand awareness, traffic, engagement, sales, and ROI.

1. Establish Content Distribution Goals and KPIs 

What’s the point of creating content if it doesn’t serve a purpose? 

Your marketing content must have some defined expectations, such as:

• Increase brand awareness
• Drive traffic to your website 
• Boost sales, etc.

Setting goals for your content distribution strategy is crucial for achieving these expectations via all channels. Here are some tips:

• You can opt for SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals – to get a sense of direction. 

For example, you can aim to aim to increase MQLs by 20% within the next quarter by:

• Creating informative and targeted whitepapers
• Optimizing landing pages for lead capture
• Implementing lead nurturing campaigns

Here, you can measure success through KPIs like MQL conversion rate, lead engagement, and qualified lead acquisition.

How Can You Refine Your Content Distribution Strategy?

To refine content distribution strategy, you must balance multiple content distribution goals, establish a primary one, and ensure others contribute. 

For instance, you can prioritize generating MQLs (primary goal) while driving traffic and building brand awareness (secondary goal). 

Then define KPIs such as MQL conversion rate, website traffic, lead engagement, and brand reach.

This holistic approach will help you align your goals and drive impactful results across revenue generation, traffic, and brand visibility.

Different channels and content types require different KPIs, such as:

• Tracking unique page views and traffic sources for website traffic and reach 
• Monitoring average time on site and bounce rate to measure the engagement 
• Checking click-through rates, conversions, and backlinks for email and ad campaigns
• Tracking backlinks, average time on page, exit rate, comments, and shares to measure blog performance for brand awareness, engagement, lead generation, and conversion

Consider these goals and KPIs when developing an effective content distribution strategy.

2. Research Your ICP 

ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles) help you create content aligned with your target audience's needs. Plus, it allows you to distribute materials that fit customers' behaviors. 

To create ICPs, ask questions such as:

Your Goals

• What are your marketing goals for the content? 
• Are you looking to increase brand awareness or generate leads? 

Different channels may be more effective depending on your goals.

Industry

• What industries does your target audience belong to?

Pain Points

• What are your target audience's common pain points or challenges in their day-to-day operations?

Decision Making

• Who are the key decision-makers within the target organizations?
• What factors influence their decision-making process?

Content Types

• What types of content do they prefer to consume? 
• Do they prefer long-form or short-form content? 
• Are they more likely to engage with video or written content?

Channels

• Where does your target audience spend their time online? 
• Which social media platforms, forums, and other online communities do they frequent?

Digging into the above point more, here are some tips for researching the platform where your audience is active.

• Check SaaS communities like GrowthHackers, SaaS-based Slack channels, and Facebook groups. 
• Do a quick search on the web or sites like Quora and Reddit.

3. Design an Editorial Schedule

An editorial calendar is essential for B2B content marketing distribution planning. It serves as a roadmap for content creators and editors. Plus, it keeps them aligned with publishing, sharing, and promoting every piece. 

Several tools can create editorial calendars, such as:

• HubSpot
• Google Calendar
• Microsoft Excel
• Google Sheets
• Asana
• CoSchedule
• Trello

Your editorial calendar should contain vital information such as:

• Content formats
• Titles
• Keywords
• Distribution channels
• Publication dates
• Authors
• Potential repurposing plans

Frequency of publishing is also essential to maintain consistency, which your target audience will appreciate. According to research, 34% of marketers publish content multiple times per week, while 33% do it every day.

However, keeping your audience from getting overwhelmed or spammed with too much content is essential. Therefore, decide your ideal frequency based on the following factors:

• Audience preferences
• Content types
• Industry norms
• Resources and capacity
• Engagement metrics
• Content quality
• Content distribution channels
• Seasonality and trends
• Testing and experimentation results

In addition, you can also reshare and repurpose existing pieces instead of creating new content every time. 

4. Develop Custom Content for Each Platform

Tailoring your content distribution strategy to each platform is crucial to achieving traction. It means understanding the language of each channel and customizing the copy you use to push your content. 

For example, you may use shorter and more concise language for Twitter, whereas you may use longer paragraphs for LinkedIn. 

Custom content creation also involves knowing your customers better. As such, you must conduct in-depth research to understand your audience's preferences and needs. Here are a few ways:

• One effective way to get to know your audience better is to interview them. 
• Qualitative research, such as surveys and face-to-face chats, can help you eliminate guesswork. It enables you to uncover the topics your customers want to learn about. 

You build a deeper relationship with your audience by following the above tips. Plus, you can better understand their needs and preferences. As a result, you can create a content distribution strategy – tailor-made to your audience and their specific requirements.

5. Write High-Quality Content

You already know this – creating top-notch content that resonates with your target audience is a MUST to generate leads. But how do you achieve this? Here are some tips:

• Micro-content: Micro-content is small content pieces like social media posts, infographics, and short videos. Your audience can quickly consume such resources. 
  Hence, creating engaging micro-content can grab your audience's attention and drive website traffic.
• SEO: Next, you should optimize your website and content to rank higher in search engine results. You can increase your content's visibility and reach a larger audience by conducting keyword research and implementing best SEO practices.
• Brand storytelling: Storytelling is a powerful tool that helps you build brand awareness and create an emotional connection with your audience. You can build customer trust and loyalty by telling compelling stories about your brand and its values.
• Cultural marketing: It involves understanding your audience's culture and values and creating content that resonates with them. By taking a culturally sensitive approach, you avoid misunderstandings and build stronger relationships.
• Expert views: Including insights from industry experts in your content can help establish your brand as a thought leader. As such, it increases credibility among your audience. In addition, you can add value and depth to your content by quoting experts or collaborating with them.

To create meaningful and impactful content, deeply understand your audience. It can help you develop relevant topics that cater to their needs and struggles. 

For instance, a guide with long-form content and an accompanying video tutorial can effectively engage your audience.

Let’s now check out some tips on creating brilliant content ideas:

• Directly ask your audience what content they need and their struggles. 
• Research using platforms like Answer the Public, Quora, and Reddit. It helps discover what your audience is looking for. 
• Use keyword research to identify the right keywords for your business. Aim for keywords with low competition and medium to high search volume.
• Conduct a content audit. Analyze your content, what performs best and worst, and what is missing. 

Assign your content to specific stages of the buyer's journey can quickly uncover which stage lacks content. Then you can focus your efforts on creating content for that particular stage. 

6. Have a Mix of Content Formats and Types

It is vital to have a mix of content formats and types to make your content marketing strategy more effective.

Blogs have served as the primary marketing channels for decades. However, you may need more than just focusing on them to stand out.

According to EarthWeb, bloggers worldwide publish over 7.5 million blog posts daily. Therefore, diversifying your content distribution strategy is crucial.

Researching your audience will help you learn what content they appreciate. While focusing on their preferred types is essential, you should provide multiple content assets to capture more leads and conversions. 

As per HubSpot:

• 50% of marketers leverage videos
• 47% create images
• 33% publish blog posts
• Other high-converting media formats include infographics (30%), podcasts (28%), and case studies (28%)

It's also essential to consider different content types for your distribution strategies, such as ebooks, white papers, webinars, success stories, industry reports, and checklists.

• eBooks: Long-form content asset that provides in-depth information on a particular topic or subject matter.
• Podcasts: Audio content that can be downloaded or streamed and is typically conversational.
• Videos: Visual content that can demonstrate a product or service, provide educational content or offer entertainment.
• Infographics: Visual representation of data or information that makes it easy to understand and digest.
• Case Studies: In-depth analysis of a particular situation, product, or service that highlights successes and challenges.
• Webinars: Live or pre-recorded interactive presentations that educate viewers on a particular topic.
• Blogs: Written content that can range from short-form to long-form and covers a variety of topics.
• Success Stories: Showcase how a particular product or service has helped customers achieve their goals or overcome challenges.
• Industry Reports: In-depth analysis of an industry or market that provides insights into trends and challenges.
• Checklists: List items or tasks that must be completed to achieve a goal.
• Whitepapers: Detailed report or guide that provides information on a particular topic or subject matter.

However, remember that some content types work better on specific platforms, such as: 

• Articles and guides work well on LinkedIn
• YouTube is ideal for videos
• Instagram is perfect for short videos, eye-catching images, and checklists
• Facebook is excellent for all of the above

It's important to note that ebooks, webinars, white papers, infographics, case studies, and success stories should have dedicated landing pages. It makes it easy for your audience to find and consume them. 

Stats

Next, consider the length of your content. As per research:

• Long-form content (over 3000 words) gets an average of 77.2% more backlinks than short articles (less than 1000 words).

• "Why Posts," "What Posts," and infographics receive 25.8% more backlinks compared to videos and "How-to" posts.

Key Takeaway: Longer content, specific posts, and infographics are ideal for acquiring backlinks.

Next, focus on your targeted KPIs – such as the number of social shares:

As per research:

• Longer content outperforms short blog posts regarding social shares. However, there are diminishing returns for articles that exceed 2,000 words.
  
  

• Most online content gets few social shares and backlinks, with 94% of all blog posts having zero external links.
• A small percentage of "Power Posts" generate 75% of all social shares.
• Longer headlines (14-17 words) generate 76.7% more social shares than short headlines.

• Question headlines (ending with a "?") get 23.3% more social shares than headlines without a question mark.

• List posts get an average of 218% more social shares than "how-to" posts and 203% more claims than infographics.

Key Takeaway: Longer content and certain types of headlines and content formats, such as question headlines and list posts, tend to perform better regarding social shares.

7. Decide Among Owned, Earned & Paid Channels

You can use three channels for content distribution: owned, earned, and paid. Each channel type has its benefits and drawbacks. As such, you MUST choose the right channel(s) for your content.

Owned Channels

Owned channels are the ones that your business has complete control over. Some benefits of using owned channels include:

• You have complete control over the content and messaging
• You can tailor the content to your specific audience
• You can measure engagement and track performance

However, the main drawback of using owned channels is that you are limited to your own audience. It means that you may not be reaching new or potential customers.

Types of owned channels include:

• Cold Calling 
• Cold Emailing
• Website
• Blog
• Social Media Accounts

Earned Channels

Businesses use earned channels to distribute content through word-of-mouth or other forms of organic promotion. Some benefits of using earned channels include the following:

• Increased credibility and trustworthiness
• Potential for broader reach and new audiences
• Cost-effective compared to paid channels

However, the primary downside of using earned channels is that they are often outside your control. For instance, others are not guaranteed to share or promote your content.

Types of earned channels include:

• Media Coverage
• Reviews
• Shares & Mentions
• Forums
• Guest Posts
• Customer Referrals

Paid Channels

Paid channels are the ones that your business pays for to promote your content. Some benefits of using paid channels include the following:

• Guaranteed reach and visibility
• Ability to target specific audiences
• Measurable ROI and performance tracking

In this case, the major con is that they can be expensive and may need to deliver the desired results consistently.

Types of paid channels include the following:

• Social Media Ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
• Search Engine Ads on Google AdWords
• Sponsored Content – Sponsored Posts on Blogs/Social Media
• Influencer Partnerships
• Retargeting Ads
• Paid-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

Interesting Interconnection

• You can connect owned to earned channels through SEO: By implementing SEO techniques on your website and blog, you can improve their visibility in search engine results. It can increase organic traffic and attract media coverage, reviews, shares, mentions, and guest posting opportunities.
• You can connect owned to paid channels through PPC: Running PPC ads can effectively promote your company's blog/website. 

In addition, you can drive traffic to your owned channels and increase their visibility by targeting specific keywords and demographics.

• You can connect paid and earned channels through paid ads for organic promotion:

Using paid advertising, such as social media ads or sponsored content, you can reach a wider audience and increase the chances of earning media coverage, reviews, shares, and mentions. These earned channels can further amplify your brand's reach and credibility.

By leveraging these connections between owned, earned, and paid channels, you can create a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote your brand, drive traffic, and achieve your business objectives.

Choosing the Right Channels

As per HubSpot's research:

• 42% of marketers use social media to distribute their content
• 33% give priority to their website or blog
• 32% rely on email marketing

When deciding which channels to use for content distribution, consider your audience, goals, and budget. In addition, consider each channel’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Hence, a mix of owned, earned, and paid channels may be necessary to reach your desired audience and achieve your marketing goals.

Bonus Tip!

Whatever channel you choose, you must engage with these communities by first providing value. You can also reference the content you want them to check out. 

For example:

You can respond to a question about the best way to use Reddit for marketing a new application. Giving valuable insights and recommending via a detailed blog post on how people can use Reddit can help your audience. Then, share a link to the post. 

Pro Tip: Avoid being overly promotional and focus on providing value first. Say something like, "I came across this helpful blog post on using Reddit for promoting XYZ. It shares practical tips that have worked for me. Check it out if you're interested!" 

By referencing the content in a contextually relevant and helpful manner, you increase the chances of audience engagement and interest.

LinkedIn also serves as an excellent platform for B2B marketing. After all, 80% of B2B leads come from this platform. Thus, it's crucial to master content distribution on this channel. To do so, you can use content distribution tactics such as:

• Optimizing your LinkedIn profile
• Sharing content in relevant groups
• Leveraging LinkedIn Ads

8. Select Content Distribution Tools

Selecting the proper content distribution tools ensures your content reaches the right audience at the right time through the proper channels. 

Various content distribution tools are available, ranging from free to paid platforms. And each channel has its unique features and capabilities.

Some of the popular content distribution tools include:

• Hootsuite - Another social media management tool that enables you to manage multiple social media accounts, schedule posts, and monitor social media activity in real-time.
• Mailchimp - An email marketing tool that lets you send emails to subscribers, manage email lists, and track email performance.
• Outbrain - A content discovery and advertising platform that helps you promote your content on high-traffic websites to reach a wider audience.
• Taboola - A content discovery and advertising platform that allows you to promote your content on high-traffic websites.
• BuzzSumo - A content marketing tool that helps you analyze content performance, find influencers, and monitor social media activity around your brand.

Consider your budget, target audience, and content goals when selecting content distribution tools. Plus, choose tools that integrate well with each other, allowing for a seamless content distribution process.

9. Use Content Repurposing and Amplification 

Utilizing B2B content syndication networks that will drive traffic can significantly enhance your content strategy. According to research, only 29% of B2B marketers use content repurposing. However, it’s essential for maximizing the reach of your content.

Content repurposing involves transforming existing content into other formats to appeal to different audiences. 

For example:

• You can convert a blog post into a video or an infographic
  Or
• You can repurpose a whitepaper into a series of blog posts

By doing so, you can:

• Extend the life of your content
• Reach new audiences
• Drive more traffic to your website

Amplification, however, involves promoting your content through various channels, such as:

• Social media
• Email marketing
• Content syndication

NOTE: 

Content syndication involves distributing your content on third-party platforms, such as:

• Industry publications
• Websites with large audiences

10. Get Feedback From Readers

Gathering input from readers helps you understand your audience's preferences, pain points, and interests. As such, it allows you to tailor your content to meet their needs better.

You can collect feedback from various sources, such as:

• Comments on blog posts
• Social media engagement
• Email responses
• Surveys

When you analyze and take action based on this feedback, you can think of measures to:

• Improve the quality of your content
• Increase engagement
• Drive more conversions

For example, if you notice that a particular blog post receives many comments and shares, you can use that as a foundation for creating more content. 

Or, if you obtain a lot of feedback about a specific issue, you can address it in your content to demonstrate that you value your audience's opinions.

It's essential to encourage feedback and engagement from your audience by making it easy for them to provide their thoughts and opinions. It could involve:

• Including a call-to-action in your content
• Asking readers to leave a comment or rating
• Sending out surveys to your email subscribers

11. Implement Regular Content Audits

A content audit is a comprehensive evaluation of all the content on your website or other channels. It helps determine your content’s effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

In addition, a content audit assesses your content's quality, relevance, and accuracy. In short, it ensures the following:

• Your content aligns with your business goals
• Your resources meet the needs of your target audience

Plus, it helps identify outdated or redundant content that can be removed or repurposed.

To conduct a content audit, you can start by:

• Creating a spreadsheet that lists all the content on your website
• Noting relevant metrics such as page views, engagement rates, and conversion rates

You can then analyze the data to identify patterns and areas for improvement.

Some benefits of regular content audits include the following:

• Improved SEO: You can improve your website's overall SEO ranking by identifying and removing outdated or irrelevant content.
• Increased engagement: By understanding what type of content resonates with your audience, you can create more engaging content. Hence, you can encourage readers to stay on your website longer.
• Better content planning: You can plan new content by identifying gaps in your content strategy. Therefore, your final resources will meet the needs of your audience and align with your business goals.
• Cost savings: By identifying outdated or redundant content that you can remove or repurpose, you save money on content creation and promotion.

12. Assess, Refine, and Update

Assessing, refining, and updating your content is essential to any successful content syndication marketing strategy. With regular evaluation and optimization, your content may perform better.

Here are some content assessment tactics:

• Measuring key metrics such as total social impressions, views, conversions, and social media shares. Then, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your content. 
• Look at changes in reading time, bounce rate, and the number of active email subscribers. It can help you identify areas for improvement and refine your content distribution strategy accordingly.
• Identify your highest-performing content. It can be a great way to inform your content creation going forward. 

For example, if a piece of content is performing well regarding views, shares, and conversions, you can create more articles and turn them into a series. 

And if a piece of content gets higher-than-average conversion rates, you can give it extra promotion with paid social ads or sponsored content.

Conclusion

Refining your content distribution strategy is crucial for keeping your content marketing efforts effective and efficient. As the digital landscape constantly evolves, keeping up with the latest trends and adapting your strategy accordingly is essential.

If you need help refining your content distribution strategy, consider contacting Revnew for guidance and support. Our team of experts can help you identify areas for improvement. Plus, they’ll guide you in developing a customized plan as per your business goals.

With the right tools and expertise, you can create a content distribution strategy that resonates with your target audience and drives measurable results. First, take your time with the complexity of content marketing. Then, contact Revnew and start maximizing your content's potential.