Once you have content, you need to decide how and where you want to distribute it. If you think, you will post the content on all niche websites, blogs or social media networks and will soon start seeing the results, reconsider.
Not every channel addresses your target audience. You need to identify specific channels for each type of personas. For examples, there are people who are socially very active while there are others who like to dig into whitepapers. Your target audience is not homogeneous They are located at different places and use different channels for information consumption.
So, it is essential to have a proper content channel plan to figure out who to serve where. You will need to consider the context in which people will consume the content and find it relevant.
Here is a step by step process that you can follow when deciding where and how you’re going to distribute the content you have created.
Situational Analysis
Situational analysis is the first step in the process where you need to understand what you already have done. Find the answers for the following questions:
- Where do you stand when it comes to connecting with your audience?
- What kind of story you have told them?
- Is there anything (the method of your storytelling or the story itself) that needs to be changed or stopped?
- How can connection or engagement with customers be improved?
This step deals with all these questions. Once you’re able to find out the answers for them, you can set your priorities.
Channel Selection
It’s not possible for everyone to be present at all content distribution channels, especially for beginners. You need to produce tons of diverse content for being able to connect with your audience on so many channels. Therefore, select the ones that you think you can cover and where your audience is present in abundance.
At this point, you can choose to
- Remain on the channels where you are already present
- Consider adding more channels, depending upon your situational analysis results
Channel Objectives
Each channel is different; thus needs different type of content and consequently produces different results. At this stage, you need to decide the goals for each channel. Remember they should be tightly woven with the types of the channel and content.
For example, for your Facebook page, you can concentrate on getting maximum likes. Similarly on Twitter, you can aim for getting followers as many as possible. Thereafter, you can look to receive regular traffic from your followers and those who like your page.
Here, the tip is that don’t expect these results overnight. It may take some time in letting people know that you are there. Gradually, people will start coming and viewing what you have to offer.
Organize Content Plan
By this time, you will know how you can structure your story on different channels. This will help you organize your content plan for each channel.
Like, your first goal will be to let your audience know about you and make them visit your page regularly. This means that you’re looking to build up a community that you can address or talk to from time to time. This is when you start building up a group with which you can share your story.
So, how you are going to do this? The answer lies in your content plan. Are you going to host a contest or just get out in front of them through appealing images or infographics? What’s your take? You need to organize all this at this stage.
This is the stage where you also need to consider the context in which you are speaking and your audiences are viewing the content.
Content Management
At this stage, you need to see if you’re able to manage the entire process or not. All needs of your audiences should be met through content. What I mean to say is that you need to manage communication process thoroughly. Have a plan for
- Who will publish the content?
- How the entire process will be managed?
- How to strike a balance between people, their expectations, content flow and method of communication?
Editorial Plan
Have an editorial plan in place so that you know what needs to be created and published at what stage. It addresses your concerns about
- Velocity and frequency of communication
- Tone of the content
- Quantity of content for each channel
- Structure and length of the content
Having a content marketing channel plan gives you clarity about how to distribute your content in context with the needs and expectations of your audience.