The fourth mistake companies make in their content marketing is that it is not known.

There are brands out there that have a brilliant strategy on how to move their ideal community members to a new ARC. Their content is very useful and they stick to a strict publishing calendar.

But no one knows about it. It’s hidden in a secret corner of a website somewhere doing amazing work, but no one knows.

How do you get your content out there actually get it out there and get people to know what you are doing? How do you ‘market your marketing’?

 

Niche Forums

Your content doesn’t need to go viral to be successful – it just needs to be seen by the right people. Rather than blasting your links on Facebook where no one may end up seeing them, find the top-secret hangout places for your target community (or create one).

 

Search-friendly terms

Google still plays a huge role in helping people find the content they want. While you shouldn’t write only for search engines, ranking high on some common phrases will really drive a lot of traffic your way. You bigger challenge here is getting those people to stick around and see what else you have to offer.

 

Partner with another media outlet

Even if someone else is publishing on the same topic as you, it’s always better to see them as a colleague rather than competition. Ask if you can write a guest article for someone with a similar audience as you. Ask to interview them for your podcast (and provide them with the tools to publicize it). There is a lot of room for collaboration in the world of media, and your content can spread easier if you have made the right connections.

 

Influencers and Advocates

Find out who leads the community you want access to. Who do they trust? Who do they follow? Try to develop a two-way partnership with these people and make their lives easier.

Many people also underestimate the power of their first level of friends and employees. You might be surprised the kind of reach you can get just by asking people close to you to share what you are doing with their network.

 

Advertise

It may seem like a step backwards to spend money on advertising your ‘marketing’. However, when you advertise your content rather than your company, you are much more likely to see a positive response, and your money spent is more productive.

 

 

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the best way to do content marketing is to create good content, wait for something magical to happen, and then reap the benefits. Having a distribution plan is equally as essential as creating useful content. Unless it is known, it’s just content – not marketing.