Distribution is perhaps the most important aspect of a content marketing strategy. You can write an exceptionally educational and entertaining piece, but without proper distribution, no one will ever see it. Many experts recommend spending at least twice as much time distributing content than you do creating it. While this may not be possible for every organization, there are several simple ways to improve your distribution strategy.

Content Calendar: Create a distribution calendar that maps out everything from creation assignments to posting details for all channels.

Know Your Target Audience: Develop detailed buyer personas.  Create content that speaks directly to their pain points and distribute it through their preferred channels.

Use A Multi-Channel Approach: Distribute your content through a variety of channels including social media, email, Q&A sites and review sites.

Twitter: Use 1-3 hashtags that are relevant to your content on each tweet or retweet. Capitalize on trending hashtags that are related to your content.

Facebook: Join and post to industry relevant groups and groups that are of interest to your target audience.

LinkedIn: Join and post to industry relevant groups. Develop a well-rounded list of connections through personal accounts and consistently post targeted content.

YouTube: Any and all company videos should be posted to your account including video blogs, recorded webinars and product demonstrations.

Quora: Set up email notification for any industry relevant question that is posed.  Provide detailed answers that include a link to your content to provide additional information.

Reddit: Be selective when choosing which questions to answer.  Avoid being overly promotional and only include truly relevant links.

Media Sites: Create logins for popular industry publication websites and general business sites. Provide relevant comments on industry articles and include links to relevant content.

Company Blogs: Subscribe to your target audience’s blog feeds.  Provide content that solves a problem or enhances a product they provide.

Influencers: You’ll want to make connections with and share your content with industry leaders.  These can include executives, lower level employees and even industry bloggers.

Clients: Current and past clients can make great evangelists for your company.  Distribute relevant content to them in a conversational way through their preferred channels.

Professional Connections: Co-workers and industry colleagues are important channels to help spread your work.  Share content through direct messages that will be of value to your connections and encourage your co-workers to engage with your company social posts.

Company Newsletter: You should include a monthly blog recap and any recent premium content downloads in your newsletter.  This can be distributed to all contacts.

Email Fulfillment Pieces: When utilizing teleprospecting campaigns you should include links to educational content within fulfillment and follow up emails.

Social media, email, paid advertising, blogging, and website strategies should all be audited periodically to ensure you’re getting the most out of each channel. This guide will walk you through many of the questions you need to ask when auditing your digital marketing strategy.