Sujan Patel is the founder of Milkshake, a sales engagement software used by 40,000 sales and marketing professionals. He also owns five other SaaS companies under the Ramp Ventures brand. Sujan has over 16 years of marketing experience and has led the digital marketing strategy for companies like Salesforce, Mint, Cafepress, and many other Fortune 500 caliber companies. Follow him on Twitter @SujanPatel.
Just because you create content doesn’t mean anyone will see it. People have to know the content exists in order to consume it.
The digital landscape is increasingly competitive. If you want your content to drive maximum value, finding opportunities to engage audiences is just as critical as the content itself.
Here are five advanced methods that belong in every marketer’s content promotion strategy.
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Editor’s note: You may have missed the original post when we published it a couple years ago. We know how important content promotion is today so we’ve updated it to reflect some new tools and some older favorites.
I produce a lot of content. Not for the fun of it (although I genuinely enjoy most of it), but because I want it to increase awareness of my personal brand, drive traffic to my site, and generate leads.
To boost the odds of that happening, I have to ensure that my content gets in front of as many people as possible, and to do that I have to promote it.
As with most things in life, it’s much easier if you have the right tools at your disposal. Here are 19 of my favorite tools (and pricing – though many are free) I use in my content promotion in 2018.
Editor’s note: Given the never-ending need for metrics to prove the value of your content, we wanted to bring back this article published last year about how to measure brand awareness.
Before you create content to boost brand awareness, it’s important to consider whether you’re creating the right type of content.
Take infographics. These are most often used as a link-building tool. That’s fine if gaining links is your goal. Infographics aren’t so effective, however, if what you really want is to increase awareness of your brand. That’s because publishers tend to favor infographics that keep branding to a bare minimum – usually a logo hidden right at the bottom of the content.
Though a person receives an average of 88 emails a day, email is still widely regarded as one of the most effective marketing tools at our disposal.
The average open rate for marketing email across all industries is around 24% and the average click-through rate is around 4% (or 11% of opened emails).
Using those statistics, you can expect to drive approximately four visits to your site for every 100 emails sent.Continue Reading
We look for and act on (even if subconsciously) social proof in all areas our life – including how we behave and the purchasing decisions we make online.
It doesn’t matter if that social proof comes from friends or strangers. What matters is that we’re seeing evidence from our peers – in this context, other consumers – that the decision we’re about to make is the right one.
Editor’s note: A new version of this post is now available.
I produce a lot of content. Not for the fun of it (although I genuinely do enjoy most of it), but because I want it to increase awareness of my personal brand, drive traffic to my site, and generate leads.
To boost the odds of that happening, I have to ensure that my content gets in front of as many people as possible, and to do that, I have to promote it.Continue Reading
I recently mentioned in an AMA discussion on Inbound.org that I expect – and plan – for most of my content to fail. On average, I expect just one in five of my articles to succeed.
Ultimate failure can happen at the start of the content creation process – the ideation stage.
We might be rushed, unsure of our objectives, or just confused about what it is our audience wants. All of these factors can play into the quality of the content we wind up producing and, in turn, what results that content does (or doesn’t) achieve.Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The 2018 republished version of this brand metrics article can be found here.
Before you create content to boost brand awareness, it’s important to consider whether you’re creating the right type of content and the key metrics.
Take infographics. These are most often used as a link-building tool. That’s fine, if gaining links is your goal. Infographics aren’t so effective, however, if what you really want is to increase awareness of your brand. That’s because publishers tend to favor infographics that keep branding to a bare minimum – usually a logo hidden right at the bottom of the content.Continue Reading
There are only a few industries in which automation isn’t threatening some job roles. That’s a pretty scary thought, right? Well, don’t panic just yet.
“While automation will eliminate very few occupations entirely in the next decade, it will affect portions of almost all jobs to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the type of work they entail,” according to McKinsey Quarterly.Continue Reading
Why are online reviews so prevalent regardless of industry? It’s because we, as consumers, need to be reassured that whatever we’re paying for is going to deliver on its promises.
Integrity is at the heart of this. An honest business that stands by its principles is one that deserves to be trusted. But you can’t just say you have integrity – you have to show it.Continue Reading
