Content syndication is a proven B2B marketing tactic—it helps get more eyes on your carefully curated content and provides a huge ROI when it comes to brand awareness. It can also lead to an increase in inbound links, help differentiate your brand, and save time/resources.
As we recently explored in another blog post, the concept behind content syndication is simple—it’s the process of republishing your relevant content (think blog posts, articles, infographics, and videos) on other third-party websites to get the more mileage out of your content.
Whether you undertake content syndication in-house, or choose to work with a partner, syndicating your content consistently to the right sites has a slew of benefits. These include expanding your brand’s awareness to larger and different audiences, catching the attention of prospective customers, keeping your brand top of mind, increasing your digital footprint, boosting website traffic and domain authority…and many more!
All of these results are possible by leveraging your hard-wrought content in multiple ways. In short, content syndication helps B2B marketers generate in-market, high-quality, opt-in leads, all while extending the so-called shelf life of pieces you’ve already created, multiplying the utility of any one piece of content many times over.
Four Tips for Content Syndication Success
Before you kick off a content syndication program, we have some simple tips to help you achieve content syndication success.
1. Do a Content Audit and Identify the Top Pieces To Syndicate
You don’t always need to start from scratch. The point of content syndication is to get the most out of content you’ve already created. So,dig deep into your library and find relevant, solid pieces of original material that might be good contenders. A recent study revealed some of the most successful forms of content for B2B marketing campaigns: whitepapers (85%), webcasts (60%), infographics (50%), and original articles (35%). The industry in which you operate and the audience you’re targeting will help inform which content to repurpose, or what needs to be created afresh. You also want to ensure you’re only syndicating your best-performing and most popular content. Otherwise, it will similarly under-deliver, just in a new format, on a different website.
2. Understand the Various Content Syndication Strategies and Diversify Your Reach
A number of content syndication strategies have emerged over the past few years, including syndication networks (like Outbrain, Zemanta, or Taboola), sites that offer free syndication (such as The New York Times, Forbes, or Entrepreneur), self-service content sharing platforms (including platforms such as Reddit, Medium, or LinkedIn), and email marketing syndication (i.e., repurposing content through your own email newsletters).
Most marketers syndicate on multiple platforms to get greater reach. Since these each have different costs and may yield different results, it’s important to evaluate which mix is right for you. Knowing where your audience spends time online will help with the selection.
3. Understand ALL the SEO Implications
From canonical and no index tags, to direct attribution links and the importance of titles, content syndication campaigns can have a big impact on your SEO ranking (sometimes negatively, if not done properly). It’s also important to avoid duplication, as it can result in penalties from Google. Check out our own “Expert-Level Content Syndication Tips” to learn more about SEO-proofing your syndicated content.
4. Syndicate Regularly and Track All Results
Like most marketing efforts, content syndication is not a “one and done” tactic. To really see the benefits of content syndication, you need to make it a regular part of your B2B marketing strategy. The more frequently you can put different pieces of content in front of a prospect, the more top of mind your brand will be. If weekly seems too aggressive, aim for monthly or even quarterly.
And don’t forget to monitor and measure the response. Metrics like lead volume, lead cost, lead quality, and website traffic are good indicators of your campaign’s effectiveness and can indicate if your content syndication sites are the right match.
And if all of the above sounds overwhelming, take a deep breath. A content syndication vendor can help you navigate it all.
While some companies may opt to self-syndicate, effective content syndication is its own skill which takes time to develop, and your in-house content marketing team may not have the bandwidth or resources to tackle it. Content syndication vendors are well-versed in best practices and can eliminate any trial and error to make the results more predictable and provide a better ROI. From placing the content on the right sites to making everything SEO-proof, a reliable content syndication vendor can make your life easier.
Simple Strategies for Successful Content Syndication
B2B content syndication is a powerful marketing tool. When done right, it can boost brand awareness, increase inbound traffic, and improve your brand recall among prospective customers. The above tips will help you map out your strategy, select the right content syndication vendor, and kick off your campaign. Then you can sit back, watch the leads roll in, and focus on nurturing and converting those leads into sales. Want to know which content syndication strategy is right for you? Download our whitepaper, “A Marketer’s Guide to Effective Content Syndication.”
