Content syndication is the process of publishing your content on other websites. It is a way to get your content seen by more people and can be a good way to build links to your website. However, it is important to choose the right websites to syndicate your content on, and to make sure that you are not duplicating content.
Over the years, the nature of content syndication has changed along with the content formats that fuel it.
A lot of people think that the only types of content that can be syndicated are blog posts and articles.
You have the tools to create and publish extensively in a variety of formats in addition to blogs and articles:
- Ebooks
- Podcasts
- Whitepapers
- Webinars
- Infographics
The amount and quality of content is increasing rapidly. There has never been a better time to start your journey in content syndication.
What Is Content Syndication?
Content syndication is the process of publishing your original online content on a third-party platform in order to reach a larger audience.
Content syndication is a marketing strategy that can help you achieve a variety of goals.
You can improve your reach by using platforms that will connect you with people who are more likely to buy what you’re selling.
This is where content syndication becomes performance marketing.
The platforms can use different methods when they share content.
They can choose to:
- Republish the work in its entirety.
- Edit it down to a shorter piece.
- Post a small excerpt from the original.
If content is published in more than one location, credit is given to the original source. This is beneficial to both the syndicate (a group or network of people, businesses, etc. that are involved in similar activities) and the business that created the original content. The syndicate gets new content and the business gets the opportunity to reach a different audience.
Who Can Benefit from Content Syndication?
If the right syndicate and audience are available, content syndication can be beneficial for almost any business.
Creative and substantive thought leadership content will help businesses the most.
B2B technology brands often have great content but no loyal readership.
Why Use Content Syndication?
If your content isn’t reaching a large audience, you need to work on improving your reach.
There is no point in doing content marketing if there is no one to consume it.
If you syndicate your content to a third party, you can get more use out of it by attracting the type of people you want as customers.
There are also platforms that can help businesses not only build awareness among a core audience, but also establish themselves as thought leaders.
The best marketing strategies will generate leads and grow their bottom line by targeting specific accounts and customizing their approach to fit the customer’s needs.
After syndicating your content, you need to take additional steps to connect with potential buyers.
There are also plenty of secondary benefits.
If you want to increase traffic to your website from organic and referral sources, syndication can help. Having links from authoritative websites is a good indication that your content is high quality.
If your content is published on a media publication, then any links you receive back to your website can help improve your domain authority. This, in turn, can help you rank higher in organic search results.
If you want your online presence and brand recognition to grow, you need to keep publishing consistent, high-quality content.
If you make your content easy to access, you will be able to get help from other people in your field to share or promote your content more.
Having your content accessible on multiple platforms can help establish your brand in your industry and make it stand out from the competition.
Content syndication is important because it shows how much content is within an organization.
When content syndication is so closely aligned with performance, it becomes a powerful tool for:
Proving to Business Leaders That Content Drives Value
Content that is syndicated is seen as being more valuable, and therefore generates more leads.
There is no better way to show the value of thought leadership than by moving quickly and efficiently.
Achieving Revenue Goals
Success as a content marketer is largely dependent on one’s ability to generate revenue.
Content syndication can help you make money through thought leadership, and it’s easier to track how much money each piece of content or campaign generates.
Connecting with a Larger Audience
Content marketers are creators who want to connect with an audience.
Content syndication allows content creators to share their content with a wider audience who will value it.
By increasing exposure, marketers can improve brand recognition and make all efforts more effective.
How Does Content Syndication Work?
More than 50 companies offer content syndication services. Most of these companies follow a similar process, which is based on how much it costs to generate leads. They customize targeting for each campaign in order to present content only to the most relevant audience.
The more specific the advertising targeting is, the higher the cost-per-lead will be. The goal should be to work with a partner to test their capabilities with a small budget, and see how it goes. The best partners will help you with that and use their experience to reduce risk and increase results.
The evolution of content syndication has enabled syndicates to provide growth beyond publication.
Both intent marketing and account-based marketing approaches can take advantage of content syndication to reach more people.
They attract their target audience by using precise methods that focus on people who are ready to buy or work within the target businesses.
There are also other forms of content syndication, such as:
Earned Syndication
This means that they rely on content from other sources to create the majority of their content.
If you’re a content creator, all you need to do is contact the publication to see if they’re interested in publishing your content.
Social Syndication
Social syndication is when two companies agree to share each other’s content on their social media channels.
This tactic is easy to do because it doesn’t require much work. Also, most businesses have connections with other businesses and people who would be willing to promote each other’s products or services.
Co-Marketing
This is when two or more companies come together to promote something together.
All parties involved in co-marketing share the responsibility of creating and promoting content, as well as any leads that are generated from their joint efforts.
What’s Required for Effective Content Syndication?
What do you need for a good content syndication strategy?
Well, there are two primary factors to think about:
- A content syndication platform or partner
- Material that the audience you’re sharing with wants to read
The website you’re working with doesn’t require new material, so you don’t have to worry about creating something from scratch.
However, you will need to ensure that whatever content you’re sharing is suitable for the audience that you want to reach. Make sure you:
- Read through the third-party website’s guidelines: The chances are that the company you want to publish with will have some guidelines for guest bloggers and syndicators. These guidelines will request specific types of content, wordcounts, and themes.
- Examine the audience: With a little luck, you’ve already chosen a website that has a similar audience to the one you have been trying to target. However, it may be worth looking at any user persona guidelines that the company has, to help you get a feel for their audience.
- Offer value: Ensure that the content that you’re syndicating offers some kind of obvious value. It shouldn’t just be advertising your brand. Instead, look for content that answers some of the trending questions that your customers are asking. Consider looking on Google to find examples of what your customers want to learn about by checking the related search section or check out the most popular posts on BuzzSumo.
Content Syndication Strategy
Now that you are familiar with the basics of content syndication, you can start creating a plan.
The best marketing campaigns have a clear plan.Content syndication strategies can be as simple as you want them to be.
In most cases, you can improve your campaign by following three easy steps.
Step 1: Learn How to Pitch
To succeed with content syndication, you need to build relationships similar to the ones you would for a guest blogging strategy. Identify target publications that appeal to your audience and research the companies to learn about the style of content they accept. Be sure to do your research to prove to potential target publications that you are a good fit for their website.
Once you’ve learned as much as you can about the company, send then a custom pitch that lays out what you’re offering, and what’s in it for them. For instance:
“Hi,
I noticed that you accept content from syndicates on your website. This is shown by articles such as [example] and [example]. I can see that these articles are in line with your values of [brand values] and offer a lot to your audience.
I would appreciate it if you could take a look at my blog post [syndicated blog link on your website]. I think you’ll find that it has similar benefits for your readers.
I would be thrilled to have the chance to help your audience learn more about the topics covered in your blog. So far, my blog has been read by [number of visitors] people on my website. I would be very interested in discussing syndication further with you.
Step 2: Link to your Site
Link building is one of the most important elements of content syndication. Properly linking back to your website will help to stop you from cannibalizing your search rankings. When building partnerships with content syndication brands, you should be able to include a canonical link to your original post, which signals to the search engines that the content should be linked to the original version.
If you want your syndicated post to be successful on platforms like CNN business or Medium, you need to make sure your canonical links are up to standards.
If you use Medium’s importing tool, it will automatically add your canonical link.
Including internal links in your content can also help to bolster your image as a thought leader when connecting with new customers.
Step 3: Develop Your Chains of Momentum
Content syndication is an effective way to build brand awareness and exposure for your company. The more you work on your content syndication campaign, the more opportunities you’ll have to create and build momentum.
If you syndicate a piece of content across multiple outlets, it could be picked up by additional outlets and publications, which could help you grow your audience.
It takes time to gain momentum with content syndication. You won’t see amazing results if you only syndicate content with one business or partner.
Where to Syndicate Your Content
Okay, so where should you be syndicating your content?
You can contact any website to ask if they are open to publishing syndicated content. Many companies are just starting to use this method and would be likely to accept new material.
If you want to be a little more focused with your choice, you can try:
- Syndication-friendly outlets that accept content from multiple authors. Websites like Business2Community.com accept syndicated content from a huge number of authors. You can produce content that appeals to a wide range of customers in the marketing world.
- Social networks: Many top platforms like LinkedIn, Quora blogs, and the Instant Articles environment on Facebook allow you to republish your content on these websites and take advantage of the audience available as a result.
- Blogging platforms: Medium, Tumblr and other blogging platforms are excellent for publishing content to a wider audience. Medium is one of the best options for today’s companies, as it allows you to easily push your content towards other publications within the budding Medium ecosystem.
Still struggling?
Here are some other options to consider:
Free content syndication options:
- Medium.com
- Quora
- SlideShare
- Tumblr
- Business2Community
- Social Media Today
- The Energy Collective
- Smart Data Collective
- Sustainable Business Forum
- The Customer Collective
- MyVenture Pad
There are some content syndication platforms that are designed for premium content. These platforms allow you to present your content to a highly selective group of customers in a specific environment. Tools like Taboola and Outbrain have been used for growth by leading brands like Pandora.
Some of the most popular paid platforms for content syndication include:
- Outbrain
- Taboola
- Content.ad
- Zemanta
- RevContent
- Sharethrough
Time to Invest in Content Syndication?
Content syndication is a method of distributing your content to other websites in order to increase your brand’s exposure and grow your company. While it might not be as well-known as guest blogging, it is a strategy that is quickly gaining popularity. Content syndication can offer many benefits to your marketing strategy, such as increased audience engagement, potential sales, leads, and industry leadership.
Use content syndication to give your business more growth potential.
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