Think creatively and you can get your content in front of carefully targeted audiences

Does a tree falling in a forest make a sound if there is no one around to hear it fall? Perhaps, but what is certain is that content marketing that isn’t read or viewed isn’t content marketing at all.

Content needs eyeballs to become effective. The more eyeballs from the right audiences, the better. The danger is that you spend too much effort creating content and not enough ensuring it is consumed.

Here are a few ways to give your content a broader reach without dipping into your budget. The concept behind them all is the same: that organisations need content to keep their own audiences engaged. If you help supply that content you get to reach those audiences.

Industry bodies

Every industry has an organisation set up to represent it. Many have several such industry bodies. Each will have a website and email newsletter that will aim to inform its members. Such organisations may perform well on SEO searches related to your own business and there’s an opportunity to get some of the action.

Analyse the site and see what sort of content and news is published. Better still, pick up the phone and ask them what they are looking for and see where the overlap lies with your business and how you can help.

The occasional bespoke piece that you create for an industry body will help with brand awareness and the link back to your site (which is vital) will boost your SEO rank – plus you are likely to reach new potential customers.

News sites

Have I Got News For You has taught us that every industry, however niche, has its own trade magazine publication (there’s a list of them here if you don’t believe me). Each of these will have a website and email, and there are additional standalone email newsletter publishers.

All are crying out for content and often working with very tight editorial budgets. None of them want soft-sell marketing spiel, but if you have experienced journalists at your beck and call it’s easy to provide them with the content that they require. A credit and a link back to your business will justify the expense and looks like great value compared to buying similar promotional space. You’ll also be demonstrating your business’s expertise and insight.

Trade shows

There are almost as many conferences, expos and trade shows as there are industry magazines, and each needs content to help with their promotion.

Some will have an exhibitor-only policy, but others will take what they can get, particularly at the start of a show’s selling cycle. If you are exhibiting then make sure a package of content distribution is included in the price. You’ll be doing the promoter a favour and also reaching precisely the audiences you are aiming for.

Events

The better you know the audience you are going after, the easier it will be to find opportunities to share content. You may need to think laterally and step away from your business area.

Here’s a slightly out-there example…

The UK construction industry holds a massive sailing regatta each year. The organisers are unlikely to want an article from a law firm about their services, but what about a guide to tides in the Solent and how to execute the perfect spinnaker hoist? Or a guide to the laws of racing?

The organisers will have some free content to share and you’ve reached a well-defined market segment and shown them your organisation understands their needs.

Such off-the-wall thinking may need the help of an editorial strategist and easy access to niche writers. But that’s no problem with the right brains and the right tech at your disposal.

So why not publish one less piece of content next week and spend the time looking for new channels that will help spread the word?