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How To Make Your Content Marketing Perform On Every Platform

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If sharing is caring, then there are a lot of unfeeling content hoarders out there. When it comes to content marketing, every angle must be approached — and every piece of material you generate plays a part.

But, you say, we share our content all the time. To quote, “We put a PDF of our newsletter on the website the day it goes out to employees.” I hear that a lot. And while this duplication of materials is laudable, it’s far from a robust content-sharing strategy.

The trick is to take the newsletter articles, magazine pieces, press mentions, blog posts and other content you generate (or is generated about you) and find ways to repurpose it successfully. Yep, it’s Balkanization to a certain degree, but in this case the parts can be greater than the sum.

Pick your platforms wisely

Smart content marketing means content can be sliced, diced and repurposed effectively, and without overkill.
Content can be sliced, diced and repurposed effectively, and without overkill.

Let’s take a newsletter. The default tendency is to make a PDF then slap it up on the website, or maybe even on Facebook, as an afterthought. Done. Except not done, because unless you’ve alerted readers to its presence on the site, they may not find it (especially if you bury it on a third or fourth page). And keep in mind that a Facebook post has a half-life of slightly more than three hours. (For Twitter it’s closer to two hours.)

A better strategy is to carve up that newsletter, and place items accordingly:

  • An employee profile — which is usually more personal and tells a good story — is a Facebook natural.
  • That cover piece on the firm’s new client will work nicely on LinkedIn, and also as a Twitter blast (even if you sent out a press release, good news can be shared twice).
  • Company picnic photos? Pinterest.
  • News on promotions and new hires? Any or all of the above, as well as Google+.

Playing to the crowds vs. preaching to the choir

There’s a genuine fear that sending content out to many different outlets may risk overkill. That would be true, except in the instances above it’s one product, which few people outside the company have seen, being repurposed smartly to different audiences. Even if they’ve heard your good news, they may not have seen it. Also, with Facebook reach on the decline, only a fraction of your audience sees your content every time you post, so you can promote the same content different ways and not run the risk of overkill.

By taking well-done content from one place (your newsletter or magazine), and then splicing it out into different online and social media platforms, you give it a much higher chance of being discovered. More importantly, you give different audiences a specific facet of what you’re up to, and that in turn will have them visiting your website to find out more.

Let your good news do more than preach to the choir — make it work for you.

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