Content syndication – 4 ways to boost your marketing strategies

Content syndication is a method of repurposing your content on other websites. This process helps to stir awareness of your brand among a broader audience. Adding content syndication to your marketing arsenal can be incredibly useful in boosting your SEO.

What is content syndication

Content syndication (CS) is the process of republishing your existing content on third-party websites. Marketing this way gives the third party more relevant content to publish and helps establish your business as a thought leader in your industry.

Your web-based content publishes to your site and is then republished via a syndication service on other websites. These websites range from big names like Forbes to smaller companies who want to boost their content libraries.

Syndication is like bartering — the third-party site gets relevant content, and you get exposure and backlinks to your site.

Syndicated content usually includes:

• Blogs
• Infographics
• Thought Leadership Articles
• Webinars
• eBooks
• Guides
• Evergreen Articles

Now that we know the basics, let’s look at the benefits of content syndication.

Who benefits from content syndication

Businesses that need to build awareness in a target audience benefit the most from syndicating their content. Companies that want to establish themselves as market leaders also benefit.

Any business that wants to build brand equity in the minds of readers will benefit from syndication. While syndication may not immediately convert your intended audience with a call-to-action, it does help cultivate the idea that your company, CEO or brand is an expert whose advice is so well sought, it can be found virtually anywhere.

Why try it

If your business has a lot of big ideas, but little traffic, syndication is a great way to gain exposure.

Syndicating your content grows your on-site traffic by constructing a network of links that lead back to your website. It can also improve your SEO index scores. Think of it like breadcrumbs that lead back to your website from across the far reaches of the web.

Your great content is going to waste if only a limited audience is reading it. Syndication can get your excellent content in front of your desired audience.

Large websites that rely on syndication often have a robust social presence to match. You can use their audience’s viewership and social followings to gain visibility for your content. This process grows your on-site traffic and your company’s social audience.

The best strategy for success: Partner with a content marketing specialist, who will pair the best market fit and sites for you.

4 effective syndication strategies

A marketing specialist will work with your company to determine a strategy that leads to success. Strategies range from B2B email newsletters to predictive targeting, personalized deliveries, and more.

Here are four strategies that work, from best to worst:

1. Syndicate your content to a third-party
Working with a publisher, you can syndicate your excellent content to be featured on other sites. For example, a blog might push to Social Media Today or Forbes. The publisher gets free content, and your brand gets in front of more people.

2. Syndicate content on your blog
Say you have a lot of traffic, but don’t have a team to produce large volumes of content frequently. Content syndication could be the perfect solution.

When you syndicate others’ content onto your site, you become the publisher. Through either an existing service or by request, you ask others to feature their content on your blog. This can create an inventory of useful content for your readers. Syndication also highlights industry leaders who are willing to be associated with your site via article proxy.

3. Publish your content to sites that syndicate their content
For a more hands-on approach, there are guest contributions. An industry leader from your company becomes a contributor to a different business or website, which then syndicates content. For example, Neil Patel may be a columnist at Inc, which will in turn end up on Time, Slate, etc.

4. Syndicate your own content
Some sites allow you to syndicate your content. This works by signing up with a company that allows guest contributions and then publishing your content directly. Think of it as similar to posting an article on LinkedIn.

Advice from a DemandWorks pro

Mat Phillips, Co-founder of DemandWorks Media, shares some of his thoughts on the subject along with others in this Demand Gen Report: What’s Working With B2B Content Syndication. He believes the tactic works well for B2B software vendors because their customers’ purchasing process typically requires multiple inputs at the corporate level and plenty of research, often in the form of content, to ensure “best fit.” For companies with a similar sales cycle, content syndication has the potential to guide prospects through the sales funnel, expand brand reach to new audiences, enhance the organization’s thought-leadership reputation, and much more. Mat also was kind enough to answer some specific questions:

What are best practices for getting the most value from content syndication?
“A careful balance between volume and quality. It’s like fishing, the more lines you cast the more you’re going to catch, but at some point those lines may start to snag one another. Producing the right content is key, and using that content appropriately.”

What are the most common mistakes B2B marketers make when using content syndication?
“Producing poor or the wrong types of content, failing to nurture leads, assuming every lead wants to buy and there, and, lastly, selecting a poor quality b2b lead gen vendor.”

What should a company look for when selecting a content syndication partner?
“Ultimately a vendor who tries to understand what they’re seeking to accomplish and works with them to accomplish those goals. Starting with a test, as well as setting clear goals to determine if that test was successful (or not). It’s best to look for a vendor you feel you can trust and maybe one that comes with recommendations or a good reputation.”