Using content distribution platforms is an amazing way to attract more traffic to your blog while making sure they spend quality time on your page.
But before we get into using free content distribution platforms for your post, let us explain what exactly is ‘content distribution’.
Content distribution is the act of promoting content to the online audiences in multiple formats with the help of various channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, etc.
These content distribution channels can be categorised into three groups – Owned, Earned, and Paid.
In content media, quality is always given priority over quantity as search engines always give a push to those content that has high quality (SEO) and not exactly how it’s worded.
But, given all the noise in the content marketing space these days, even high-quality content runs the risk of getting lost and thus need the aide of platforms which will get them more traction.
Thus, we need a few basic primers that will help get more traffic on our page and also reach our�maximum potential in the content media market.
In this post, we are going to talk about owned content distribution platforms that are free to use for every user.
1. Facebook
With over 2.27 billion monthly active users on Facebook, it would be insane not to use it as one of your primary content distribution platforms.
Facebook provides you with free features such as pages, groups, etcetera which can work wonders for anyone who knows how to use the platform well.
While Facebook Business is a Freemium (provides paid as well as free resources), it provides free resources to its users which is a good starting point for any newcomer to drive traffic to their page/blog. Push out content from your brand/individual page and explore sharing it on relevant Facebook groups.
2. LinkedIn
Just like Facebook, LinkedIn has a huge base of over 467 million members and is known for its�gold standard with regards to high-value audiences.
Even if its reach�is not as huge as Facebook, the audience you get from LinkedIn are more valuable as its a network of professionals and executives who bring quality traffic to your page/blog.
Just like Facebook, LinkedIn is also a Freemium and offers paid as well as free content syndication opportunities.
In free features, you can post your blogs on LinkedIn groups where posting your articles adds value to your profile and brings traffic if the post is reciprocated well.
Another place to showcase your best blog content is your personal LinkedIn profile where you can link�to your best posts and direct them towards the site.
If your post gets picked for LinkedIn Pulse, it is pure gold as it would get hundreds of thousands of views from just one platform itself.
3.�Twitter
The micro-blogging site in 2014 held the third position in driving traffic to sites (Shareaholic).
It is one of the best platforms to engage with clients in real-time and with few right combinations of hashtags and time, it gives your post a huge boost and instant reaction.
It is also a�great platform for B2B businesses as it follows the latest industry updates and engages with people in real-time.
Just adding a quality picture and relevant hashtag can get your blog a good boost and you can always re-schedule the same article with different tweet copy for better visibility.
Articles you may like:
- 9 content marketing blog that’ll make you a successful marketer in no time
- Top 8 email marketing tools for improved performance as a marketer
- 10 low-cost content marketing strategy for early-stage startups
4. Instagram
There are over 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, and the photo app is one of the most popular social networks�in the world.
What’s more in the ever-evolving social media landscape, Instagram fairly new and thus is a platform with incredible business potential for brands and bloggers.
Also, with Instagram now being owned by Facebook, it has incredible features that offer an appealing alternative to reach users on Instagram and Facebook alike.
With amazing features like Stories, new Adoptions for brands, and the visual nature of the platform, Instagram is a great fit for content marketers. However, promoting your blogs directly on Instagram can be relatively less effective. A good strategy would involve converting your content into a video or slide for Instagram.
5. Quora
When we look at the quantitative and qualitative aspects of content distribution platform, Quora, just like LinkedIn stands out on the top.
You can reach your buyer persona, provide the�content they are looking for on Quora and they would always read it and value the details provided.
But there are still a few things you need to understand before taking on Quora as your main platform for content distribution.
Related: An exhaustive guide to creating a Quora marketing strategy
a) Are there enough active topics with strong followings related to your content? and
b) Is your target market active on the platform?
If both answers are ‘yes’, then Quora is the best place to invest your valuable time and in the process gain a valuable audience who are really interested in what you have to say and offer.
Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest updates on entrepreneurship and digital marketing delivered right in your inbox!
[mc4wp_form id=”102″]
6. Slack
Slack is a team messaging application that is used by all walks of life for project management so as to know how much time a project can absorb.
It also helps us know delays a project can face and tasks which might not have final consequence.
While Slack has a choice of three tiers, when you join Slack, you are registered under the Free plan or “Free Slack” which helps you connect to your team’s most recent messages. With Slack, you will no longer have to deal with the clunkiness of email for internal communications and can use different things like automation and analytics.
There are hundreds of free Slack groups focussed on domains ranging from product to entrepreneurship to digital marketing and whatnot. Become a member of these groups and promote your content to people who will actually be interested in it. And if you manage to impress them with your content and insights, you might end up getting good referrals, even backlinks.
7. SlideShare
Slideshare is a professional content hosting platform (now owned by LinkedIn) where you can upload content such as presentations, infographics, documents, and videos for others to view.
These files�can be for private or public view and can be uploaded in the form of PowerPoint, Word, PDF, or OpenDocument format.
The biggest advantage of Slideshare is that these contents can then be viewed on multiple platforms such as sites, handheld devices or platforms it has been embedded on.
You can thus convert your online posts in slide format and post it on Slide Share for further traction to your main website.
8. Medium
Unlike many other platforms mentioned above, Medium is not a social media site and nor does it have landing pages, ads, and pop-ups.
Medium is one of the most used content distribution platforms and the biggest advantage of Medium is that it focuses on quality content and thus its focus lies on the posts.
It offers authors the ability to collaborate with anyone on the Medium platform and they, in turn, give you feedback on your work.
You can use Medium as your primary content platform (i.e. as your official blog). Even if you have a dedicated WordPress blog, you can�still use it to republish your articles. Now you might be wondering that you will get penalised by Google for duplicate content if you push out the same article on 2 platforms. Worry not! Medium has a hack around it too.
Use their “Import” feature which makes sure that the content on Medium has a canonical tag with its original source mentioned in it. This way, Google knows that this is not your original content and hence, the SEO of your original blog doesn’t take a hit.
A platform dedicated to quality�content is surely worth consideration for anyone who is looking for genuine followers. It will help you amplify your quality content, generate genuine traffic to your website.
Articles you may like:
- 9 best digital marketing blogs that successful marketers read every week
- 13 Instagram marketing tips for businesses that get real-world results
- 13 best marketing books for every marketer and startup founder
9. Reddit
While Reddit has been there for some time, it is one of the best choices for anyone who is looking for a new marketing channel.
According to dreamgrow.com, Reddit it attracts almost 164 million unique visitors every month.
Further, the platform works on user-generated content that can be upvoted or downvoted by other users.
Quality content submissions that get lots of upvotes move to the Hot page which in turn can get you even more audience who would have otherwise missed the post.
10. StumbleUpon
Just like Facebook and LinkedIn, StumbleUpon is a social network platform that helps people discover interesting things on the platform.
But unlike other social media platforms, StumbleUpon is really helpful for content writers as it helps people discover unique and interesting things from all across the Web.
Based on your liking StumbleUpon’s discovery engine recommends the viewer topics such as photography, art, humour, fashion, sports, technology etcetera.
The biggest advantage that StumbleUpon has for bloggers is that it recommends�feeds that are tailor-made just for the user and not based on Google or other search engine’s liking.
The user thus is able to experience an�epic journey through the�web pages�of their liking and view contents of even those pages that they may have never found without the help of the tool.
11. Tumblr
Over the years Tumblr has become one of the fastest-growing blogs and public networking website around the world.
Just like Instagram�Tumblr is used to share stories in the form of photos and get one’s point across.
But unlike Instagram, Tumblr has�a unique feature called Queue which allows the user to create content at a certain time and post it later.
The biggest advantage that Tumblr’s queue feature offers is that you can save upto 300 articles for queuing and set it up for posting across the season.
Thus, you can post regularly on Tumblr even without the aid of an assistant which you might need to hire for Instagram or Twitter posts.
While queuing is an amazing feature, we would advise you to not go overboard and queue everything up, and regularly monitor your posts.
These are just a few known content distribution platforms that can help you drive traffic to your page. For more detailed marketing strategies and advice, please check out the Marketing section on myHQ Digest.
Liked it? Read more here:
10 Best Influencer Marketing Platforms In India For A Successful Campaign
How Facebook Messenger Helps You Grow Your Business
