10 distribution blunders that kill your content

You’ve devoted time, effort—and quite a lot of absolute brilliance, if you do say so yourself—but that blog post or infographic just keels over due to lack of interest. Here’s how to fix that.

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It takes a ton of work to create good content, and it’s frustrating when it doesn’t make the desired impact.

You may think that has to do solely with its quality, but it’s more likely that your distribution plan missed the mark. To get people’s attention, you have to do more than hit publish and cross your fingers.

If your content hasn’t been working or has become less effective, ask whether you’re practicing these bad habits:

1. Creating a plan after content is finished.

This happens a lot. A content team sends a fresh piece to the promo team and expects them to get it seen, placed, covered and shared immediately. When things don’t go well, everyone ends up frustrated.

The fix: Include your PR team from the beginning so they can offer feedback, connect with their contacts, arrange exclusives and prepare a launch plan. Consider partnering with a publication to create tailored content.

2. Targeting the wrong channels.

Particular content types fare better on different channels, so have those conversations from the start. (For example, Instagram is a more visual platform than Twitter.)

Focusing on the wrong channels, or not optimizing content for a given channel, will only make it harder to connect with people.

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