When integrated marketers push their content onto new sites, or run synergistic content from other bloggers and companies, it gives their own marketing efforts a boost. Syndicated content is a great way to save time and money, and get your stories seen by more of your best would-be customers.
As an integrated marketer, you already know three things:
Content is king.
Time is money.
Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.
(Maybe you didn’t know the last one, but it’s from idea maestro Seth Godin, so you know it’s true.)
And there’s no better way to get great content, save time and money, and get your stories in front of more people than with syndicated content.
What’s Syndicated Content?
It’s content – usually articles and blog posts (or snippets of them), but video, too—created by other marketers and available from third-party aggregators.
There are two different syndication models:
Paid, where platforms like Outbrain and Taboola serve up content to new audiences. Prices typically range from $.10 to $.30 per click. These platforms push your content onto well-trafficked, legit sites like Time or CNN, and to a highly targeted audience.
Then there’s the old-fashion way: by approaching sites and bloggers in the same sphere, or publishing on sites such as LinkedIn and Medium.
Why You Should Run Syndicated Content
It’s an easy, cost-effective way to get new content. It’s similar to guest-blogging – except instead of asking an author to create something new (and probably having to compensate them in some way), you’re getting existing, proven content to put on your site, often with no more cost than simply clear attribution. Picking up syndicated content also gives your own team a break.
Why You Should Make Your Content Available for Syndication
Syndicating your content is a potent, cost-effective way to reach a new audience and favorably influence potential customers. Syndicating your content to industry-specific sites or respected, general interest sites like Medium or Forbes gives your business instant credibility and allows you to position yourself as a thought leader. Life coach James Clear published a post on his website that was later picked up by Lifehacker —and in no time, he picked up 600 new subscribers.
If you go the unpaid route, there may be additional considerations: some sites insist on having a period of exclusivity on your content. Other partners require custom RSS feeds, custom selected URLs, thumbnail images, snippets, titles, or paragraph excerpts (a great reason to have both a content management system and a content strategy in place). But for all the upsides, most integrated marketers think the extra work is worth it!