You might be ghosting your audiences by not showing up everywhere!
Have you ever planned a killer party, stocked the fridge, hired the DJ, then just…never sent invites? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
But that’s exactly what you’re doing if you’re not distributing content across multiple channels. Let’s talk about why your single-channel strategy isn’t cutting it anymore, and how to make your content show up everywhere, and how to do this without eating up a lot of your time.
TL;DR. Your Multi-Channel Content Distribution Quick Notes:
- Know your core audience platforms. Don’t waste energy on every shiny new app. Instead, embrace a few, and get those performing to a 7 on a 10 scale. Once you’re there, then you can start adding additional channels.
- Embrace the “College Student” Budget Mentality. Have you ever seen how college students can stretch a budget far AF? Do that with your content, and get creative with the ways you can repurpose it for each platform, and the audiences there.
- Measure real success. Keep vanity metrics for braggin’ rights, and focus on your conversion goals. After all, do you care if you’re getting clicks, and impressions if it’s not leading to conversions?
- Stay agile. Markets move fast. So should you. Content trends for what works on each platform can have a short shelf life. So make sure you’re keeping up like it’s a sport.
The Great Content Distribution Shake-Up
Here’s the deal: if you’re just posting, and praying Google will rank you, and be the exception to the zero-click search epidemic, then you’re playing a losing game. Users don’t live in one app, one platform, or one ecosystem. They’re everywhere. Scrolling Instagram at lunch, listening to podcasts during commutes, bingeing TikToks at 1 AM. (Yeah, I see you.)
Therefore, ignoring a multi-channel strategy means missing your audience where they’re most comfortable. You’re basically ghosting your own potential customers. And yeah, that’s not a great look for your brand.
How Many Channels Should You Really Focus On?
Great question. First, I’m gonna say, doing too many marketing channels at piss-poor levels is almost as bad as those thinking all they need is a 5 page wix site for success. So let me break it down to something simple for you:
- Your Core Channels. This is where your customers consistently hangout. If you’re selling workout programs for busy C-Suite Execs, my guess is a lot of them aren’t hanging out on TikTok or Snapchat. If anything, they’re probably on LinkedIn and Facebook because of their age an profession.
- Experimental Channels. These are platforms you test for fresh opportunities. But it’s not your primary focus until you’ve mastered your core channels.
Stretch Content Like College Students Stretch Their Budget
Look, I’m not asking you to create 30 unique posts for 5 different platforms. In fact, I’m telling you that’s just dumb. Instead, the secret sauce is learning how to create 1 piece of really good content that has legs, then stretching the hell out of it by figuring out how to publish it everywhere. Because everyone likes examples:
- Long form blogs are repurposed to:
- Short-form LinkedIn posts w/ carousels
- Quotes are taken and turned into tweets that hit (also, does Elon still call it a tweet)
- Engaging Instagram Reels – why? Because their algorithm favors those. But you can cheat it occasionally by turning a photo into a reel. But do it too much, and you’ll risk upsetting your audience.
- Quick-hitting videos for TikTok.
- YouTube Shorts that gets attention immediately
- Insightful podcast episodes that let’s you go into details that’s a little hard for written form
- YouTube Medium-Form video (about 10-20 minutes).
Seriously, you just need to work smarter, and not dumber.
Forget the Vanity. AKA Focus on Metrics That Matter
Don’t be the marketer who obsessively tracks vanity metrics such as likes, comments, and follows without seeing if they’re actually driving revenue, leads, or other metrics that really matter. Sure… Engagement is nice, but conversions pay the damn bills.
Make sure each channel has clear KPIs tied back to your bottom line. If Instagram reels are popping off but aren’t bringing qualified traffic, pivot your strategy because that’s the definition of vanity.
Stay Agile With No Burn Out
I get it, things change fast these days, especially with AI pouring gas on the fire. One minute you’re optimizing for Instagram Reels, the next you’re trying to figure out if that same post works with YouTube Shorts or TikTok. The key is staying agile, and here’s how you do it:
- Follow the plan. If you’re constantly changing things up, then you’ll have no idea what’s working and what’s not. So forget your feelings and what you think, and following the freaking plan.
- Quarterly check-ins. This is where you see what’s working, and what’s not on your core platforms.
- Pivot your strategy if it’s not working. The more intimately you know and understand your audience, the better you’ll understand what they like to read, what gets them to stop scrolling, and what they need to see to get them to convert.
Being Everywhere Is A Requirement
At the end of the day, multi-channel content distribution is about meeting your audience where they are, and not expecting them to come to you. If you’re serious about growing your brand, the time to adapt is now. You wouldn’t throw a party, and not invite anyone. So start distributing, stay flexible, and watch your audience (and your revenue) grow.
The future of content distribution is already here. If you’re not showing up where your customers are, someone else will. (Probably your competition.)
If you’ve made it this far, and all of this sounds stressful to you, then hit me up. This is what DRVN Media, I do all day long for businesses just like you. Also, if you just have a question or two, and want someone to answer those for you without selling you on agency services – hit me up for that too.
