Content marketing is one of the best tactics to help your brand gain exposure. But, a well-written white paper, case study, or blog post will not generate awareness and be successful unless people know about it and are engaging with it. Ensure success with a paid, earned, and owned approach to promote your content, gain online exposure, and grow brand presence and recognition.

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2. Content is one of the best tactics to help your brand gain exposure. But, a well-written
white paper, case study, or blog post will not generate awareness and be successful
unless people know about it and are engaging with it.
To ensure success, use a three-pronged approach to promote your content, gain online
exposure, and grow brand presence and recognition.
Three approaches to generating brand awareness and engagement:
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3. 1. Owned Promotion
Promoting your own content is just as important at writing it. Because search engines now
factor social signals into their search results, it is crucial to combine your content and social
media marketing strategies to promote your own content while also sharing resources that
make you an asset to your target audience.
All organic social promotion campaigns should include:
1. Future Re-Sharing
Schedule posts with questions surrounding the content or quotes from the article later on
in the week.
2. Proper Social Media Optimization
Posts should also include hashtags and account tags, when possible.
For instance, if a writer is publishing an interview with Dan Rather, they should include
his verified Twitter username in their tweet. Avoid hashtag abuse — only use them when
it doesn’t clutter up the tweet or post. Too many in your tweet can make it look spammy
(and obscure the link). The same goes for tagging on Facebook and Google+.
When it comes to content, these types of tiny social media optimization tactics can help
increase your exposure.
2. Paid Promotion
For content that you want to be seen by a larger audience, paid promotion is a good
strategy. Sponsored tweets and Facebook posts (as well as promoted content on LinkedIn)
can be utilized with owned promotion to select outstanding content that will get the most
response from your audience.
When it comes to choosing sponsored content, go for posts that will most likely elicit an
emotional response from your target audience. Emotional response usually translates into
likes, shares, and comments. A sponsored post announcing that Apple is releasing just 500
new tablets will get more engagement in social media than the opening of another Apple
Store in Los Angeles.
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4. How to best utilize paid promotion
Sponsored Tweets, Facebook, and LinkedIn Posts
Tailor your content to each medium. For example: an article on the top 10 lotions for a
spa would be better on Facebook than LinkedIn. Reddit and StumbleUpon also offer paid
promotion.
1. Paid Syndication
Outbrain is a great content syndication service that suggests your posts to readers on top
websites, including Fox News, based on the article they just read. You can set cost-per-click
and campaign duration. Disqus is also rolling out paid syndication campaigns as part of
their commenting plugin.
2. Paid Blogger Campaigns
Many blogs take sponsors and will share links to your content via sponsored posts on their
website. You can also work with organizations that manage the entire blogger campaign
on behalf of companies.
By making paid promotion a regular part of your social media strategy, you will also be
able to get a better grasp of what type of content has more engagement and has more
exposure than your non-promoted content. By focusing on writing content that does well
when promoted via a paid campaign, you are more likely to have better engagement
(and more website traffic) organically.
3. Earned Promotion
Earned promotion is third-party sentiment about your company and its products, such
as the sharing of your latest blog post via Twitter or LinkedIn. These types of unsolicited
mentions can be carried much further in convincing people, because it is coming from an
external source that is vouching for your organization (without you explicitly asking them
to do so in exchange for something).
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5. To get more external promotion, your content should:
1. Provide value
2. Be visually appealing, with attractive graphics (include charts) and an
easy-to-read layout
3. Be written for your target audience, not for the search engines
4. Be as easy as possible to share via social sharing buttons
Your organization should also be tracking social media and Google Alerts for men-
tions of your company and its employees, in order to share these mentions of your
business. When you show your audience that others find you reputable enough to
share your content, you are reinforcing positive brand recognition.
Promoting earned media gives extra social signals and links to boost the value of
the links, engagement, and traffic you get from the coverage. This can amplify the
message, thus getting more shares and traffic from your network and beyond.
Combine All Three
No matter the industry or type of content you post (whether it be blogs, videos,
podcasts, or e-books), you should be promoting it organically and through paid
avenues. These efforts will help you get the exposure needed to start accruing
regular earned promotion by others.
By boosting third-party mentions of your content you are completing a three-
pronged approach that is guaranteed to maximize your exposure, thus increasing
your content traffic and engagement.
Need help developing your content marketing strategy?
Contact Lori 877-447-0134, x111.