Content distribution strategy: Driving traffic to your pearls and creating value
If your content lives on the internet but no one sees it, does it really exist?
That could be a smart question for the greatest philosophers of all time.
The unquestionable truth is that without a content distribution strategy, even the most inspiring, innovative and groundbreaking content may never be discovered.
Plus: Content that cannot be discovered, won´t be monetized.
Pure availability doesn´t provide content with value. It´s the consumption that does.
Driving traffic - An exemplary success story
300 hours per minute of new video content are currently uploaded to YouTube.
(Source: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/youtube-statistics/)
The one million dollar question is: how to stand out within that huge jungle?
Content doesn´t work (stand out) if it doesn´t move. Somebody who perfectly demonstrates how to move (it) is @MandyJiroux.
She knows how to move herself (being a dancer) and her pearls of content as well.
Mandy Jiroux is what we would call a YouTube star. Her account is one of the currently existing 1,500 accounts on YouTube that have more than 1 million subscribers:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MandyMJiroux
Mandy (born as Amanda Michelle Jiroux) is an American singer, dancer, actor, choreographer, and DJ. She is especially known for co-developing The Miley and Mandy Show with Miley Cyrus - as well as for her popular dance tutorials.
So let´s learn from the best. How does Mandy distribute her content? The answer: by building satellites.
The following tweet shows how the satellite strategy has been perfectly implemented.
Mandy links her recent video tutorials (YouTube) and a related documentation (Instagram) on Twitter. The Instagram post includes the YouTube video link as well as you can see here:
Satellites are hold together by shared brand values
What satellite marketing needs is a strong basis: a clearly defined brand. No matter which satellite (channel) is used to promote the corresponding piece of content, the way of commuication has to be the same.
Mandy Jiroux, for instance, is a role model to many young ladies. She personalizes the American Dream in the dancing segment which defines the core of her brand:
'To transition from dancer to a singer is just a big dream of mine. When I was backup dancing for Miley Cyrus, I remember being backstage and watching her on stage, and being like, 'I want to do that.' So, to really put my dreams out there and just go for it is really just the most exciting thing. And to see it come to life I guess I was just proud, and it's really cool.' (Source)
Values of Mandy´s brand might be: power, drive, positivity, humor. All of her posts reveal part of her personality, perfectly matching with the content´s characteristics.
The implemented satellites act as a mirror of the brand´s core.
How steemit fills in the gap
Compared with other networks, steemit.com has a unique advantage: it can be satellite and mother ship at the same time. Content creators can use steemit as source where the original content is built, but they can also exploit the social network as a satellite to promote content on other platforms (e.g. YouTube videos).
Benefits of content promotion on steemit:
- Decentralization = no censorship
- Monetization = additional income
- Attention = worldwide community and 100% visibility (open source)
steemit´s community is known for its wide range of interests and open-mindedness.
High qualitity content is always appreciated by the members and rewarded accordingly. Since it´s a free service, there is is furthermore no financial risk. Having said that it doesn´t surprise that the platform is constantly growing and the related Twitter account will soon celebrate having 10,000 followers.
Just in case you´ve missed it, here are the official numbers which have been published by Randy @hilarski yesterday: Official Steemit Twitter Account Update
Creating value online has become a tough challenge. Modern content creators need to develop outstanding distribution strategies to stand out from the masses. Attention is everything. Satellite marketing is an effective strategy to make content available for a wide audience. A well defined communication strategy holds these rotating satellites together and make sure they all feed into the higher brand image. YouTube stars like @MandyJiroux demonstrate that content works when it moves. As a dancer she might be especially familiar with movements - that´s surely a big plus. However, we all don´t need to be dancers to watch and learn :)
Thanks for your attention! I hope you enjoyed the read.
Marly -
Picture sources:
Title image: https://magicmusicmagazine.files.wordpress.com/
Brand value graphic: http://echobranddesign.co.uk/
Interconnecting channels is so important. When I had the idea to syndicate Steemit content across the web using 3rd party channels most people showed little interest but I personally believe this is what is keeping the traffic to Steemit going.
Our growth is accelerating and it is just a matter of time before a new batch of influencers come on the platform and shout to the world how awesome our community is.
I have never seen this initiative - do you have the URL for the original(and back-up) posts? When I worked in the industry, the confluence of different platforms was one of our mantras - and this is over 10 years ago!!
Maybe we could discuss a plan at the Aspiring Whales and Dolphins page??
I fully agree with you, Randy! And imagine multiple users of a social media network like steemit promoting their content on numerous other platforms. This means a huge network of content distribution with a powerful return channel, bringing a lot of traffic back to the original site.
However, we are on the right track here :)
Such an informative and well thought out article @surfermarly! Really well done. I'm sharing on my other social media accounts. Work like this will drive people to Steemit in droves.
Oh thanks for your lovely words and support, Eric. That means a lot to me!!!
Thank you for writing this! I learned a lot from this post.
Great post. I am working on a new strategy and this info helps. Thanks
Thank you! It´s been my pleasure - and good luck for your plans! Since you have brilliant content to offer, I bet yours will be another success story :)
We shall see, Vamos a ver.
Great post and I agree - I always try to cross post my content not only on FB, Twitter, G+ but also using networks such as dashburst, flipboard magazines or minds.com - drives traffic and views (even it has no impact here on steemit) - well done Mandy and well done @surfermarly
Same here, Uwe! Thanks for your kind feedback :)
I´ve recently openend an account on Twitter to promote my blog posts there, and I must admit that the power of that network has really impressed me. I´ve generated a lot of traffic from there. That´s actually what inspired me to write this post. It seems that a lot of users are doing this which is actually excellent for the growth of the whole platform.
Fingers crossed it helps the platform, Twitter is good - using it since 10 years I think
Great post, @surfermarly - as I replied to @hilarski, When I worked in the industry, the confluence of different platforms was one of our mantras - and this is over 10 years ago!!
Maybe we could discuss a plan at the Aspiring Whales and Dolphins page??
Thanks my friend! Yeah, I´ve just seen that comment above.
This kind of traffic generating is surely not new and it doesn´t surprise me you have been working on it 10 years ago :) What has changed are the channels and their power. Nowadays we have much more internet users - especially allocated at social media platforms - and almost everybody is a content creator so to say. The great wisdom lies in how to penetrate that jungle and gain attention. First of all you need a strong brand, there is no doubt about that.
Let me have a look at that facebook page, I haven´t visited it yet :)
Again, thanks for reading and commenting!
One of the reasons it would be good to see you there, other than the pleasure of your lovely company, is that hilarski, instructor2121 (new) (Discord influence would be powerful), barrydutton, stellabelle, denmarkguy and a few other notables are there, all of whom are on and off steemit communicators - the secret as you said is in the branding - there are a few other tricks to the trade which was first adopted by zappos - a shoe company in the US. Anyway, we have a brains trust of substance there!
Sounds great, see you there :)
@surfermarly, excellent points and very true! It's important to have a map of multiple properties supporting each other... all centered around a core brand, be that something like the Steemit platform, or just "Brand Yourself." I see a lot of successful people online, and they ALL seem to "leave little bits of themselves" wherever they go.
Thank you! And that´s it: leaving some rumors wherever you do one step.
This reminds me of one of my favourite quotes (here in Spanish). It means something like:
No matter how short the way might be, the ones who put their feet down firmly will leave a mark.
I need to revisit this and read it all. Amazing work @surfermarly !
Thank you, @steemitqa. That was kind. You are invited to read it as often as you like :-))
Really insightful post! I think, there must be a combination of quality, persistence and luck. And you are right, if you mix that ingredients and put the resulting smoothy into multiple social media, the result can be something becoming viral.
Thank you, Pablo! I couldn't agree more :-) I think especially consistency and patience are key.
till you get censored by a butthurt whale.