Distribution is the New King
A list of 7 ideas you need to create a stronger distribution plan.
Thanks for subscribing to Work the Funnel, a newsletter by marketer Chantelle Marcelle (me!) that highlights best practices and trends in marketing.
A big welcome to 89 new subscribers this week.
(And a special thank you to Saurabh for helping me make a correction to my welcome email! Appreciate it! 🙏)
A quick outline of today’s issue:
1. Seven distribution ideas to support your growth strategy
2. A roundup of interesting stuff from around the web
Before we jump into it, I’d like to thank this issue’s sponsor, Marketing Against the Grain.
This weekly podcast gives you key info on what's happening now in marketing, what's ahead, and how you can establish yourself as an industry leader. It’s also hosted by both HubSpot’s CMO and SVP of Marketing, Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan, who share their fresh perspectives, learnings and experiences. You don’t want to miss this show if you’re interested in how you can move your business and marketing strategy forward.
They released an awesome episode deep diving into how they grew to 70k monthly downloads.
Two important tips Kieran and Kipp offer to provide a solid foundation for your product or content strategy:
Tip 1: Identify your key differentiation:
What’s your “unfair advantage” over everyone else trying to do what you do?
For Marketing Against the Grain, they focus on unique subject matter, format and cadence.
For example, they choose to avoid presenting best practices. That feels common in the podcast space. So they target the intersection between marketing and business building.
Tip 2: Build your network:
You need support. Both internal and external.
Kipp and Kieran brought on help for production and creation to help Marketing Against the Grain succeed. Even seasoned pros know when to ask for backup.
Do yourself a favor, and secure the right team, even if you know how to do it all.
Then plug into a solid external network to help give it wings.
But they also highlight a common marketing mistake I see time and time again.
It takes a real balancing act to create something and then have it take off.
Getting quality down is essential, of course.
But distribution plays such a key role in the success of what we do.
“Distribution is everything: I know this; it's what I spend a lot of time doing. But, sometimes, when working on your own content, you get sucked into the 'content is what matters, and distribution will just come' way of thinking…Well, it won't!”
— Marketing Against the Grain co-host Kieran Flanagan
So let’s focus in on distribution.
A list of 7 ideas and recommendations to inspire your distribution plan
1. Boost with a gift or giveaway.
Cash App partnered with Gen-Z influencer and rapper Meghan thee Stallion for a giveaway that tied with a content series they produced about investment education.
2. Add a link to email signatures.
I added a subscription link to my newsletter to my signature. Rather than just dropping a direct link, mention an award or something special about what you’re promoting.
3. Highlight it in your newsletter, onboarding workflow or other drip email campaigns.
Both HubSpot and Canva provide great examples of this. From the moment you sign up, they send relevant content to help continue pushing you to other useful tools and content they offer.
And DTC subscription company Once Upon a Book emails recommendations for various ways to connect and engage with their content from the moment you sign up for their new customer promo.
4. Host a live or audio event to get more engagement.
Marketing instructor Brianne Fleming did this quite well by tying one of her 2022 webinars with a piece of content she created.
It took a simple lead magnet and strengthened it with an opportunity for direct engagement.
5. Look for other sweet spots to promote throughout your website.
Map out multiple places on your website to direct people back to what you’re promoting.
Your header, footer, blog, sidebar, thank-you pages. These all represent key real estate.
Check out how Grammarly uses their blog to share and highlight other content and product offers.
Beauty brand Sephora also makes the most of every space on their website.
Their top navigation menu guides visitors not only through product categories, but also to supporting resources (like their quizzes and articles).
6. Seek out cross-promotion opportunities.
I love cross-promotions, especially when there’s strong audience alignment. Bonus points when the platform aligns as well.
For example, promoting your podcast on other podcasts.
I often work with other marketing newsletter writers on cross-promotions. LIke the one below I did with B2B marketing expert and newsletter writer Jason Bradwell.
7. Bake shareability into the experience.
OK, this will be the last time I mention #SpotifyWrapped in 2022.
But they make every bit of the campaign super simple to share. They encourage it, highlight it, make it a central part of the content.
Did you see anything new above you might try out?
Tune into Marketing Against the Grain if you want even more.
You’ll learn:
How Kieran and Kipp found an unfair advantage to grow
What you need to do to launch your own podcast or content channel
How they’re improving their next strategy
→ Listen Here ←
Other Interesting Things From Around the Web
Google handles about 90% of online global search activity – there really isn’t any competition. But has Google gotten worse over the years? Or is it just that there’s no such thing as a “free” search? It’s the question posed in a recent episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Freakonomics. Listen here.
A while ago I wrote about how Netflix and TikTok showed the benefits of focusing on distribution. I’m resurfacing that article here in case you want to dive in.
Twenty-five years ago, Tim Berners-Lee (known as the inventor of “www”) gave a presentation where he talked about the future of the Internet. This transcript of his talk makes for quite an interesting read to see where we’ve come from the early days of the world wide web.
A seasonal, fun long read: The science of Christmas trees. What goes into ensuring we have one a little more spritely than the little Charlie Brown tree? Check it out.
OK, this will be the last time I mention #SpotifyWrapped in 2022. Their masterful personalization strategy drives a much stronger marketing win rate, not just with Wrapped but for numerous campaigns. Read about how they navigate and what you can steal for your own success.
Thanks for reading again this week!
And thank you again to the Marketing Against the Grain team for lending insights for this newsletter. Make sure to add them to your podcast playlist.
By the way, we’re almost done with this year. I’m sending only one more 2022 issue of this newsletter.
Next issue I’ll be doing a 2022 look back.
Got recommendations for your favorite content or campaigns I should include? Reply or leave a comment and share with me.
Until next time!
P.S. Be sure to check out my content on YouTube or Instagram.