On Monday we discussed what content is and how it can help build your brand’s web presence. Now that you have created some original content to bolster your brand’s image and availability online, where should you post it? Should you be posting professional content on Facebook or LinkedIn? Should you be commenting on other people’s blogs? Today we are going to build on this topic by delving into where you should post that shiny new content you’ve created and how these choices will benefit you.

Posting to Your Website Drives Sales

One of the main reasons people create content is to drive traffic to their website where they can make the sale. By placing original content on your website you cause people seeking this content to enter your domain. Your website is where you have:

• The most control over how your content is viewed and interacted with.
• Your own built in and interested audience who want the content you are providing.
• The chance to benefit the most from traffic in terms of SEO. Original content and organic traffic are viewed very favorably by search engines.
• A great chance to encourage integration with other sites including social media. Make it easy for people to share your content across platforms.

Social Media Builds Audiences

Social Media is called social for a reason. This is where people go to communicate with friends, family, communities, and yes even brands. The benefits of posting your content to social media include:

• A massive built in audience of people seeking content and asking questions.
• Shareability: Content is extremely easy to share across social media platforms. This is how content goes “viral”.
• Real Time Interaction where interested people can share content at the most relevant times.
• Social media’s Borrowed Audience allows your content to reach new eyes that you may have no previous connection to.

Other Websites Provide Links

As valuable as posting your original content to your own website is, it is also important to share it on other websites. A blog about a related topic or a discussion forum about your industry are a few great places to start. By giving people the information they couldn’t find elsewhere, you are positioning your brand as a thought leader and as a reliable resource. This can lead to:

• Exposure for your brand to someone else’s already built audience.
• Link Sharing from people who organically drive traffic to your website for you.
• Cross Branding where people who work with or simply like the website you are posting on start to mentally connect that website and its content with your brand.
• Shareability: As was mentioned above, content is much easier to share when it is easy to find and access. Putting it in any and all related areas can be beneficial.

Content Marketing World is our nation’s largest content marketing event is going on this week in Cleveland. It has inspired us to spend this week talking about Content Marketing. More important than the conference is the subject. Companies need to have some sort of content marketing strategy in place, large or small. If you need help developing a strategy, there are some great resources online. We are posting them throughout the week on our Facebook page. If you need more help, call one of our social media strategists at (773) 313-3530.