Content Seeding

 

Content Seeding: Brief explanation

Content seeding is a strategic approach to scatter content across the Internet. Content creators spread content to various locations where that content will be read, noticed and spread. Often, content creators target relevant influencers in hopes that those well-connected influencers use their own networks to distribute the content. This marketing approach aims to increase brand awareness by pushing content across the web to relevant target groups.

Content Seeding: Detailed explanation

For content seeding to work, content creators must post relevant, creative articles targeted to specific networks. Often, social media sites are the only sites that web users will migrate to without an outside influence, so these are the most important sites to target. Web users are more likely to view a piece of content that’s been recommended by someone they trust rather than an ad or sponsored post. This is why targeting these trusted people is so vital.

The aim of content seeding:

The primary focus of seeding is to convince industry thought leaders to validate and spread a brand’s content over their network – for example, their blog, social media platforms or email newsletter. Through this, the reach and awareness of the original content is increased greatly, and since it’s been validated by the industry thought leader, it carries more weight.

How seeded content becomes viral

Most marketers distinguish between simple seeding and advanced seeding. In simple seeding, content is spread on the brand’s own network, and a few well-known influencers are asked to spread the content along. The effort and cost in this effort is low, but the content must be very high quality and possess genuine value to convince web users to spread the content to their own networks.

The chance for content to spread virally is much higher through advanced seeding. Here, brands will use any number of videos, articles and infographics and spread their contents to a greater number of social media influencers, blogs, forums, groups and websites. There’s a greater opportunity to reach greater numbers of impressions across the web, but there’s also greater effort and cost in doing so.

source: okdork.com

If you want to keep the cost low and still take off virally, it may be best to use external partners. There are a number of agencies that specialize in seeding and can handle the entire process and target a topic-specific network. There is no guarantee, however, that this method will be a success, nor can it replace good SEO. Seeding is just another step in link building and getting more traffic.

More than a marketing strategy: How do I seed content?

Seeding is an important element in online marketing, so it’s vital to implement a well structured and planned strategy. A wide distribution of videos, articles and images using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and search engines is the end result to a well-organized campaign. The following points serve as a guide to a successful seeding campaign:

1. Set Up a Network: In addition to seeding, a healthy network is paramount for all marketing activities. Maintaining an online network through social media, an offline network through trade shows and conferences is important to retaining relationships with people in your industry.
2. Define goals: To generate a successful campaign, you will need an exact definition of your target group. Do a comprehensive analysis of your target group through corporate database research and pay attention to the media. Focus on which networks your target group spends most of their time on – Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, and define quantitative goals within each platform.
3. Create content: Once your research is complete and you have a plan in place, you will have to create the actual content. Pay special attention to how the content type you’re producing – a video, infographic or article – will be received on each seeding platform. Is the content piece best suited for PR, entertainment or information? Are there any particularities for the format of your content? Think of how your target group will respond, and make it easy for them to share it.
4. Influencer Search: The target group and the finished content will narrow down the set of possible influencers. Stay up to date with current events and industry opinion so that you can present your content in the best light and always keep an eye on media events pertinent to your industry. Set up alerts for specific industry keywords, and plug yourself in to various blogs to catch up on themes that you might otherwise miss.
5. Contact: If an influencer is not already connected to you, they’ll have to accept solicitation from an unknown contact. If you approach these people with a mass email or poorly researched premise, all your previous hard work will be nullified. Present yourself in a professional manner and get right to your point. Influencers are highly targeted people, so they need to know exactly what your goal is and why you’re contacting them to reach it.
6. Convincing call to action: Make sure that your proposal has some inherent value for the influencer. Why should they share your content? How does it benefit their network? Sell them on your preparation, expertise and quality of work.
7. Monitor and analyze results: Did the content seeding give you a measurable boost in traffic? Were the influencers open to accepting and sharing your content? Did your content spread beyond your own network and reach people you would never have reached otherwise? Was the target group defined correctly, and did they respond to your message? Monitor each part of the seeding campaign, so you can better your campaign next time. Also, don’t forget to keep a database of all the influencers you targeted so you can expedite your influencer tracking process next time.
8. Maintain your network: At the end of a successful seeding campaign, don’t forget to nurture the network you worked so hard to acquire. If you established a relationship with influencers, make sure you keep that going. You’ve established a great foundation to build upon, so make sure you keep it.

Social Media – Where can I spread my content?

Content is scattered through various social media channels in various ways. The major social media networks, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+, are the first places to distribute good content. Some other platforms, like Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat are very visual and work great for B2C companies. Make sure your content matches the selected medium and is relevant to the users of that platform.

An expert blog for a target group is a great tool to increase trust. Here, an influencer can appeal to their following and have a platform to further their reach. Remember that any positive mention within a blog is transferred to the reputation of the company producing that blog. Plus, blogs are a great landing page for your company and are often the first place a user sees your company.

With the growth of mobile devices and download speeds, video is an increasingly vital Internet marketing tool. Short two-to-three minute videos, whether produced to entertain, inform or support, are very valuable to users. Create a YouTube channel for your business and create a vast video library.

Forums are still widely used platforms and represent a great place to have influence over a target group. Well-placed, trusted content here can have a great affect on expanding your content’s reach.

Conclusion

Seeding is a very important element in online marketing. Spreading content through social media and through influencer networks is a great way to spread your company awareness and boost overall SEO. A successful seeding campaign will give your company a great foundation to spread your message consistently and provide you with a solid traffic base.