Table of Contents
Introduction
In the modern internet era, where marketers have all the tools and technologies needed to empower them to create groundbreaking campaigns, there is no place for complacency. At least not in the B2B marketing space, if we have to be very specific. It has led to marketers constantly experimenting with new and innovative marketing strategies to generate leads and meet their business goals. Content Syndication is one such effective marketing tool in the arsenal of modern marketers.
Businesses of all sizes leverage content syndication for marketing by creating and publishing unique and high-quality content across various digital touchpoints. Thus, it is only fair to talk about the benefits of content syndication as a marketing tool, the trends dominating the field of content syndication, and what the future holds for content syndication. So let us get started.
Content syndication is creating and publishing content in different formats, such as articles, eBooks, articles or excerpts, podcasts, infographics, and images or videos on different websites, platforms, or channels. This not only helps you reap the benefits of content syndication, but also helps the content get more visibility by reaching a wider audience. It also helps the creator generate more eyeballs, traffic, and engagement for their product, service, or platform.
Content syndication generally works by republishing content across third-party platforms such as industry-specific magazines, websites, or even social media. While the ownership of the original content remains with the content creator, it does allow them to increase the discoverability and visibility of their content.
Current State of Content Syndication
With the advent of marketing technology and the growing penetration of data and analytics in the marketing space, the landscape of content syndication has grown significantly in recent years. This has resulted in an increased number of platforms and strategies to help content publishers reach a bigger audience and get more engagement.
The significant growth of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., dominates the current state of content syndication. These platforms have emerged as the primary source for sharing and distributing content. It also has made it easier for businesses to reach out to their audience and engage with their followers.
Another noteworthy trend that is significantly gaining popularity in content syndication is the rise of content discovery and recommendation platforms. Platforms such as Taboola, Outbrain, and Revcontent have gained massive popularity among modern users. These platforms allow publishers to promote their content – often through paid promotion – to newer audiences who might not find their content otherwise.
Along with these third-party platforms, modern publishers are also trying new strategies such as cross-promotion with other publishers or brands or collaboration with businesses of the exact nature of a collaborative content piece to reach their audiences.
Finally, the current landscape of content syndication with new platforms and newer strategies makes it essential for modern businesses and publishers looking to leverage it to grow their reach and audience. However, the future for content syndication looks equally exciting for modern marketers, and we will discuss why later in the post.
Popular Content Syndication Platforms
The growing number of content syndication platforms has made them a primary source for publishers looking to distribute their content and sometimes even monetize it.
Some Popular Content Syndication Platforms
- Outbrain: A content discovery and recommendation platform, Outbrain allows publishers to syndicate their content on websites such as CNN, ESPN, and The Guardian and reach new audiences.
- Disqus: Disqus is a prominent commenting system that allows content publishers to syndicate their content on relevant blogs and websites.
- Taboola: Taboola is also a content recommendation platform which operates on a PPC model. It allows publishers to syndicate their content on premium websites such as USA Today, NBC, and The Weather Channel.
There are many other content syndication platforms that you can leverage based on the nature of your business and the campaign type.
Emerging Trends and Benefits of Content Syndication
Content syndication is an ever-evolving space, and when the technology or the business landscape changes, content syndication strategies, benefits of content syndication, and campaigns change accordingly. As we look at the content syndication space, there are some noteworthy trends that a marketer must be aware of.
Here are some of them for you:
- Focus on Personalization: The customer growth-generated data has given business owners a lot of personal insights into their customers. All this information means businesses can emphasize the personalization of campaigns and offers for a better customer experience. One aspect is tailoring content specific to its customers’ likes and delivering it through the most relevant channels.
- Integration with AI and Machine Learning: AI-powered content syndication platforms are gaining massive popularity among businesses. Thanks to their incredible ability to analyze huge data sets to establish demand generation trends, improve performance, and optimize distribution. AI and machine learning can also personalize content to curate personalized customer experiences.
- Increased Use of Video and Interactive Content: Video and interactive content have emerged as preferred content for audiences. Publishers are now creating more video and interactive content and syndicating it through various platforms to gather maximum engagement. The growing popularity of short-form video platforms such as Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts has further opened new avenues for publishers to try and experiment with new content formats and styles.
- Quality over Quantity: Content syndication has traditionally been associated with the mass distribution of content. However, in recent times with the growing popularity of personalized content among customers, businesses have started to recognize the significance of quality over quantity. Businesses are now creating engaging, high-quality content that resonates with their target audience as opposed to just churning out huge chunks of content.
- Publisher and Brand Collaboration: With brands looking to create authentic and genuine content, they need publishers to showcase all that content. This is why we will continue to see the rise of brand and publisher collaboration. It will be a win-win for both.
Overall, going by the growing trends in the content syndication space, we can safely say that there is an increased emphasis on content quality, personalization, and collaboration, as the marketeers seek to engage with customers in new and innovative ways.
Predictions for the Future of Content Syndication
While predicting any trend in the volatile modern market is tough. However, going by the current landscape of content syndication driven by personalized, video, and interactive content, here are our predictions for the future of content syndication.
- First-Party Data in Content Syndication
With a growing emphasis on first-party data, marketers and publishers will soon leverage it for their content syndication strategies. - Growth of Niche Content Syndication Platforms
Niche content syndication platforms are designed to cater to customers/audiences of a specific industry. They will get even more prevalent in the future by offering audiences incredibly targeted and relevant content. - More Focus on Metrics and Analytics
With the influx of data and analytics, content syndication will become more sophisticated. This will mean that the metrics and analytics will have an even more crucial role in determining the success of the campaigns and optimizing the strategies for content distribution.
To sum things up, in the future, we will see content syndication evolve into a highly advanced and sophisticated marketing strategy. Businesses will be keen to leverage it to engage with their targeted audiences in a progressive and technology-driven way and leverage the benefits of content syndication.
Conclusion
In summary, the future of content syndication looks exciting from every aspect, with plenty of advanced technological developments and a growing emphasis on high-quality, personalized content. While many modern businesses have already started adopting content syndication as an integral part of their marketing strategies, we will see that number go further up as businesses focus on niche content platforms, interactive/video content, and data analytics for optimizing and measuring the success of their campaigns.
Having said that, it’s worth mentioning that content syndication in no way is a one-size-fits-all solution. Thus, businesses must evaluate their goals, targeted customers/audiences, and even distribution channels while embarking on their content syndication journey. And if you are looking for experts to help you along the way, do write to us at: marketing@datamaticsbpm.com, and we will help you get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Content syndication is a quick and efficient method of demonstrating thought leadership. Each piece of content that syndicates gated content can generate real financial gain.
