When executed correctly, content syndication can expand your reach, boost your brand visibility and drive a steady stream of qualified leads to your business. However, utilizing this tactic isn’t as simple as setting it and forgetting it.
To make the most of content syndication, each stage of the process – from selecting the right content and partners to effectively nurturing leads – requires thoughtful planning and execution. Otherwise, you risk choosing the wrong partner or poorly targeting your audience, resulting in wasted time, resources, and missed opportunities.
By understanding the most common content syndication mistakes, you can craft a strategy that not only reaches the right audience but also delivers real results.
Mistakes in content creation
1. Selecting the wrong type of content for syndication
When it comes to content syndication, not all content is created equal. According to Inbox Insight’s B2B tech buyers research, 45% of the tech buyers expect a brand to provide unique thought leadership content. Evergreen content such as comprehensive guides, in-depth industry analyses or thought leadership pieces can provide valuable insights for your audience.
Later in the buying journey over half of technology buyers consult a product sheet or case study when evaluating potential vendors. This illustrates the importance of ensuring the type of content you circulate provides real value and meets your target audience’s specific needs.
As it’s not helping them research their challenges or adding as much value, time-sensitive news updates or company announcements likely won’t resonate with them as gated assets.
2. Neglecting content quality and originality
In the rush to produce enough content for your syndication strategy, it can be tempting to compromise on quality and originality. However, this is a grave mistake that can diminish the effectiveness of your syndication campaign and even harm the reputation of your brand.
Original, high-quality content is the cornerstone of successful content syndication. It’s what sets you apart from competitors and establishes your brand as a thought leader in your industry. When syndicating content, make sure that your output offers unique insights, valuable information, or a fresh perspective on industry topics.
3. Not having enough content
Another common syndication mistake is not having a sufficient volume of content for your strategy in the first place. To implement a robust content syndication strategy, you need a steady stream of high-quality content. Without enough pieces to syndicate, you risk overexposing the same content, which can make your audience fatigued and diminish engagement.
To get the best out of your content syndication efforts, you should develop a content creation pipeline full of different formats that can sustain your strategy over the long term.
4. Failing to optimize content for syndication
Optimizing the content you’re syndicating means more than just changing how it’s formatted – you may have to adjust the tone, change the language style, or even modify the entire structure of your content to ensure it’s best suited for both platform and audience.
One key example of how you should be optimizing content is for mobile users. With 80% of B2B buyers using their mobile at work, there’s a high chance your audience are accessing your content via their phones. This makes ensuring content is accessible and optimized for mobile users essential – especially if they’re frequent visitors to the syndication platform you’re using.
Mistakes in partner selection
5. Not researching potential syndication partners
Selecting the right syndication partners is crucial for the success of your content syndication strategy. When reviewing your options, consider several factors, such as:
- Audience demographics: Does their audience fit your customer profile?
- Industry relevance: Are they a well-respected and credible authority in this space?
- Content quality: Are other pieces on the platform of similar quality and length to yours?
Make sure you look into all these aspects before entering a syndication partnership. A potential syndication partner could have the most impressive and advanced technologies on the market, but without access to the right audiences, you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
6. Overlooking partner audience alignment
Just because a potential partner has access to a large audience, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the right fit for your content syndication strategy. Having broad reach is important in B2B marketing, but there’s no point working with a syndication partner that doesn’t have relevance among your target audience.
Syndication partners with high readership might be able to get eyes on your content, but if they’re not aligned with your customer profile, this won’t lead to conversions. Instead, do your due diligence when researching partners, and make sure their audiences are people who could actually benefit from your content.
7. Not defining clear expectations and terms
In any partnership or collaboration, failing to establish clear expectations and terms can lead to misunderstandings, disappointment and potentially even conflict.
Before entering into a syndication partnership, ensure that both you and the partner you’re working with have a clear understanding of the terms. This should include details such as content ownership, publication frequency, performance metrics, and any financial arrangements.
Also check the partner’s terms when it comes to lead guarantees and quality service level agreements. For example Inbox Insight provides a lead quality guarantee where you can reject a lead if it does not meet the agreed criteria you set before the campaign. Ensuring you have a safety net like this safeguards your investment and reduces your risk.
Mistakes in content distribution
8. Neglecting to customize content for each platform
If you want to see the best results from your content once it’s syndicated, you should be prepared to customize it for different platforms. Each channel and partner is likely to have its own unique characteristics and requirements, and their audiences will have different preferences.
Tailoring your content for each platform can significantly improve its performance. This might involve adjusting the format, tone, or even rewriting parts of the content altogether to better suit the platform and its audience.
9. Not tracking and measuring performance
What can’t be measured can’t be improved, and without proper tracking and measurement, it’s impossible to gauge the success of your content syndication campaign or identify potential areas for optimization.
To ensure you’re getting maximum value from your syndication strategy, implement robust tracking mechanisms to monitor key performance indicators such as:
- Reach
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Conversions
You can use this data over time to discover valuable insights and refine and optimize your syndication strategy.
10. Distributing product-focused content
While the ultimate goal of B2B marketing is to drive sales, overly promotional or product-focused content often performs poorly in syndication.
Instead of focusing on selling your product or service, aim to provide value to your audience through educational, informative, or thought-provoking content. This approach helps establish trust and credibility, which can ultimately lead to conversions further down the line.
“True demand generation means educating your prospects on the problem area, before trying to sell them the solution. Make sure that you are consistently putting out content that provokes the audience to think about the risk of not taking action, or the benefit they could see, if they solve the problems they are facing. By increasing the “problem awareness” within your idea customer profile you can increase the number of prospects with research intent and engage them with your brand at the same time.”
Ross Howard, Product Marketing Director
11. Using only a single distribution channel
Relying on a single channel for content syndication limits your reach and could leave you exposed to risk if that platform underperforms, so make sure you diversify and pick multiple distribution channels.
Research by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Marketing Profs found that 93% of B2B content marketers use LinkedIn as a distribution channel. However, this doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to just one platform. Focusing on LinkedIn could mean you miss out on other channels that more closely align with your audience and values.
The cost of syndicating on LinkedIn alone also increases your cost per lead as you need to buy expensive clicks or run lead form ads with varying cost. By partnering with lead generation vendors or publishers you can reach and convert buyers with your content on a pay for performance basis.
Mistakes in lead nurturing
12. Running short-term nurturing campaigns
Lead nurturing is a critical element of content syndication, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Running campaigns that are too short is a common mistake in content syndication that can make you miss out on the full potential of leads you’ve generated.
To nurture your leads effectively, you need to implement a long-term strategy and develop campaigns that guide your prospects through the entire buyer’s journey. Taking the time to establish trust with potential customers can pay off in the long term, with nurtured leads making 47% larger purchases than leads that aren’t nurtured.
13. Not leveraging data and technology
Today’s customers expect personalization. According to research by SmarterHQ, 72% of consumers will only engage with personalized messages. In our tech buyer research we found similar results, with 91% of buyers expecting personalization.
With the wealth of data and insights available to B2B marketers, failing to utilize technology like personalization and optimization in your nurturing campaigns will significantly impact your ability to convert potential customers.
14. Not utilizing SDRs/BDRs in nurture efforts
Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and Business Development Representatives (BDRs) can play a crucial role in your lead nurturing efforts, yet they’re often underutilized in content syndication strategies.
Integrating SDRs and BDRs can help qualify leads more effectively and provide a personalized touch to your outreach efforts. This human element can be particularly valuable in B2B contexts, where establishing relationships with prospects plays a significant role in decision-making.
15. Sending leads directly to sales or SDRs
On the other hand, some marketers make the mistake of sending all leads generated through syndication directly to sales or SDRs without properly qualifying or nurturing them. This can overwhelm your sales team with low quality, unqualified leads, and result in missed opportunities.
A lead scoring system can help you ensure that only qualified leads are passed to sales. For leads that aren’t yet sales-ready, continue nurturing them with relevant content and engagement strategies.
Conclusion
Content syndication is a powerful strategy for B2B marketers looking to expand their reach, generate leads, and establish thought leadership. By steering clear of the mistakes outlined in this guide — from content creation and partner selection to distribution and lead nurturing — you can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your content syndication efforts.
For expert guidance and support, explore our content syndication services to increase visibility and boost your marketing efforts. With the right strategy and execution, content syndication can become a game-changing component of your B2B strategy.
