Dissemination plan: strategies for planning and promoting content

The creation of content involves time, effort and commitment, and in order for all of this to be rewarding, it must be communicated to the public through a distribution plan

The aim of a dissemination plan is to reach and impact as many people as possible. It is not enough for content to be of high quality (although it is essential), as it must also be distributed in an attractive, effective and massive way. Maybe we have in our hands a content with the necessary potential to please the public, but if we do not reach it, we will never know. Also, keep in mind that the greater the reach of a content, the better SEO positioning it will have.

Also known as a promotion plan, a dissemination plan is a detailed document with the necessary strategies to promote a piece of content, whether it is an article, a YouTube video, etc. It is a tremendously useful tool within content marketing to take advantage and make the most of the hours of work invested in creating a specific material. For this, it is also necessary to spend time planning how it will be disseminated. In fact, the dissemination plan is so important that it is present during all the phases of content creation: before starting, during development and once it is finished.

8 questions to answer during a dissemination plan

In order to take into account the promotion of the content during all parts of the creative process, OCCAM proposes 8 questions to answer in order to design a successful dissemination plan:

1. what audience are you going to target?

Establishing your target audience and your market segment makes the rest of the decisions easier because there is a clear and concrete direction. Therefore, you should start planning by answering this question, although you can also choose subgroups of the population to whom you also want to send your content. To do so, take into account all relevant parameters: age, gender, origin or place of residence, level of education, social class, occupation, etc.

2. what objectives do you want to achieve?

Another of the quintessential questions in the marketing world, make sure that the objectives you set (whether main or specific) meet the SMART criteria:

• Specific. Avoid generalisation and go for specific: only then will you know what to do at each stage.
• Measurable: To check whether you have achieved your objectives or not, you have to use metrics and indicators that measure the results.
• Attainable: You have to take into account the realistic context of the company when setting objectives, otherwise you will be spending time on impossible proposals.
• Relevant: An objective must have a useful impact on the company and its customers.
• Timely: Objectives have an expiry date: either they are met or they are not.

3. what are the most appropriate contents?

It is time to think about the most appropriate content to reach your audience and achieve your objectives. To do this, you can brainstorm with your team, taking into account several aspects:

• What the competition is doing; research existing content in your sector; what needs are not being met; and what needs are not being met.
• What needs are not covered: Depending on the results of your search, you can analyse which topics are largely covered and which are not fully covered.
• How you can differentiate yourself: Think about what might interest the public and focus your actions on creating attractive, innovative and original content that stands out and, if possible, covers a need.

4. what budget do you have?

Both to create the content and to plan the promotion, it is necessary to know the available budget. Even so, more important than having a lot of money is knowing how to invest it correctly, although the ideal would be to combine both scenarios.

5. in what formats are you going to create the content?

Here the dissemination plan takes on greater importance, as this is the moment to decide in which formats you are going to send the content to the public. Ideally, the same material should be adapted to different formats, as there are many options: images, videos, infographics, articles, e-books, Reels, direct, surveys... But also other less common ones: games, applications, courses, events, interactive or immersive formats... It is not necessary to use all of them, but those that you consider most effective according to the needs and possibilities of your dissemination plan and multimedia strategy.

In this sense, you can take into account the contents that work best in social networks to get an idea of the general tastes. Thus, we find numerical lists, explanatory publications that answer key questions or pose solutions to a problem and videos. It is important that you order your decisions in an Excel file to design your dissemination plan.

6. through which channels are you going to disseminate them?

We have just talked about social networks, but these are not the only platforms where you can disseminate your content (although they are the priority). Again, it is not a question of using all possible channels, but of choosing those where your target audience is. It is also important to decide which formats to use in each medium, as not all work in the same way. Let's now see what distribution media exist:

• Own media. They have a smaller reach, but are free and easier to manage. This includes your own social networks (such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram...), your website, blog, email, newsletter, etc.
• Earned media: these are free, more effective and less easy to achieve. We are talking about all the actions generated organically by customers or external users around a content. They can be comments, reviews, ratings, various forms of sharing (such as retweets), etc. They are very useful because people trust their acquaintances more ( referral programmes are related to this topic).
• Paid media: These require a financial investment and offer more reach, but do not ensure effectiveness. They can be advertisements on social networks, campaigns with influencers, banners, etc.

7. and when?

In addition to the content, formats and channels, you need to establish a timetable for carrying out the dissemination plan. Here you also depend on the target audience, as you need to find out when they are most likely to access your material. Remember that you can establish a strategy for promoting a piece of content before it is launched. In this way, you are spreading breadcrumbs that generate expectation among the audience.

8. did you get the desired results?

Finally, it is essential to measure the results to see what has worked, what hasn't and what needs to be improved. Don't forget that your objectives must be measurable in order to answer this question.

As you can see, each question is interconnected with the rest, so you must design the dissemination plan with an overall perspective. Spend time and bet on originality, only then you will be able to obtain the success you expect.