Content syndication is a great way to get the most out of your content investments or to monetize your traffic. Here's a look at the basic types of content syndication and some ways of setting up a content syndication program for your business.

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Selecting Syndication Partners

Basic content syndication in the form of RSS feeds has been around for a while. RSS made it easy for individuals and websites to grab your content in an automated fashion. With the rise of social networks and sharing, RSS usage has slipped, though I will still consider it table stakes in the content syndication game.

Paid Content Syndication Players

Costs are low, starting for some vendors at around $.10 per click and going up to $.30 or more. Here are the two biggies:

• Outbrain: Outbrain describes itself as a content recommendation system, providing links to related content on major publication sites including Time, CNN, and the Washington Post. Outbrain has a self-service interface with costs set on a per-click bid model. It's easy for a little guy to set up, but it works for big guys too.
• Taboola: Similar to Outbrain, Taboola powers recommended content links on major publication sites. Unlike Outbrain, Taboola requires each link to have an associated thumbnail image. This may or may not take more work, but it also may help to boost clicks to your content. Taboola's engine can also be used to promote internal related content.

Non-Paid Syndication Options

Related industry sites and blogs are always looking for good content and they tend to not want to pay for it. Find out what sites have an audience in your industry and ask them if they are interested in getting an RSS feed of original content. Syndication partners typically want unique content and at least some sort of delay before the content is published on your own site.

Content Sites for Manual Syndication

Tons of new and emerging sites are tempting places to distribute or cross-post content to. Consider Reddit – pick the right sub-reddit for your content, and the new Medium.com (the long-form content site from the Twitter folks). Good content, created as part of a larger content marketing effort, should be able to stand on its own on these earned platforms.

By harnessing the power of the lead generation trifecta, marketers now have the power to generate leads more efficiently than ever before!

I’m always seeking that perfect combination of affordability, scalability and efficiency in all that I do — especially when it comes to marketing. With regards to lead generation — specifically paid media (paying to leverage the power of a channel to deliver a message that drives to another type of media) — I’ve found the lead generation trifecta. Through the use of great content marketing, content syndication and marketing automation I can consistently drive, nurture and qualify high quality leads for our sales team.

Content Marketing

Marketers harnessing the power of content marketing are creating unique content no matter where their consumers are in the buying cycle. They recognize that the type of information a person is looking for changes as they move through the buying cycle, and certain pieces of content indicate greater intent to buy.

Content Syndication

Having great content is just the start. Without a means of getting it to your audience (or getting your audience to it), your content efforts will be all for nothing. Fortunately, with content marketing come content syndication services. These services distribute your content through publishers, email lists, etc. and get your content in front of a wider audience than you ever could otherwise. Due to increased competition, this has quickly become one of the best resources for B2B marketers in terms of low-cost lead generation.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation allows marketers to analyze prospects’ engagement with your website. If prospects return to your site and visit your pricing page, this could indicate they’re ready to buy. We’ve identified specific pages that have strong correlations with closed deals, which trigger notifications to sales so they can reach out immediately.