Use our matrix to evaluate your use of media channels to enhance content material visibility and influence throughout the shopper journey
If you happen to’re an everyday reader of Sensible Insights, it’s seemingly you’ve seen – and even higher, used – our Content material Advertising Matrix (developed with First10).
It has proved to be a well-liked infographic because it’s not only a good visible of some fascinating ‘details and figures’ about advertising and marketing, moderately it could possibly truly be utilized to get higher outcomes because it helps companies brainstorm one of the best varieties of content material to create as a part of their content material advertising and marketing technique.
What’s the Content material Distribution Matrix?
This infographic follows on from our unique Content material Advertising Matrix, and is geared toward serving to entrepreneurs evaluate the effectiveness of several types of Paid, Owned, and Earned media to advertise or distribute their content material in producing website visits, leads or gross sales in comparison with the extent of funding in making use of the media measured as paid media prices or the prices of selling group members.

Word that the varieties of media plotted listed below are for instance enterprise, so these will range by firm kind and sector.
Within the digital world, getting your content material out there may be necessary, however it’s solely a part of the puzzle. And not using a stable advertising and marketing plan, your content material won’t hit the mark. Distribution spreads the phrase, however advertising and marketing technique ensures it resonates and drives outcomes. It is the mix of each that basically makes your content material shine.
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How you can Use the Content material Distribution Matrix
We hope that the instance is kind of self-explanatory primarily based on the labeling of the axes. We advocate you run a content material evaluate and planning session utilizing this 3 step strategy which provides extra particulars:
Step 1. Present use of media for content material distribution
Begin by marking up the present or previous use of various paid-owned-earned media choices for your small business. Plot every media kind on the horizontal axis primarily based on its significance within the variety of leads or gross sales you possibly can attribute to it from a low-level of effectiveness on the left to the very best quantity on the appropriate. Subsequent, contemplate cost-effectiveness on the vertical axis primarily based on the time or cash spent on promotion from the bottom value (or higher total return-on-investment) on the backside to highest on the prime.
To take a few examples, on this case, long-tail web optimization, proven within the backside proper quadrant, is likely one of the only strategies because it produces a excessive quantity of leads or gross sales at comparatively low ranges of funding. Examine this to paid distribution choices proven within the prime left quadrant, similar to LinkedIn Promoted posts which have a comparatively low degree of quantity, however the highest prices/poorest ROI).
Color-coding will help distinguish the strategies you employ.
In fact, utilizing the matrix requires companies to be already set as much as measure content material advertising and marketing effectiveness as defined in our coaching module evaluating content material advertising and marketing ROI and the Google Analytics 4 Studying Path.
Step 2. Assessment promotion hole towards competitor or sector use of content material distribution strategies
This step is simpler to clarify however tougher to mark up in observe. Right here you evaluate the total vary of paid-owned and earned media choices accessible to you, particularly. these you aren’t utilizing now. You must assess what you assume they might contribute prematurely of a take a look at to show or disprove your speculation.
On this step, you may as well contemplate how different companies are utilizing content material distribution in your sector. Since you will not have entry to their analytics, this may solely be primarily based on an evaluation of the varieties of strategies you see them utilizing and any outcomes you hear them reporting.
Step 3. Choose and prioritize new strategies of content material promotion
Lastly, you possibly can focus on which choices might be price trialing in future exams, primarily based in your dialogue. There’ll seemingly be a number of new choices, so it’s a case of reviewing and organising a schedule of what to trial and take a look at. A further use of this visible can be to contemplate new content material companions who will be in contrast in an analogous manner.
If you have not already, obtain our free digital advertising and marketing plan template to construction your advertising and marketing plan round your clients’ lifecycles utilizing information and analytics.

Why create the Content material Distribution Matrix?
Since we devised the content material advertising and marketing matrix a few years in the past, we now have used it many instances as a part of breakout actions inside in-company workshops to assist discussions of how content material advertising and marketing will be improved. It tends to work very well since everybody simply ‘will get it’ and may swiftly transfer on to eager about new concepts for content material belongings.
On the similar time, we felt it wanted a follow-on exercise to assist companies do an analogous kind of hole evaluation of how they’re selling their content material, or as many content material advertising and marketing gurus name it, ‘content material advertising and marketing distribution’. Content material advertising and marketing distribution is geared toward getting essentially the most out of your funding in content material belongings through the use of totally different types of paid, earned and owned media to allow you to succeed in your goal audiences (see our Paid vs Owned vs Earned definition).
The Content material Distribution Matrix was impressed by a well-established methodology of reviewing totally different digital media primarily based on plotting the effectiveness of a media channel towards the useful resource or media funding required.
You will note from our instance, that there are lots of paid media social media promoting choices now accessible, so this matrix can be utilized a reminder of what to check and if it’s not efficient, then you possibly can transfer on to check new strategies as they develop into accessible.

