I have a confession: I was a laggard when it came to podcasts. And yet, in the past few years – since I was a guest on the Wise Women Speak podcast – they have become a major part of my content consumption. This post isn’t as much about podcasts as it is about where to put your content, whether it’s a recording, a video, a graphic, or a blog.
The podcast I referenced above, on which I’ve been a guest, is not only available on iTunes, but on the creators’ website, social media profiles, and other podcasting platforms. I receive an e-mail update with the newest podcast when it goes live. Sometimes I will access it on the iTunes podcast app; at other times, I’ll see a post on Facebook and click through to the web version. It is delivered to me when and where I would like it, without too much effort on my part.
With so many options for hosting your content, how do you decide where your content lives? Simply, start with where your audience is most likely to find it and consume it. Analytics from your website or social media platforms could provide you with clues, or you could simply ask your audience directly using a social media poll or a survey. If you don’t have access to the audience, for whatever reason – maybe they’re prospective audiences that you haven’t engaged with yet – you can glean some information by looking at similar audiences or even your own personal usage if you share similarities with the audience.
Take time to understand the different channels and their strengths and weaknesses. A blog post may be best hosted on your site versus a long-form post on Facebook, although you may use Facebook to raise awareness and drive traffic back to it. In fact, your audience may be looking through Medium for good content, and an interesting blog post could live there. Twitter could be a good place to amplify your video – which you’re hosting on YouTube – but uploading it natively on Twitter may be a waste of time if it’s too long to appeal to your followers on that fast-moving platform. In fact, publishing it the wrong way might impact your brand’s social media performance, as Social Media Examiner determined recently with their docuseries, The Journey.
There is no a simple answer, but you should consider this (two-part) question: Where is my audience most likely to consume my content with ease, and where else are they spending time online where a helpful reminder would be appreciated? Also, expect trial and error. With digital platforms’ algorithms – and the digital community’s preferences – continuously evolving, this will be an iterative process. And that, friends, is what makes social media consulting an incredibly fun and interesting field in which to work.
Originally published October 20, 2018; updated October 10, 2021
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