Content Seeding: What Is It?

Marketers can use content seeding to inform and educate customers while subtly promoting their brand. Content seeding is part of a long-term marketing plan, which includes creating and distributing branded content on various channels. To learn more about this tactic and the content amplification that’s possible, read on for a content seeding primer. 

What is seeding content?

The content seeding definition is a marketing strategy that places branded content in front of target audiences. Think of it as planting “seeds” of content in the digital world in hopes of watching your brand awareness and online visibility grow. 

Sharing a link to a blog post on your brand’s Facebook account, collaborating with an influencer to promote an e-book, or sharing a white paper with an industry news site are all examples of content seeding.

Content seeding meets your audience where they are. When you share content on your brand’s social channels, for example, your followers are already there and engaged. When you collaborate with an influencer, you identify one with a similar audience and connect with an existing pool of interested followers. 

Types of content seeding

As you might expect, there are several different types of content seeding. It’s not uncommon for a brand to use several different types of content seeding at once to maximize reach and exposure. Here’s a look at the different types:

Social media posts

As a brand, you can share content that you’ve created on your social media channels. You likely see examples of this content seeding regularly as you scroll through your social feeds. 

For example, MailChimp, a popular email marketing service, shared a link to a blog post, 5 SMS Campaign Strategies, on its Facebook page.

Video ads

Video ads can serve as content seeds, too. Your marketing strategy and performance metrics should guide the type of video and the channel it is placed on, but many brands garner great results with videos. Research on video advertising shows 70% of consumers prefer to watch a video about a product rather than read about it. 

Apple released a video ad dubbed “Hard Knocks” that shows how durable its iWatch is. 

The ad was eventually shared by tech companies, athletes, and Apple ambassadors, which only increased the product’s exposure.

Blogging  

Blogs are a great source of rich content. The medium is ideal for educating customers no matter where they are in the sales funnel. 

Brands regularly create and share relevant content on their blog with customers, but this type of content can live in other places, too. Guest blogging is a type of content seeding that gives brands the chance to publish content on other sites. 

Marketing Specialist Anna Sonnenburg recently wrote a guest post for Social Media Examiner, an industry website that helps marketers hone their craft. Her post, How to Capture More Qualified Leads with Facebook Ads, not only positions her as an expert in the field, but a link in her bio gives readers a chance to learn about her business. 

Check out our list of blog writers you can work with in our Marketplace.

Influencer marketing

One of the most authentic ways to implement content seeding is to partner with influencers. Need some ideas? You can ask an influencer to endorse a product, shoot a product demo, or host a giveaway.

If you’re planning to content seed via influencers, it’s important to select the right creator. You want to find an influencer who shares your target audience and aligns with your brand’s mission and values. 

Rather than sift through a bunch of social profiles in pursuit of the right influencer, use an influencer marketing platform like IZEA Marketplace. Using keywords and filters, you can narrow your search for the ideal influencer and review profiles that contain work samples and audience demographics. 

Interested in content seeding examples that involve influencers? Take a look at this health food influencer who collaborated with Sharp to promote its conduction cooktop. 

Take a look at this collaboration between an outdoor adventure influencer and the makers of a smartphone mount for a pickup truck.

How to create quality seeding content

Content creation takes time and effort, but when it’s done correctly, the benefits are vast. You can reach a new audience, educate existing customers, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. 

While there are many steps to create high-quality, valuable content that promotes your brand, here are three of the most important things to consider:

Reach your audience

Before you create any content, you need to define your audience. Mine your customer data and review your customer profiles to make sure you know who your brand is trying to reach. 

Try to get as granular as possible. Focusing on “women over 50,” for example, isn’t specific enough. You need to know audience demographics, customer behavior, and purchasing history to define your audience. 

Create an engaging content

As you brainstorm topic ideas, remember that each piece of content should engage the reader. It should focus on a customer’s needs and solutions, as opposed to creating a sales piece. 

Where can you get ideas? Here are some options:

• Let customer questions inspire content titles
• Review content created by others in your industry
• Conduct customer interviews or surveys
• Read industry forums
• Search for relevant hashtags on social for inspiration
• Explore your analytics to look for topics that have solid content engagement

Optimize for SEO

You can create hundreds of pieces of content, but if customers do not see it, it’s not helpful. To improve content discovery via search results, focus on SEO. While SEO strategies can be quite complex, you need to identify keywords with traffic potential, consider the searcher’s intent, and make sure you enter all the necessary metadata. 

For more SEO advice, check out How to Get the Most Out of SEO.

The benefits of content seeding marketing are as vast as its applications. It offers an efficient, non-salesy way to engage your target audience while boosting brand awareness.