Letter #99: 3 easy ways to distribute product-led content
Part three in the series that I almost didn’t write 😬
I’ve written and rewritten this issue a handful of times in my head.
But it’s only just seeing the light of day (think: faint light since I’m typing this out by the weak winter sun pouring through the window on my left).
Previously, we talked about mapping your product features to your ideal target readers and their ideal outcomes (jobs to be done, JTBD) — a process that looks like this:
Then, I wrote a follow-up issue where I explained how to use this ICP-feature mapping to write high-converting middle funnel content.
Now the subsequent question is: should we just let the content sit after you hit publish? Of course not.
So here’s what to do instead:
1. Repurpose the blog post into sales enablement content
Recall that the process behind creating product-led content takes lots of collaboration between sales and marketing.
Because that’s how you identify your readers’ specific struggles and JTBD.
The ultimate benefit of this: you create content that speaks to your reader. And since sales helps nail the bases of such content, they’ll likely be more open to sharing it with prospects they’re nurturing 🎯
Now, three ways to get the ball rolling:
Ask sales to share the blog post in conversations where the feature discussed in the content comes up
Break the blog post into resources. Example: a short carousel laying out the feature’s use cases
Create a checklist of ways to use a feature. Include the link to the blog post (detailed breakdown of using the feature) in the checklist’s footer
2. Share the post with your email list. But in bites — instead of a lifeless link
Raise your hand if you hate companies for sending links with 2-lines of context in their newsletter.
(Such a waste of previous email real estate. Tsk tsk tsk).
Try NOT to follow suit. Instead:
Break the blog post down into 3-5 email issues — each covering a use case you discuss in the blog post.
Link to the blog post in the CTA. And even if you don’t, that’s perfectly fine because you did educate subscribers on using one of your product features in a certain way.
Pro tip: If sending a product education email doesn’t sit well with your newsletter’s theme, send feature use case emails to 2 main segments of your subscriber list:
Paying users. So you’re unlocking more use cases for them
Active subscribers. Mainly those who use your tool’s freemium version
3. Record bite-sized videos and share them on social media
Pull up your screen recorder and without worrying too much, explain one use case from the blog post.
Then repeat for more use cases
(Here’s an example video from Rand Fishkin for inspiration).
This works best if you, as a marketing person at your organization or the founder/CEO has a personal brand.
And no, that video doesn’t need to be edited to perfection. Just make sure:
You edit out fluff (VEED’s Magic Cut can do that for you in under a minute)
Your audio quality is crystal clear and you’ve subtitles in place (again, VEED can autogenerate them for you — and no, they didn’t pay me to say this)
You record during the daytime with (ideally) equal amounts of light from your left and right sides
That’s all for today fellas.
Let me know how you liked today’s issue — I’ll see you next week.
The mapping of product features to JTBD reminds me of tracking new content against researched user-needs! Love it when our disciplines reach the same conclusions, shows it's a solid approach.