5 steps to pitch content for syndication 

Digital Marketing

You’re probably familiar with syndicating content on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  But how do you pitch content for syndication to other websites? We’ll walk you through five simple steps that will help you get started.

But why should I care about syndicating my content, I hear your cry? If it’s difficult to do, why bother? Wouldn’t it be a better use of my time to just write new blogs? 

Rather than repeat myself, I shall politely refer you to another blog we wrote on that very topic. You can have a quick skim read and then rejoin us here. 

Welcome back!

1. Decide what your objectives are

There are many reasons why you might want to syndicate your client’s content. One reason may be the need to build backlinks to improve your website’s performance on search engines. Another might be to build brand awareness. Whatever it is, define it. It will help you inform everything else that follows. 

2. Find your syndication partners

Before you pitch syndicated content, you need to find out who might be interested in syndicating your work. There are several places online where people share syndicated content, but here are a few ideas that might help. 

1. There are some websites that allow you to post content and generate a backlink to your site. Simply copy and paste! Here are some examples:
   1. LinkedIn
   2. Medium
   3. Slide Share (accepts infographics, presentations and documents)
2. You can start by looking at the websites of other companies in your industry. Many companies use syndicators. If they have done it before, then they’ll probably do it again. Search:
   1.  “[desired website]: originally appeared on” 
   2. “[desired website]: republished with permission”
   3. “[desired website]: originally published in”
3. You can also search for “[industry/topic] + write for us”. Some websites actually ask for guest blogs and they should pop up with this search. You need to check whether they expect syndicated content or guest blogging. Guest blogs are unique pieces that are written specifically for the website in question. They are not duplicate content. 
4. Ask professional partners that you interact with during business hours. You may have a supplier or contractor with whom you have a close working relationship. Or you can work with another company on certain projects. 

3. Choose content that suits

Once you’ve found a company that has an audience that aligns with yours, you need to make sure that you’re proposing content that will work well for them. Your partner needs to feel like they’re going to benefit in some way. Otherwise, why should they bother? 

Here are some ideas of content that may be useful enough for a syndicated partner to post it. 

1. For existing professional partners, think about syndicating content that demonstrates how great their product or service is. It might be a case study describing a project that you both worked on, or a review of their latest product. 
2. Is your prospective syndication partner an industry magazine? If so, they might welcome research-based content on your target market or content that gives insights into what consumers care about. 
3. If you are choosing to post to websites that welcome content, such as Slide Sharer, try sharing content that explains your industry to outsiders. 

If you are unsure of what to write, take a look at the website you want to write for. If there is other content available take a look at the kinds of things being written and you will get a fair idea of what they are looking for.

4. Start a conversation

So, you’ve found a potential syndication partner, and you’ve identified some of your content that you think their audience would want to read. Now it’s time to pitch your content to the website editor or your contact at the company. 

If you already know the syndication partner, you can jump down to the next heading. But if you don’t read on!

If you just jump straight into emailing them you’ll probably just get a metaphorical door slammed in your face. They’ll presume your email is spam and they’ll just bin it. 

Instead, befriend them on LinkedIn, and read their profile and content. Spend a few weeks commenting on their posts and generally familiarising yourself with them. Don’t love-bomb them or digitally stalk them! That’s not going to help you make friends. But just make sure that they know who you are. 

Now you’re ready to pitch your content to them. 

5. Write a pitch email

Here’s a basic email template to get you started:

1. Hi! [insert their name here]
2. Explain you’re an expert in your industry/specific evidence of being an expert
3. Say you noted they have a blog
4. Ask whether they’d like to syndicate content
5. Explain benefits (briefly) for them. 

Then, you wait. This takes time and persistence, don’t expect to get an answer on the first go. If you don’t hear anything after a few days give your target a little reminder. It’s a fine balance between trying to be helpful and provide the content and being an absolute pain in the backside, so if after the third try you don’t hear back I’d let it go.

Some you’ll win, some you’ll lose. But that’s the thrill of syndicating content. 

So, remember…

Three of our four steps to pitching syndicated content happen way before writing that personalised email. Having success syndicating content requires you to be very clear in your objectives for syndicating content in the first place. Once you know why you want to share your content, you can select the correct partners and choose the content that would best appeal to them. Once you’ve started to build a bit of a relationship with them, they’ll be much more receptive to the email that you send.