We've all made a meal by following a recipe.
No doubt when you finished it didn't look anything like the picture.
Why? Because the recipe doesn't help you make it look like the picture.
That's not its purpose.
The recipe is to achieve the end of having something to eat, hopefully something that tastes good.
The picture, on the other hand, has little to do with the recipe.
That's because the picture was achieved by means of art.
The food in the picture wasn't meant to be eaten, it was meant to be in the picture.
So why measure your food by the picture when you simply want something to eat? Now think about content marketing.
What's the recipe for effective content marketing? There's consistency (a steady stream of fresh content), quality content (writing something useful to readers), and distribution (putting your content in places it will be found).
When you follow the recipe, you get traffic.
And the recipe works, we all know that well.
But clearly, you must follow the recipe and not skimp on the quality of each ingredient.
However, some may wonder why their content marketing campaign doesn't look like the picture.
As an example, we might say that Seth Godin's blog is the picture.
Seth followed the recipe.
He's very consistent, posting fresh content every day.
He has quality content, as he's known as a leading voice in the industry.
And he's gotten so good at what he does that he posts his blogs to one site, and all his followers do the distributing for him with their tweets, shares, and likes.
The picture is the pinnacle.
But what did it take for the chef to be able to make food for the picture? First, the chef had to become one of the best, a professional.
So what does it mean when your content marketing campaign doesn't look like Seth Godin's? It means that you're following the recipe.
Remember that the picture isn't the result of the recipe.
The picture is its own paradigm.
The point is not to worry that your content marketing campaign isn't Seth's.
He's paid his dues and is now writing his own recipe.
A chef doesn't make food good enough for the picture on their first day, nor should they expect to.
So let's follow the recipe.
First off, it's recommended writing at least two posts per week.
Consistency is key if your content will continue to bring you new traffic.
Apart from consistency, you need quality content.
Research is important, depending on what categories your content is about.
It's good to know what you're talking about, because you're teaching.
That's the purpose of content.
Lastly, distribution is important to get your content spread out as much as possible.
When it comes to distribution, you can manually submit your content to specific directories.
However, the issue with that is time.
If you have 10 favorite content directories, that's 10 manual submissions per post.
If you're writing three posts per week, that's 30 submissions every week.
The time adds up.
That's why there are automated distribution services.
The benefit here is that you only submit each post one time, and the service takes care of the rest.
Another benefit is the number of distributions.
Most distribution services have an extensive list of directories willing to accept your content, and it's much more than you could possibly hope to submit by yourself.
Even the most popular directories, like EzineArticles, can be found on these distribution lists.
This is the most time-effective option, though one would have to pay a monthly fee.
But considering the benefit of saving time and getting high distribution numbers, it can certainly be worth it.
Just as content marketing has been proven to work, so do automated distribution services.
Follow the recipe to effective content marketing and it will work.
You will get traffic.
And don't worry if your content marketing campaign doesn't look like the picture.
You still have something good to eat.