5 steps to getting your inbound content published on authority websites

Content marketers struggle to drive traffic to their company websites for one key reason—at the end of the day, they’re selling something. Unlike authority publications—trusted business publications like Forbes, for example, or trade publications in your target market—there are no third-party ‘content gatekeepers’ when you post to your blog.

According to writer and historian Michael Caulfield,  “A reliable source for facts should have a process in place for encouraging accuracy, verifying facts, and correcting mistakes.” Your marketers may pride themselves on their accuracy and objectivity, but readers know the trusted editorial authorities in their industry are there to inform them above all else.

If value-added content is your game, you not only have a leading edge in terms of your own content, you but you also have an opportunity to submit winning content to third-party publications yourself.

We’ve done some work in this area, so we decided to share some of our insights into making this process work for your business.

1. Find the Authority Publications Your Prospects Are Reading

Content needs context—your blog content can tell a compelling story, but it’s not where your prospects naturally go to get useful information in their field. Third-party publications can become their own objective gateway to the compelling story you tell on your site.

A simple online search can turn up a dozen or so resources that serve niche prospects you’re trying to reach. We typically start building a list right away—you will need it if you plan on building relationships with these publications.

As you assess each publication, begin by looking at their media kit. (Here is an example.) These are designed for advertisers, but they provide a lot of detail about the publication’s readers, allowing you to evaluate whether the publication speaks to your target market.

2. Align Yourself with The Editorial Ambitions of Those Publications

Most professional editors will bypass articles written in the typical blog post formats. (We’ve got some more info about the current ‘Content Crisis’ here.) Time and again, we’ve found editors aren’t interested in content that uses other publications’ resources and borrowed observations.

As with most magazines, business and trade publications only publish content with (1) a unique message, (2) original insight into an interesting but underrepresented subject, and (3) the objective research to back it up. That’s where we come in.

If you have a value proposition and you’re exploring it in target markets, chances are there’s a publication interested in some honest writing on the topic your product or service addresses. Your challenge is to develop content that matters to their readers—content that adds value to their personal or professional lives.

3. Create Valuable Content

We’re adamant about objective, proprietary research because that’s what published authors do, and what professionals editors want. Data-driven, value-added content takes you above and beyond your competitors; it puts you in the running for professional publication as well.

If you’re asking the right questions during your research, the data you get is going to be valuable—to you, but also to anyone in your target market. Be selective with that data—identify the trends and open comments from your respondents, then leverage them to create objective content that aligns with publications’ editorial voice.

4. Properly Submit Your Content for Editorial Review

Most publications are open to article submissions, meaning they’ll consider content from everyone. However, many of these publications have regular or even full-time writers who get preferential treatment over submissions. Your approach and your adherence to publications’ submission processes are what make the difference.

Some publications simply provide an editor’s email address and ask that you submit your content directly. Others have formal guidelines which you must follow to be considered. No matter how you submit, be sure the content is coming from the right person at your organization—someone in an editorial role, or the author her/himself—even if the content is ghostwritten for that person.

In our case, we’ll often take on that editorial role on behalf of our client, where a colleague or I identify as the author’s representative. The more niche the publication, the less likely the editors will be overwhelmed with submissions. This increases your opportunity for a review and a response.

5. Build Relationships and Keep Track of Results

At rand&rand, we don’t just submit the occasional article to authority publications—we make it part of our clients’ campaigns. The more we interact with editors, the more likely we can build relationships with them and publish more content with them in the future.

Doing this effectively requires scale. That’s why we dedicate ourselves to the task and commit to a certain frequency of writing and submissions. We also track and maintain relationships, building a ‘stable’ of publications as we strive to make your company an important, objective resource to prospects in your target market.

Never Run Out of Great Content

Remember, objectivity and insights are differentiating factors when submitting editorial content. Objective research and content driven by the results of that research set you apart from not only competitors but also authorities in your target industries.

Reach an analyst today and get started.