The Critical ‘Missing Step’ in Content Strategy, According to Ross Simmonds

In a recent LinkedIn post, Ross Simmonds discusses a common pitfall many brands face: investing heavily in content creation without a robust distribution strategy, leading to valuable assets gathering dust. Simmonds highlights a real-world example of a company that spent $200,000 on a white paper, only to see minimal engagement.

The post opens by posing a critical question to brands:

How many brands are sleeping on an entire year of great content but it’s collecting dust?

Simmonds elaborates on the situation of a publicly traded company that had invested a significant sum in creating a high-quality white paper, complete with extensive research, expert input, and professional design. Despite these efforts, the resource had generated a mere six downloads in over four months.

A few years ago a company reached out to me asking if we could help with promotion of a white paper. I was like… Sure. That’s what we do. Tell me more. Well it turns out this company (publicly traded & worth billions) had spent $200k on running surveys, crafting copy and designing this beautiful resource but it had only generated 6 downloads in 16 weeks of being live…

The Flawed Content Strategy

According to Ross Simmonds, the company’s approach, while seemingly thorough in creation, was fundamentally incomplete. He outlines their strategy in a stark, four-step process:

1. Do great research
2. Create white paper
3. ????????????
4. Profit

Simmonds points out the glaring omission in this sequence, emphasizing that the critical missing piece is distribution. The company, despite its significant investment and commitment to quality, had no clear plan for getting their valuable content in front of the right audience.

The team was flabbergasted. They created something ridiculously hard. They put their time and energy into making it great. And they went out and brought in experts to ensure it was true thought leadership. But they were met with crickets.

The Power of Distribution

Simmonds argues that even the most exceptional content will fail to achieve its objectives without a deliberate and effective distribution plan. This is the core message behind his own initiatives, including his book “Create Once, Distribute Forever” and the platform Distribution.ai.

As Ross Simmonds notes, the creation phase is only one part of the equation. The true value of content is unlocked when it reaches its intended audience, drives engagement, and ultimately contributes to business goals. The lack of a distribution strategy, as seen in the example, leads to wasted resources and missed opportunities.

In Simmonds’ view, brands must shift their focus from solely creating content to strategically distributing it. This involves understanding where their target audience spends their time online and employing tactics to ensure the content is seen, consumed, and acted upon. The success of Distribution.ai, he implies, is a testament to the critical importance of this often-overlooked step.