ACTvantage Increases Visibility in Distribution Industry Publications with 3 Aspens Media

The ACTvantage team already had a robust selection of published content, including books and articles on their social accounts. They were looking for more organization and a strategic focus for how they use content, so it could be more successful and get in front of the right audience.

With 3 Aspens Media, the team produced consistent monthly content that was published in relevant, reputable industry publications such as National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), Modern Distribution Management (MDM), Industrial Distribution, Supply House Times and more.

Several of their articles, also known as guest posts, were selected as exclusive premium content. Their articles have been recognized in publications’ most popular lists, including MDM’s monthly “most read” lists. As part of their engagement with 3 Aspens Media, they also published more frequently to their own website’s blog, sent more consistent emails to their list and posted more regularly to the ACTvantage social media account.

Challenge: Stunted by Resource Constraints

The leaders at ACTvantage are no strangers to producing and publishing their own content. The team has published seven best-selling books with NAW, and they posted articles to LinkedIn as frequently as they had time for.

However, finding the time to produce consistent, strategic content was a major barrier for them. They were busy building their business and products, and helping distributors accomplish game-changing results with analytics. Yet, they knew the value of sharing their research and analytics philosophy with the industry. And they understood that consistent content could give them exposure to more prospects.

ACTvantage needed a strategy and resources for content production. And they needed a partner with distribution industry knowledge and experience working with relevant publications, so they could develop content industry publications would be hungry for.

Solution: Nurtured by Structure and Publisher Insight

In January 2020, ACTvantage partnered with 3 Aspens Media to produce content for guest posts, emails and social media. By 2023, they’d published over 60 articles (guest posts) in industry publications. They’d also sent bimonthly emails and begun consistently posting social posts on LinkedIn.

To begin, 3 Aspens Media met with the team, conducted interviews and did a “download” of ACTvantage’s existing materials, key concepts and goals. Together, they fine-tuned their approach to the content.

ACTvantage leaned on 3 Aspens Media’s knowledge of what industry publications expect of content submissions, and they were successful in getting published in several publications. “When you write articles, they have to be concise and you have to put yourself in the shoes of the reader,” Co-Founder and Managing Director Pradip Krishnadevarajan said. “3 Aspens Media does a great job at this. That’s why they’re well-respected in the industry.”

Outcome: Growth in Exposure, Visibility and Reach

By partnering with 3 Aspens Media, ACTvantage was able to achieve the discipline and consistency they wanted, and prioritize their content program.

Disciplined Content Production

3 Aspens Media helped ACTvantage keep content production in motion, ensuring they placed articles in trade publications consistently to maintain visibility and build brand awareness without losing momentum.

“We are trying to bring discipline in execution in every function that we do, whether we are executing a client project, sales, marketing, etc. 3 Aspens Media brings discipline to our marketing. They help us execute the marketing aspect very well, in a disciplined, structured manner. That’s the biggest value I see.” – Senthil Gunasekaran, Co-Founder and Managing Director

The Right Approach to Guest Contributions

ACTvantage had expertise and principles that intrigued readers; 3 Aspens Media knew how to package and deliver that information to those readers. Together, they developed regular content that was engaging to the readers of various industry publications.

3 Aspens Media helped ACTvantage structure the content so that it was useful to the audience, putting that usefulness ahead of selling themselves, for optimal engagement and to satisfy publishers’ requirements.

“It’s hard to walk the fine line of promoting yourself versus trying to come out with quality content. We really benefited from 3 Aspens Media’s connection and credibility as a trusted, independent third party. It provided a nice buffer when it came to getting our content out there in a way that doesn’t feel forced.” – Brent Johnstone, Co-Founder and Managing Director

Expanded Reach and Visibility

To understand and measure how their content performed, ACTvantage decided to focus on activity metrics. They used the number of blogs, guest posts, emails and social posts to make correlations to exposure, visibility, prospect conversations and more.

They also considered their articles’ frequent inclusion on MDM’s lists of top articles a credible metric. In some cases, the team has been able to tie leads directly back to content they produced.

The team found that the articles were a great connection point with clients, as well. Simply sending an email touching base wouldn’t get much of a response, but including recent articles with their outreach made a difference.

3 Aspens Media is a B2B content strategy and marketing content production firm. We work with distributors and the companies that serve them. We translate their benefits to key
decision-makers with case studies, guides, social media, email, webinars and more.

Get in touch with us at info@3aspensmedia.com to learn more.