A content distribution strategy decides where each piece goes after you publish it: your own channels, other people's audiences and paid boosts. Pick channels by who your buyers are, not by habit. Pew's 2026 survey finds 84% of US adults use YouTube and 70% use Facebook, yet LinkedIn use runs from 41% of 18-29s down to 13% of those 65+.
Start from the reader, not the platform. Plenty of small firms post wherever they opened an account years ago; a sharper plan begins with the age and working life of the buyers you're after, then picks the two or three places those people already scroll.
Every channel falls into one of three types. Here's how they compare before we get to the numbers.
- Owned. What it is: Channels you run yourself. Examples: Your website, your email list. What you control: Everything: timing, format, who sees it.
- Earned. What it is: Other people's audiences who choose to share or feature you. Examples: Another site or newsletter that covers your work, shares and mentions. What you control: Only the pitch; they decide.
- Paid. What it is: Reach you buy. Examples: A boosted social post, an ad. What you control: Budget and targeting; results vary.
Choose platforms by audience age
Pew Research Center surveyed 5,511 US adults between 30 Jan and 18 June 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 points. Its social media fact sheet shows YouTube and Facebook are the most widely used platforms in the US, with 84% and 70% of adults saying they ever use them. About half (51%) use Instagram.
The headline figures hide the part that matters for distribution: use changes sharply with age.
- LinkedIn. Ages 18-29: 41%. Ages 30-49: 37%. Ages 50-64: 32%. Ages 65+: 13%.
- Instagram. Ages 18-29: 79%. Ages 30-49: 64%. Ages 50-64: 41%. Ages 65+: 21%.
So the same article needs a different home depending on who you're trying to reach. If your buyers are working-age professionals, LinkedIn's 41% among 18-29s and 37% among 30-49s make it a sensible primary channel, and a founder-led LinkedIn plan is worth building. If you serve retirees, LinkedIn's 13% among those 65+ says your effort is better spent elsewhere. Instagram's drop from 79% to 21% tells the same story in reverse.
Two cautions. Pew measures US adults only, so UK and other audiences will differ. And "ever use" isn't daily use, and it certainly isn't the same as seeing your posts: a platform's reach says nothing about your reach.
Treat search and Discover as the base and the bonus
Your website is the one owned channel that can keep sending visitors long after a post has scrolled away. Google's Discover feed is a useful extra, and Google says content is automatically eligible if it's indexed and meets Discover's content policies, with no special tags or structured data required. Being eligible isn't a guarantee of appearing.
Google also says Discover traffic is less predictable than keyword-driven search visits and should be treated as supplemental. Plan around search and your own list; count Discover as a bonus when it comes. To give yourself a fair chance, Google recommends large images at least 1200 px wide and headlines that capture the essence of the content rather than clickbait.
A one-article distribution map you can copy
Here's an illustrative plan for a single article. The channel choices are examples; swap in the ones your audience uses.
- Publish the article on your own site first, with a 1200 px wide image and an honest headline (owned).
- Cut it into 3 to 5 short posts and one visual for the channel your buyers use, picked by age from the Pew table above (for example LinkedIn for working-age professionals).
- Email it to your list with a two-line note (owned).
- Pitch one outside newsletter your buyers read (earned).
- If budget allows, boost the best-performing post (paid), then record clicks per channel after 7 and 30 days.
The arithmetic adds up quickly. Pick 3 channels, make 4 posts for each, and one article becomes 3 x 4 = 12 pieces. That's why distribution works best with a set repurposing workflow rather than ad hoc posting.
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Adapt each version, don't copy it
Google's helpful-content guidance asks whether a page that draws on other sources provides substantial additional value and originality rather than simply copying or rewriting them. Apply the same test to your own repurposing. A LinkedIn post that pastes the article's first paragraph adds nothing; one that pulls out a single finding and explains why it matters to that audience earns its place.
Slot each piece into your content calendar, then check:
- Does it make sense to someone who never sees the original article?
- Is the format native to the channel (short text, a visual, a short email)?
- Does it point back to the full piece on your site?
- Will you be able to tell how many clicks it sent?
Where this approach falls short
- No channel guarantees traffic. Platform reach figures describe audiences, not results.
- Discover traffic can rise and fall for reasons unrelated to your content quality or how often you publish; Google says so.
- Paid distribution costs money, and the sources here don't cover what results to expect, so test small and measure your own numbers.
- The sources used here give no engagement, open-rate or best-time-to-post benchmarks, so I haven't included any. Your own 7-day and 30-day click records are the benchmark that counts.
Frequently asked questions
Should a small business start with owned, earned or paid?
Your own site and mailing list come first, since nobody else can switch them off. Outside audiences and boosts are additions once a piece has shown it can pull visitors.
Which social platform reaches the most US adults?
YouTube, at 84%, followed by Facebook at 70%. That comes from the Pew fact sheet cited above; Britain and other countries weren't surveyed, so treat it as a US guide only.
Is LinkedIn worth it for content distribution?
It depends on who you're reaching. Pew finds 41% of US adults aged 18-29 and 37% aged 30-49 use LinkedIn, but only 13% of those 65+. For working-age professionals it's a strong candidate.
Do I need special tags to appear in Google Discover?
No markup is required. The bar is simply being indexed and compliant with Google's Discover rules. Count any visits it sends as extra, never as the plan.
How many pieces should one article become?
There's no fixed rule. As an illustration, 3 channels with 4 posts each gives 12 pieces. Make as many as you can adapt well for each channel, rather than copying the same text everywhere.
How do I know if my distribution is working?
Record clicks per channel after 7 and 30 days and compare. The sources here give no industry benchmarks, so your own figures over time are the fairest measure.
