Content syndication

Content syndication is a paid lead program in which a company's gated content, such as a white paper or research report, is distributed through third-party publishers or networks. The company then receives the contact details of the people who download it. Teams usually buy it per lead and treat those leads as early-stage inquiries that still need qualification. Few of them are ready buyers.

How it is measured

Syndication vendors report raw leads, meaning form fills. That is the wrong unit for planning. Raw leads convert to MQLs at widely disparate rates depending on channel and call to action, and Spear Marketing Group lists content syndication alongside search engine marketing (SEM) and webinars as examples. MQL stands for marketing qualified lead.

Measure the program on qualified output:

• Syndication MQL rate = MQLs from syndicated leads ÷ raw syndicated leads
• Syndication cost per MQL = total syndication spend ÷ MQLs from syndicated leads

Worked case

Spear Marketing Group gives $250 per MQL as a common cost standard in round numbers. It also advises using your own historical figure if you have one.

To check a syndication program against that standard, take the invoice for the period and divide it by the MQLs those leads produced. Do not divide by leads delivered. Then compare the result with $250 or with your own blended cost per MQL. To budget forward, multiply the MQL target you assign to syndication by its observed cost per MQL. The reverse funnel calculator runs the same math back from a pipeline target.

Usual mistakes

• Judging the vendor on cost per lead. A low price per download can hide a weak MQL rate.
• Pooling syndication leads with webinar or search leads in one conversion rate. The source's point is that these channels convert differently, so track each separately.
• Using a published benchmark when you already have history. Your own cost per MQL is the better input.
• Counting syndicated MQLs as pipeline. Track them through opportunity stages against funnel conversion benchmarks.

When it matters

Syndication matters when you split budget across channels and need comparable unit costs. The demand gen budget allocator needs a cost per MQL for each line, not a cost per form fill. It also matters when you plan demand creation vs. demand capture, because downloads from a third-party list sit early in the buying process.