Be a Content Enabler, Not a Creator—Use the Power of Social Media
Social media is fundamental to the nature of how we communicate with fans. The tone and content are more causal and insider-based, especially for the most ardent fans. If you’re introducing a new product and you’re unsure of how consumers will react, social media is the perfect tool in your arsenal. From developing new products to generating new audiences and revenue for existing products, social media creates smarter, more effective and targeted solutions.
Whether you communicate to your audience via a blog, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, the only true way to build relationships with a growing network is to listen, engage and provide content your audience finds valuable.
CONTENT. How do you begin? Do you write for SEO value? Do you post frequently? Do you create an editorial calendar? Do you review all corporate communications and repurpose its content? You get the point. You should answer YES to all of the above.
Jay Baer, Social Media Consultant and author of The Now Revolution, developed a series of free social media worksheets that you can use to help keep elements of your social media program on track.
Susan Cato, Senior Director of Web and New Media Strategies at CompTIA, said, “You can’t have a social media strategy without a content strategy.”
There are three elements to developing effective content strategy:
- Know what your customers, audience or community members want to talk about. Be willing to engage in those conversations.
- Know where your audience wants to have these conversations; in other words, where they hang out online.
- Measure the results of your conversations to see which ones catch fire.
While development of these steps is critical, those alone are a one-way strategy. Building relationships requires a strategy that taps into a base you already trust and knows you well. An effective content strategy is made up of numerous individual strategies that all feed into the same corporate goals. Enable your employees to engage with your targeted fan base, influencers and thought leadership channels and, with the right training, you’ve empowered an army of content enablers, not just creators.
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