The proliferation of social and mobile is resulting in a seismic shift in online behavior from being based on search and owned media to a model of sharing and discovery. Over one billion people now rely on social networks for trusted recommendations from friends, colleagues, and people they follow when deciding what to read, what to buy, and whom to buy from.
Great content, whether it’s a killer deal or an intriguing opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, spreads like wildfire. In short, content is once again king. It is the currency of the social media era.
At the consumer level, each and every one of us drives conversations on the Web by sharing content, be it a brief message to convey a fleeting moment or a high-production video many months in the making. Status updates on Facebook, photos on Instagrams, videos on YouTube, questions on Twitter--all of these bits of content represent individual nodes in a vast graph of sharing amongst family, friends, and colleagues.
While people often have no trouble coming up with content to share with each other on social networks, however, businesses sometimes struggle to do the same. The key, I’ve found, is threefold:
Great content, whether it’s a killer deal or an intriguing opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, spreads like wildfire. In short, content is once again king. It is the currency of the social media era.
At the consumer level, each and every one of us drives conversations on the Web by sharing content, be it a brief message to convey a fleeting moment or a high-production video many months in the making. Status updates on Facebook, photos on Instagrams, videos on YouTube, questions on Twitter--all of these bits of content represent individual nodes in a vast graph of sharing amongst family, friends, and colleagues.
While people often have no trouble coming up with content to share with each other on social networks, however, businesses sometimes struggle to do the same. The key, I’ve found, is threefold:
- Provide something of value
The most successful companies on social media have discovered that when you have something great to offer--whether it’s a promotion, a touching story, educational information, or a funny joke--people not only want to consume it themselves but also share the word. This is how cat videos and memes like “Gangnam Style” go viral.
- Be authentic
In an era of growing corporate skepticism, people are turned off by “marketing speak.” The best way to articulate the value of your products and services is through real stories from real people, such as customers and employees. If you take a tour of the Hearsay Social website, for example, you’ll find that we make it a priority to share stories from our customer base. Our homepage, shown below, highlights one of our customers front and center: - Be consistent
If you’ve built an audience of fans and followers, you’ve probably done so with fantastic content and authenticity. With that community comes an expectation that you will continue to provide all that content to them on a regular basis. Be consistent in both voice and frequency. Additionally, find out where your customers and key audiences spend their time, whether it’s on Pinterest or this new LinkedIn Content Platform, and make sure you develop your brand and share content on those platforms.
Churning out original content is necessary, but it’s also time-consuming. That’s why it’s often a good idea to follow all the best blogs and thought leaders in your niche, and reshare their content. Content curation can be a great way to consistently drive thought leadership and mindshare in a way that can’t be done through non-social channels.
If you’re acting like a true social business, then social processes will automatically be integrated across all your materials and activities. This makes it easy to leverage that latest product announcement or those event photos to drive conversations on the social Web. Just never forget to use your own voice.
Remember the hear + say rule: hear what your customers are saying, but you have a lot to say yourself. Be social!
If you’re acting like a true social business, then social processes will automatically be integrated across all your materials and activities. This makes it easy to leverage that latest product announcement or those event photos to drive conversations on the social Web. Just never forget to use your own voice.
Remember the hear + say rule: hear what your customers are saying, but you have a lot to say yourself. Be social!
For more information, contact Steven Mandala at BlueHill Marketing and Public Relations.
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