The Real Marketers Shift From Social Media to Content Marketing

Instead of starting with a social media strategy, smart marketers must first think about great content and then think about how to fit it into their various social media channels.

Today, it’s common knowledge that social media does not work without great content. This is a concept that’s simple to understand but rarely executed.

Real marketers have already made the shift from thinking about “How I can get a good Facebook strategy” to “How do I create a content marketing plan to drive some good engagement on channels like Facebook.” The difference may seem subtle, but in actuality the outcome is drastically different.

One of my favorite reference points is a class Donna Poppocasta taught here at OMI called “Content Marketing Strategy for Social Media” where she talked about content marketing being the epicenter of all social media and the platforms the channels you push content to (see diagram below).

content-marketing-social-media

Let’s talk about the big pillars of migration to give all of us small business owners, marketers, and experts running our own show a snapshot of how this manifests into real outcomes you can see results from.

Your Personal (or Company) Brand

It’s marketing 101 to really map out what your personal or company brand stands for and the big items you want to be sure folks remember you by…but so many times we get so harried in the day of “do do do” we forget to really think about these things when posting on social media. So the big one here is set up a top three to five attributes (powerful adjectives) and have those on the wall, desk, or screensaver to refer to so you always make sure you live up to this. So many of us post randomly, retweet (RT) without reading, and even write things like a blog post without such thought. Be sure to get your brand nailed down and so much more of the content you have to plan for will come naturally.

Your Blog

If no one has ever told you that your blog has the potential to be the single biggest impact on driving business to your company, allow me to say it.

It’s what folks judge you by. It’s how you are validated as an expert in the industry. Literally it’s your digital résumé. Moreover, Google LOVES blogs that are posted to frequently (once a week is all that’s needed) and more so those that are shared on Twitter, Facebook, and of course Google+. So, you must start to prioritize building a great content marketing calendar of blog posts and simply live up to that. Note: I did not say think about how to get your blog seen on Facebook – that will come if the content is good and shared well.

Your Tweets

Like a good tweet, this will be short and sweet.

STOP retweeting other folks’ stuff, stop tweeting third-party articles, and start tweeting your stuff. Your quick summary of a great article you read, on your blog. Your cool new product launch on your page and press release. And then strategically retweet those in your industry that really have street cred and – guess what? – align with your brand (aka step 1) and your content marketing calendar that focus on important topics to your company.

Your Video

If you haven’t started creating good video, it’s time you do. More time is spent watching a video than on Facebook itself. And video is 10 times more likely to be watched on Facebook than other channels like Twitter. Start simply by perhaps creating good webinar content that you record and archive. Put it on YouTube and then take the highlights and add to a good page on your site.

Then start looking at what your competitors are doing on video or other folks that you can see doing a good job and copy that. Build some video that is worth sharing, whether it is customer interviews, product demos, you teaching a class or workshop, etc. Trust me, if done right, and aligned with your content marketing priorities, you’ll win.

Summary

We think about content first. Things like our blog, our video, and our overall plan, and THEN we think how we can best share this blog or video on Twitter. Or on Facebook. And then we push it out. Spending the time to think through a content marketing plan will drive every decision you need to make for effective social media return on investment.

Good luck!

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