managing social media content

Managing Content in

Social MediaOctober 6, 2014Tim ShawAmplifi

Welcome!

A bit about me

Today we’ll talk about• What is content

• Creating a Content Strategy• Creating a Publishing Schedule• Creating & Managing Content• Using Hootsuite to make life easier

Where are we now?

A bit about you

Objectives

What would you like to get out of this class?

What is content?

What is GOOD content?

What is GOOD content?• Findable

• Shareable• Useable• Readable / Consumable

• Memorable• Actionable• Reportable

Mostly it’s…VALUABLE

Your Content Strategy

• Environmental Scanning– Need to know who and what is already out there.• Are your competitors using social media?• Are customers talking about your product or brand?• Is there conversation about your niche?• What channels are already active?

• Find Your Audience/Environmental Scan– Listen and Monitor• Google Alerts • Google Blogsearch• Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com)• Social Mention• Board Tracker• Trackur (www.trackur.com)• Social Badges (on competitors’ websites)

• Setting Goals– What are we trying to achieve?• Article Pick-up?• Better Customer Service?• Foster word-of-mouth• Learning/Listening• Advocacy• Loyalty• Trust • Influence

• Setting Goals– Take an honest approach and ask what your goal is.– Define your goal as specifically as you can.– Ensure that it links back to a business goal in a

measurable way.

• Goal: Reach and inform stakeholders about project X.

• Goal: Increase brand awareness to key prospects, analysts and influencers.

• Business Goal: Engage community to improve corporate reputation while gaining buy-in for pipeline project.– SM Goal: Reach and inform stakeholders about

project X.

• Goal: $4M in sales of widget X during FY2012.– SM Goal: Increase brand awareness to key

prospects, analysts and influencers.

• Setting Goals– How will you know that you have achieved your

goal?– Determine what you will measure.

• Quantitative– Brand Awareness• Increased reach

– PR• Article picked up online• Traffic sent from PR sites to your site

– Advertising• PPC

– SEO• links, rankings

Metrics

• Qualitative– Advocacy, Loyalty, Influence• Share of voice• Sentiment• Comments• Mentions• Reach• Referrals/Endorsements

Metrics

• Planning– Budget– Human resources– Technical resources

• What are your current activities, and how will social media fit with them?– Look at what you have now• Website

– Who owns it?– Does it work?

• Newsletter• PR/Marketing/Sales etc.

• Choosing the right sites– What tools will help you best reach your audience

and achieve your goals?

• Choosing the right sites– Unless you uncover a niche social site where your

audience is, start with the basics.– Blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

• Choosing the right sites– Before taking the complete plunge, test the

waters.• Set up accounts and start by listening• Read related blogs and especially the comments.• Set up keyword searches in Hootsuite or using

http://search.twitter.com• Set up Google Alerts – www.google.com/alerts• Run a search on www.trackur.com or

www.socialmention.com at least once a day.

• What to listen for– Complaints– Compliments– Problems– Questions– Word of Mouth • Impact of activities – is word spreading?

• What to listen for– Competitors• What are they doing/saying?

– Influencers• Who influences your audience online?

– Point of need• Are people looking for a solution you provide?

• Identify which channels your audience uses most.– This will help guide your efforts when creating and

sharing information.– Don’t discount social sites that are less active,

they will still help create links and boost SEO.

– General timeframe for moving up the social participation levels.

•Contributing value through content creation, helping customers achieve their goals

Contributing Level 5

•Telling your own story•Sharing your brand’s passion & personality

Sharing Level 4

•Participating in conversations that your customers are interested in (broader than your brand)

Participating Level 3

•Answering the “social phone”•Responding to customers online; helping/support

Responding Level 2

•Monitoring & analysis•Listening broader than your brand (ex: point of need)

Listening Level 1

•Contributing value through content creation, helping customers achieve their goals

Contributing Level 5

•Telling your own story•Sharing your brand’s passion & personality

Sharing Level 4

•Participating in conversations that your customers are interested in (broader than your brand)

Participating Level 3

•Answering the “social phone”•Responding to customers online; helping/support

Responding Level 2

•Monitoring & analysis•Listening broader than your brand (ex: point of need)

Listening Level 1

1-2 weeks

Progression through levels 2-5 depends on your comfort level and readiness of your audience to participate with a brand.

• Tone of your content– Informative– Instructional– Entertaining– Or all 3?

• Choosing keywords

1. List topics

1. List topics2. Fill in buckets with potential keywords

1. List topics2. Fill in buckets with potential keywords3. Short-tail & Long-tail keywords

1. List topics2. Fill in buckets with potential keywords3. Short-tail & Long-tail keywords4. Research related terms

1. List topics2. Fill in buckets with potential keywords3. Short-tail & Long-tail keywords4. Research related terms5. Research what competitors are doing

1. List topics2. Fill in buckets with potential keywords3. Short-tail & Long-tail keywords4. Research related terms5. Research what competitors are doing6. Narrow your list

• Time management– Figure out how managing social media will fit in

your schedule.• 30 minutes in the morning to listen and

comment/respond– Check blogs, Facebook and Twitter

• Publish new blog article– Share link on Facebook and Twitter

• 30 minutes in the afternoon to listen and comment/respond

• Time management– Use tools that allow you to post to multiple

channels for multiple accounts/clients• Hootsuite still #1 in my book

– Twitter– Facebook profile and pages– LinkedIn– Apps for other networks– Reporting– Team management

• Content Schedule– A major part of Producing and Posting• Establishes what will be published and when• Helps you manage your time in creating valuable

content• Especially important for blogs

• Content Schedule– Not just text• Photos• Video• Audio

• Content Schedule– Make someone responsible for content– Engage them early on– Enable them to ask questions• How is this content request related to our business

goal?• If they can’t do this they will get swamped.

• Content Schedule– Document your content sources• Newsletters• Brochures• Tradeshows• Meetings• Events• Social Media

• Content Schedule (editorial calendar)– Map out first 6-8 weeks of content at a minimum• Establish a 52 week blog schedule

• Content Schedule – where will it come from?– PR/Comms will have to create content (50%)– Internal (non-PR) Staff can write content (10%)– Article Summaries and links to external content

(10%)– Videos, podcasts, pictures, polls and more (10%)– Re-purpose your existing content (10%)– Misc (10%)

• Start small• Less content more often =

– More user friendly– Better quality– Less expensive– Easier to manage

500 words once a week.

Content Creation Process

Strategize Analyze Categorize

CreateReviewFeedback

Review Approve Publish

Content schedule template

Audience

• Stakeholder Group – This could be community or staff segmented by

location, functional area, or other factors?

Audience

• Key Characteristics – Relevant details that help shape communication,

such as: mobility, shift work, community demographics, perceptions from previous initiatives, others.

– How active are constituents in social media? What tools are they using?

Audience

• Current Level Of Understanding – What is the current understanding about

brand/product/cause? – What will enable or hinder receipt of your

message -- what is of most interest and concern to them; perceived threat or opportunity, what will be seen as a gain or loss.

Audience

• Desired Behaviour – What do you want done, or not done, as the result

of this communication?

Audience

• Tactics/Timing – What is the best way to reach them and when do

we reach them?

Audience

• Responsibility– Who is most credible with this stakeholder?

Audience

• Conversation Tone– What is your audience saying about your issue or

cause? Are they supportive, negative, neutral?

Audience

• Who are we trying to reach?

Audience

• Is your audience using social media?• Where are they?• What are they saying?

BHAGBig Hairy

Audacious Goal

• What do we want to be different when we’re done?

• What does success look like to you?

• What milestones will let us know we’re on track?

• What will we measure?

Strategies

• The activities that you will use to achieve your goal, not the tools.

Strategies

• Example– Goal: Excellent oral health care for every senior in

the region.– Strategy: Inform adults caring for elderly parents

about importance of oral health.– Tactic: Use Facebook page to engage adults in

conversations about their parents’ oral health.• ‘My Story’ campaign on Facebook to encourage adults

to share their stories.

Creating your content

Inform, Involve, Inspire

• Inform– Content designed to provide the user with

information on your brand, issue or cause. – Focus on why it is important to them.– Over time, shift to provide them with the

information that they need to be informed advocates and champions for your cause.

• Involve– Content should engage the user, and have them

participate in the discussion or conversation in some way.

– Can be as simple as liking a post on Facebook, signing an online petition or actually coming out and participating in events.

– Should include a call to action.

• Inspire– Content is created to inspire some sort of action

from the user. – Always accompanied with a simple way to

complete the call to action– Enable the user to carry the message forward to

their peers – online and offline.

Writing for Social Media

• Relevant, useful, and interesting • Easy to understand and share • Friendly, conversational, and engaging • Action-oriented

• Relevant – WIIFM?– Time – Location – Audience – Interests

• Relevant – Time– School is out for summer! Ow.ly/jdjdjdjd has great

tips on how to keep kids active.

• Relevant – Location– Think last winter was cold #yyc? Check out

Ow.ly/jchdhdh and learn how to lower your heating bills.

• Relevant – Audience– Learn how to protect your #aging parents’ health.

Ow.ly/jdjdjd It’s the little things that count.

• Relevant – Interests– #Foodies in #yyc – we’ve found the best dishes to

keep you warm this winter. Ow.ly/jdjdjd

• Useful – Study shows adding carrots to diet reduces gum

disease. Why? Because they’re delicious and crunchy! Learn more about gum disease at yyy.yyy.ca.

• Make sure it’s Interesting

• Is it SHAREABLE?– Put relevant information at the beginning of your post. – Use fewer characters than allowed to make sharing

easy. – Keep messages short but relevant. – Test your message on a cold reader. Could someone

“get it” in less than 2 seconds? – Provide enough context so your message can stand

alone.

• Do– Use contractions – Write in first or second person (I, we, you)?

• Don’t– Use colloquial language (y’all, ain’t, you guys). – Use trendy abbreviations (UR for “you are”).

• Is it action oriented?– Use action verbs such as “learn,” “watch,” or

“join.” – Include links to Web content that offer more

detail.– Use ALL CAPS sparingly, for emphasis only.

Curating Content

Curate?

Why curate?

Series1

20%30%

40%50%

60%70%

Finding Relevant Content on a Regular Basis

Managing Large Amounts of Content on Different Topics

Improving SEO

Finding Time to Maintain Online Presence

Finding Time to Publish Content

Challenges experienced publishing content online

Did content curation help?

Finding time to publish content

Finding time to maintain online presence

Improving SEO

Managing large amounts of content on different topics

Finding relevant content on a regular basis

AgreeStrongly Agree

http://stuff.scoop.it/nl/upload/pdf/Impact_of_Content_Curation_on_Business_Goals_in_2013.pdf

How to curate content• Google Alerts

• Social news streams• Social bookmarking• Curators

• Who will ‘own’ social media internally?• How will it be organized?

• Natural growth• Requires fewer resources• Less consistent• Runs deeper in organization

• One department controls efforts• Not spread or used broadly• Does not move as ‘quickly’ as other models

• Clear set of rules and guidelines, best practices• Each department executes

Organic Centralized Coordinated

Break!

Sharing Ratios

Rule of Thirds

Golden Ratio

Reposting Content?

Facebook

Writing for Facebook

• How do people interact?• 77% just read • 17% share news with others• 13% post about the brand

• Tone– Use casual, jargon free tone– Keep it consumer friendly

• Tag– Tag people or companies in a post.– Post then shows up on their wall.– They’re more likely to see and share the post.

• How do you engage?• Automating content?

– Pros/Cons

• How do you engage?– Use photos• 53% more likes than average posts• 104% more comments

• How do you engage?– Encourage shares & mentions

• How do you engage?– Use questions and polls

• How do you engage?– Target your messages

• How do you engage?– Put fans in charge

• How do you engage?– Involve fans

• How do you engage?–Make it real-time– Bring the offline online

• Keep it simple

• Best time to post?

• Best time to post– When fans are not at work– Posts between 8PM and 7AM receive 20% more

engagement

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/29/10-powerful-tips-to-increase-fan-engagement-on-facebook/

• Best day to post?

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/29/10-powerful-tips-to-increase-fan-engagement-on-facebook/

• How often should you post?

• How often should you post per day?

Twitter

Writing for Twitter

• Message (or tweet): Messages are composed of up to 140 characters of text or links.

Writing for Twitter

• Retweet (RT): If a tweet (or message) from another Twitter user is relevant, the retweet function allows you to forward their message to your network.

• Modified Tweet (MT): A retweeted message that had to be modified to fit the character limit.

Writing for Twitter

• Mention: Twitter enables users to automatically link to each other by putting the @ symbol in front of the username in a message.

Writing for Twitter

• Include Twitter handles

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/create-perfect-social-media-posts-slideshare

Writing for Twitter

• Hashtag: – Hashtag is created automatically when you put the

# symbol before a word.– Using a hashtag enables other people to join in a

larger conversation on a topic or find information quickly.

Writing for Twitter

• Hashtag: – Tweets with 1-2 hashtags receive 21% higher

engagement than those with 3+– Only tag the most important word that represents

the theme of your tweet

Writing for Twitter

• Hashtag: – 17% of the top 1000 search terms on twitter turn

over every hour• Don’t force trending hashtags into your tweets

Writing for Twitter

• Short URL: Links can be compressed using tools such as ow.ly, which bring them down to about 15-20 characters.– Place links in the middle of tweets

Writing for Twitter

• 140 characters is too much.– Best engagement on tweets 120-130 characters

Writing for Twitter

• Use abbreviations, but keep it professional– Avoid UR, L8R

Writing for Twitter

• Share. – Share photos and behind the scenes info about

your brand, issue or cause. – Give a glimpse of developing projects, events and

important meetings.

Writing for Twitter

• Listen. – Regularly monitor the comments about your

brand, issue or cause.

Writing for Twitter

• Ask. – Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable

insights and show that you are listening.

Writing for Twitter

• Respond. – Respond to compliments and feedback in real

Writing for Twitter

• Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. – Reference articles and links about the bigger

picture as it relates to your brand, issue or cause.

Writing for Twitter

• Champion your stakeholders.– Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted

by your followers and advocates.

Writing for Twitter

• Establish the right voice.

Writing for Twitter

• Use photos.– Tweets with pictures get 55% increase in

engagement– Upload pics directly to twitter• Instagram posts appear as a link

Writing for Twitter

• Timing.– Highest number of clicks appear between 1PM-

3PM Mon-Thurs– Best time for RTs: 4PM-5PM Friday

Writing your Blog

• Good Content– Finding the balance between writing for humans

and writing for machines• RULE: Write for people first, search engines second.

– Create content that people will want to refer other people to (generate links)

Writing your Blog

• Good Content– Engaging– Valuable– Informative– Funny, witty, insightful– Easy to read– Updated regularly

Writing your Blog

• Where to start?– Start by answering some of your audience’s most

popular questions.• Answer what’s in it for me?

– Conduct brief interviews with experts from your organization.

– Share personal stories.

Writing your Blog

• How often?– As often as you want people to pay attention– As often as you have something valuable to say

Writing your Blog

• How often?– Plan for at least 1 substantial post per week• 500 words

– Incorporate shorter ‘update’ or timely posts throughout the week• Under 300 words• Photos, videos or thoughts on another blog

Writing your Blog

• Repackage– Look at the material you already have.• Reach out to others in your org.

– Have them write down every question they are asked for a day.

• Reach out to those already engaged for their stories.

Writing your Blog

• Curate– Curate, or aggregate, other valuable pieces of

content.– Make sure it’s valuable:• Are you saving the reader time by putting all of these

resources in one place?• Are you offering your own opinion and insight against

what somebody else has said?

Writing your Blog

• Planning content– Have an editorial calendar or content schedule– Help you map out your frequency, give you a

general idea of the content you’ll be creating– Serve as a blogging schedule– Help you develop an approach or focus• Specific topics or issues for specific times. Ex Awareness

months

Writing your Blog

• Planning content– Editorial calendar helps you maintain a balance of

content types– Outlines various topics and lengths• Ex. posts that are short and shareable vs. those that are

meaty and comprehensive.

Writing your Blog

• Make it easy to consume– Think about how you can make your posts easiest

for the reader to consume and digest.• Headlines are the most important element of your blog

posts. • One of the best things you can do to capture readers’

attention is to write an awesome blog title.

Writing your Blog

• Headlines and Titles– How-to– How not to– Clear and Direct

• 5 ways to use Twitter like a pro

– Create a sense of urgency– Be controversial– Be sensational– Be newsworthy– Use numbers

Writing your Blog

• Headlines and Titles– Might be the most crucial part of actually getting

readers to start reading your post when they see it in an RSS reader or search engine results page.

Writing your Blog

• Format for readability– Use headlines and sub-heads to break up thoughts

and blocks of text.– Use bullets and lists

Writing your Blog• Choosing a Topic

– take a little extra time defining your topic and the post will flow better and you’ll develop something that matters to readers.

• The Opening Line – FIrst impressions matter. Once you’ve got someone past your post’s title

your opening line draws them deeper into your post.• Your ‘point/s’

– A post needs to have a point. If it’s just an intriguing title and opening you’ll get people to read – but if the post doesn’t ‘matter’ to them it’ll never get traction.

• Call to Action – Driving readers to do something cements a post in their mind and helps

them to apply it and helps you to make a deeper connection with them.

Writing your Blog

• Add Depth – Before publishing your post ask yourself how you

could add depth to it and make it even more useful and memorable to readers?

• Quality Control and Polishing of Posts• Timing of Publishing Your Post – Strategic timing of posts can ensure the right

people see it at the right time.

Writing your Blog

• Writing the post– Make sure it will be useful (as defined by the reader)

• Entertaining• Educating• Informing• Debate – some blog readers want a place that they can have

a good old fashioned dialogue, debate or even a fight over an issue

• News• Community – tap into the need that people have to connect

and belong. – Often the topic is secondary here.

Writing your Blog

• Writing the post– Make the content completely relevant to the title.• Comes back to trust

– Write like it’s a conversation• Man vs. machine

– Use images and videos• Hold the reader’s hand if you’re walking them through

something

– Keep the sentences short

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Find other bloggers• Leverage your existing connections and create new

relationships.• Reach out to influential bloggers in your industry and

attract their attention through mentions on your blog and social media. • Create an opportunity for them to share your blog

posts across their network. • Create link-building opportunities

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Be social• Use other social networks to promote your blog• Publish your blog to the main social sites• Make sure you have social sharing buttons so that

others can share as well– Also important for SEO

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Be social• Keep in mind that your message may not always be the

exact same across platforms– Your Facebook post will be different than your Tweet.

• Use plug-ins or a tool like Tweetdeck to post across platforms

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Use your existing web presence• Add banners and call-outs to your existing website

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Talk about it whenever possible• Use real-life events to mention your blog and drive

people back to it– Ex. If you’re doing a presentation, post your slides to your blog

and have people download them.

Writing your Blog

• How to promote your blog– Talk about it whenever possible• Add your blog address to your email signature

Writing your Blog

• Stay relevant– Keep listening and monitoring what’s hot in the

blogosphere and social media– Ask your readers what they want to read more

Writing your Blog

• Manage the conversation– Make sure you check and respond to comments• Even negative ones

– Monitor the conversation on other social channels too

– Think about how you want to handle comments on your blog• Auto post• You approve/moderate

• 87% of users trust LinkedIn as a source of info used in decision making

• LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook or Twitter

• Rally around one post per week– Can get you into trends– Focuses discussion

• Share offers– Promotions and marketing offers can be successful

on company pages

• Think like a journalist– Use concise intros and snappy headlines to drive

engagement– Include a call to action and link• Posts with links have 2x the engagement

– Ask questions

• Include images– +98% engagement

• Make sure thumbnail matches message• Include videos– Play right in LinkedIn– +75% engagement

• Deliver value

e Valuable

Sweet Spot!

• Test to find the right mix– Test timing, frequency and type of posts to find

the content your audience responds to– Still maintain editorial calendar

• Use comments to extend the conversation– Comments can be used to add additional views

and directly engage followers in conversation

• The perfect post…

• No faces• Images without

faces get repinned 23% more often than images with faces

• Pinterest is a network of THINGS

• Little background• Images with an

artificial background that is greater than 40% of image area, repins halved or quartered.

• Multiple colours• Images with

multiple dominant colours get 3x the replies

• Use red• Red/orange images

get 2x the repins

• Moderate/Light colour• Images with 50%

colour saturation get repinned 4x as often as those with 100% saturation & 10x as often as black and white images.

• Portrait style• Best images have

vertical orientation

• 81% of internet users watch video online• Average viewer watches 170+ videos per

Online Video & PR

• YouTube Audience• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDtf3ZnFb

2s&feature=relmfu

Online Video & PR

• Why?– Extend your brand– Launch a campaign• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embe

dded&v=tRQVJ4xBgTI#!

– Respond to a crisis• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embe

dded&v=0wK1127fHQ4#!

– Uncover communities

Online Video & PR

• Why?– Provide info to bloggers/media• Interview clips• Product demos

– Generate buzz & raise awareness• http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec?feature=watc

Your Video Strategy

• What role do you want video to play?• Goals & Objectives• Define Target Audience

Content

• Content should be– Informative– Entertaining– Relevant– Engaging

Content

• Quality– Audience• Broad vs. Targeted

– Beware of copyrights

Content

• Freshness– Frequency• 1-2 videos a week for optimization

– Consistency• Try to upload videos at approx. the same time each

– Length• Keep videos under 5 mins.

Content

• Engagement– How will you get and keep attention?• Contests• Shout-outs• Titles and graphics• Interesting content

Content

• Engagement– Need to capture attention in first 15 seconds– Use a ‘Call to Action’ with link• Subscribe• Sign up now

Branding YouTube

• Selecting a name– Relate to what your objectives are• Brand• Info• Customer Service• Location / Regional• Campaign Name

Be Social

• Connect with users– Encourage comments – Post replies – Comment on other content – Create Video Responses– Encourage others to subscribe to, rate and share

your videos– Join groups, forums and contests

Be Social

• Link to other brand channels– Add them to favourites– Like their pages

Spread The Joy

• Embed your videos in blogs and other pages• Send links to others that might be interested

Measure and Assess

• YouTube Analytics– See what days, times, topics get the most views– Viewer stats– Subscribers• What videos resulted in gained/lost subscribers

– Likes/Favorites/Comments/Shares– Traffic Sources

Measure and Assess

• Retention Rates– How long did people watch your video– When did they stop– Why

Measure and Assess

• http://youtu.be/6CoTQPK6SEw

Thanks! Questions?

Tim Shawtim@amplifi.ca@shaw_tim

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