content marketing: why & how

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Great Content: The Heart of Social Media Marketing

You don’t have to win a Nobel Prize for your content to be great – and effective.


Simply put, web users are consumers of content. Therefore, you need to deliver compelling content that will engage your customers and keep them coming back for more. People are calling this “The New Marketing.”

People spend their time online, and that’s where your marketing needs to go.

- Arnie Kuenn on SEOmoz.org


Why Content & Social Media?

• Improve your SEO• Pull people to your site• Show people why they’ll enjoy doing business

with you


How to Integrate Content & Social Media


What Is Content?

• Blog posts• FAQs• Video• Infographics• Photographs

Content should live on your site, or if it lives on other sites, it should be linked to your site.


What Is Great Content?

• It matters to someone – preferably, your customers and/or future customers

• It comes from deep expertise• It’s genuinely useful• It’s easy to understand and apply• It’s

funny/touching/provocative/controversial….in other words, shareable


Where Can I Find Ideas for Great Content?

• News• Your experience


Content Source: General News

http://gizmodo.com/5972877/how-the-ftc-screwed-up-the-google-investigation


Content Source: Industry Issues, Controversy

http://foodfrontiers.pepsicoblogs.com/2012/09/huffington-post-private-sector-serious-about-tackling-ncds-despite-concerns-of-civil-society


Content Source: Customer Qs, Complaints & Praise

http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/blog


Content Source: Instructions/Guidance

http://www.corsetconnection.com/shop/how-to-put-on-a-corset.html


Content Source: Sales Objections

http://blog.caseysplumbing.com/industry-news/


Content Source: Adjacent issues

http://www.graylingjewelry.com/3/post/2013/01/beat-puffy-eyes.html


Why do I need to promote my content? Great content and engaging stories help your

company’s content get found and shared. When great content is shared, commented on or liked, it is no longer your content alone. It is their content. And user-generated content is trusted more than advertising or promotion.

- Michael Brenner, writing in Forbes Magazine


How do I promote my content in social media?

• Post regularly• Don’t be repetitious


Promote new posts where your customers & prospects hang out


Keep promoting posts as long as they’re still relevant

• Weekly or bi-weekly• Whenever relevant news comes up• As seasonally appropriate• Whenever a relevant customer or industry

issue is rearing its head again


Avoid “title/link” formula

Interesting topics, but the stream looks monotonous. Note posting times: obviously scheduled.


Vary Your Content


Develop an Engaged Audience

• Don’t be boring• Follow real people• Talk with them


Don’t be repetitive & boring

We can see the company is seeking business, but we can’t learn much else about it from this stream.


Mix It Up


Respond to Criticism Promptly & Politely


Have Real Conversations


Be a Real Person

Because that’s who you’re trying to reach in social media: real people.

content marketing: why & how

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