Andrew Bates Director of Social Media Content, content, content…  As internet marketers, we all know and preach that compelling content is the key to audience generation.  Although true, the key concept is “compelling” content.  Blogging and posting all day, everyday does not mean that you will grow your qualified community just by volume alone.  Besides [...]

Andrew Bates

Director of Social Media

Content, content, content…  As internet marketers, we all know and preach that compelling content is the key to audience generation.  Although true, the key concept is “compelling” content.  Blogging and posting all day, everyday does not mean that you will grow your qualified community just by volume alone.  Besides the fact that posting social media updates constantly gets in the way of your key work responsibilities, does it make a difference in your digital marketing strategy?

Content is not as valuable if it does not lead to some form of conversion, but compelling content can lead to multiple ways of generating engagement.  When it is developed with the qualified audiences’ interest in mind and you utilize the proper tactics, it can be measured to key performance indicators that show true value for your organization.  This could come in the form of traffic, shares and likes, event registration, downloads and even ecommerce sales – but it must tie into your on and off-line marketing strategy and, ultimately, ROI.

As you build your social media strategy, you should consider your conversion goals and what actions you want your community to take when they find it:

 

Content for the sake of content

Daily posts, paper.li newsletter, scheduled tweets and syndicating to multiple social profiles seems to be the norm these days.  So much so that many blog posts often cover very basic concepts, frequently repeat ideas and topics from past posts or provide opinions that don’t relate directly with your organizations goals and audience.  Less can be more.  Ask yourself, “would I want to read this?  Would I share it with others?”  If you find yourself pumping out posts without any forethought, then you may be wasting valuable time and potentially losing credibility and/or followers.  Yet TechJournal reported that “ Sixty-two percent of online buyers have ‘unfollowed’, ‘unliked’ or ‘turned off’ people, groups, or companies from their social network, according to the latest research from the Social Media Flash Surveys from Bizrate Insights.”

Content that converts

We all want to be social media purists and say our efforts are about thought leadership, education and – everyone’s favorite word – engagement.  But too much content has the same effect as spam.  To develop content that converts, consider:

-          Reassess your organization’s goals.  It seems obvious but it is often the most frequently overlooked part of the puzzle.  Your social media strategy is not on an island by itself.

-           Research your audience.  A little online monitoring around your brand, competition, industry, audience and influencers will provide the business intelligence required to make informed decisions.

-          Perform keyword research around the topics of interest you find through your research.  You want your audience to be able to find your content when they are looking for it.  For more on this subject please take a look at some of EyeTraffic’s past posts including “What is Social SEO.”

-          Stay on task and keep it short.  People read articles and watch videos that quickly articulate an important message.

-          Syndicate it in the right places.  Do you post your content on every social network?  Why?  First find your audience, then give them the information they want where they want it.

-          Encourage a response.  Whether it is comments or shares, you want to make sure there are valuable insights that your community can’t get anywhere else.  Respond quickly and follow up your posts with more engagement.  Ask questions, share with thought leaders, and ensure your own organization knows this content exists.  If you post and never take action, then it will have little chance of growing consistent engagement.  Remember, if a tree falls in the woods…?

-          Measure the impact.  During your initial strategy development, you should have key performance indicators that will show value for your organization.  If you want the boss to invest in it, you must tie this activity back to ROI in some way, even if not directly.

-          Rinse, repeat and evolve.

The goal of your efforts is to give your community what they want when they want it and where they want it.  Too much is simply too much, and it can lead to a loss of qualified audience.  Keeping conversion in mind will save a lot of time as well as avoid the headaches associated with acting before thinking.  Does your organization see value in quantity or quality?