O N L I N E P R A N D

S O C I A L M E D I A

Content Strategy Map(A New Cut Out and Keep...)

Roger Warner, Managing Director, C&M

September 2009

Online PR and Social Media:

Content Strategy Map //

C&M

//September 2009

We put together our Content Strategy Mapin response to a common request romour clients:

HEEEEEEELP!

Having dabbled withFacebookand madeorays withTwitter, many brands are now stuckwondering how the hell to get any decent ‘play’out o their Social Media assets and proles.Otentimes this is down to two basic things:

i) a desire to crack on and experimentii) a lack of time

And this dilemma (particularly in a large, multi-brand or multi-business unit organisation)usually leads to a mild orm o Social Mediaschizophrenia and diminishing returns.In other words, when you’re rushing to pilot stuwith a lack o time it can be incredibly hard toexecute in an integrated ashion ….which is whythe chart on the previous page might help.

Doing Social Media is not an objective in and o itsel. DoingTwitterisnot a plan. Customer interaction and retention around a theme is. So,the next time some bright spark suggests aFacebookpage, take a deepbreath and think it through – no matter how exciting it might seem.Communications in this new-angled Social Interweb era is all aboutbuilding ollowings, creating conversations and putting your content inthe places it’s most likely to be seen. Nine times out o ten this won’t bein and around your own web site. The trick is to extend the value o whatyou’re doing to other people’s platorms, networks and services. (Or, ‘gowith the fow,’ as they say…)Broadly speaking, you should think o Social Media as a channel:something to use or publishing stu and/or talking with people(ie, like the telephone, in the hands o a salesperson or a consultant). As such, use it to support your bigger sales and/or marketing objectives.Twittercan help improve awareness levels, but only i you havesomething sensible to pin it on. Likewise,Facebookcan be a killercommunity tool, but only i you have something that warrants agroup interest.

Here’s tHesupporting blurb…

Online PR and Social Media:

Content Strategy Map //

C&M

//September 2009

I Social Media’s or you, then content is the next thought. Do youhave any? Are you already making some? Can this be remixed in morevaluable, useul and Social ways? I Social Media is to add value, then itshouldn’t be done in a vacuum.Look or opportunities to spin o your standard content assets in newways, so that they’re capable o playing out on Social Media channelsas well as doing all the other things that you normally ask them to do.For example, video and images can be re-thunk so that they work just aswell onYouTubeandFlickras they do on your web site and on your trade show exhibition stands.Whatever the case is, make sure that you publish your content assets‘home and away’ – both on your web site and on other Social Mediachannels. This enhances people’s opportunities to see your stu ontheir tur.Your Social Media proles need to become a core part o your thinkinghere. ThatSlidesharechannel shouldn’t be sitting in outer space, itshould be part o an integrated publishing plan – supporting everythingelse that you’ve got on your truck.For example, a seminar can be composed o delegates, speakers,PPTs, video, Tweets, and photos: and publishing these assets usingSocial Media channels can become part and parcel o your activitybeore, during and ater the event.When you’re done, look or ways to aggregate your content so that itbecomes more useul to your audiences. For example, i you’re runninggrandstand events or conerences, then aFacebookevent page could bea great place to bring together your stock o images and videos, so thatFacebookers everywhere can nd it easily and in one place.I you’re promoting inormation-based services, then a subject-specicNingcan be a very useul route into your main site. And customersupport apps likeGet Satisactioncan also be a great outlet or all othose brochures and manuals that have been collecting dust on the shel.Partner content should also be actored in. What opportunities do youhave or re-purposing third party blogs, Tweets, images, etc, in your owncontent services? These things can add real value to your overall story(and helpGoogleto love you a little more).Once your Socially re-mixed content is published and you’ve ounduseul ways o aggregating it, it’s time to party hard and start sparking upthe right kind o conversations in the right kind o places.We’ve writtena lot about this elsewhere, but or now the key thought is being relevant,useul and entertaining.Go comment on other people’s blogs. Follow them onTwitterandexchange ideas about all the good things you have in common. Addvalue to orums and discussion boards, based on your stock o Socialstu. …and encourage people to share all o your content, all o the time.

Footnote: If You Do This Then Google Will AlsoLoooooooove You!

Google loves content. Especially keyword rich content. I you can buildthe type o publishing disciplines outlined above into your core marketingand content programs, then good linkage and great SEO will ollow.(We’d also say that Social Media is the new SEO, but that’sanother story…)