Content Marketing Includes Social Media

Patricia Redsicker’s review of the book Content Rules includes a great observation:

I had not yet made the connection between social media and content marketing – I was still treating them as two separate entities.

OneForty

To assist other marketers with the task of incorporating social media into their content marketing plans, I’ve created a collection of social media tools for content marketing at OneForty. (If you are unaware, OneForty functions as the “app store” for Twitter.)

Two Tools You May Not Know About

My content marketing “toolkit” list covers the basics, but also features two cool tools:

Storify:

Content marketing relies on telling a consistent and evolving story about your brand. Using Storify you can collect bits and pieces of the social web into a cohesive narrative. Learn more about Storify here.

Keepstream:

Keepstream is a platform for building collections of web content. This is particularly helpful for the content marketer who curates ongoing social media conversations and news updates for their audience. Save everything from individual tweets to web pages into topics. You can embed these curated collections into any website, too. Learn more about Keepstream here.

What Did I Miss?

What social media tools would you add that are helpful for content marketing campaigns?

Let me know, and I’ll add them to this toolkit or feature them in an upcoming issue of Chief Content Officer. You can also review other recommended content marketing tools here.

‘Send’ Button

Facebook’s reach just got bigger—and better for content marketers—thanks to the “Send” button.

The reason is simple: the send button allows people to quickly, and quietly, distribute content to small and specific Facebook friends or groups.

By comparison, “liking” a piece of content publicly shows on a Facebook user’s profile and in their friends’ feeds. (Here’s how we use Facebook as a content marketing tactic.) A user may indeed like your content but be reluctant to share it in front of “everyone”.

The “Sending” button is newly built into the already ubiquitous “like” button functionality, or can stand alone.

Why is a Quiet Send Good for Marketing?

“Sending” content quietly means it just got easier for people to share your content between smaller, private groups. That’s awesome for marketers because these groups tend to exhibit greater degrees of trust—making word-of-mouth all that more powerful.

“Sending content” via Facebook is faster than sending a favorite link by email, too.

How to Create a Facebook Send Button

Go here to add “send” button to your existing website Facebook widget. Click here to add a stand-alone send button.

More Tech Tools recommended and reviewed here. Why don’t you send this info to someone else?

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WANT TO US THIS ARTICLE? You may, if you include this complete blurb and link with it:

“Katie McCaskey offers content marketing services and strategy to businesses of all sizes. Learn to make the most of your web content at www.katiemccaskey.com”

Someday you may be abducted by aliens. Not “crossing the border” aliens. I mean honest-to-God sci-fi critters.

If/when this happens your web content will probably be the last thing on your mind. (I’d like to add “trust me on this”, but, I’ve only been abducted by rabid David Hasselhoff fans.)

There is a direct parallel between alien abduction and web content. It is:

Both demand: “Bring me your to your leader”!

Huh? Leader? Lead What?

Most web content does at least two things:

• Lead you somewhere
• Offer something to you

The first – the literal direction – is what’s mapped out by information architects and web content strategists. The second – the offer – varies depending on the site’s goals. For example, alien news sites offer you otherworldly news, shopping sites offer you alien-themed merchandise, alien-fetish sites… (well…Ick!)

Relevance to Content Marketing

For content marketing to work well, you need to do both. You need to lead your people somewhere. Then, you need to offer them something. Sound obvious? It is. That’s why most people suck at it. They overlook it.

Leading

First, make sure your site makes sense. That takes planning. Specifically:

• How are my web pages organized?
• What kinds of content go on each page or post?
• Wait, pages? Posts? Yep. You need a hierarchy between them.
• How does everything relate to one another?

Actionable Tips for Leading:

• Make your site navigation dead easy. A moronic outsider should understand what you offer and how to move around your website.
• Reveal your content on a need-to-know basis. Don’t overwhelm.
• Determine a timetable for regular content updates — and stick to it.

Offering

There are two kinds of offers: explicit and subtle. There’s a time and place for the direct mail-inspired “hard sell”. However, the most effective selling is ongoing marketing. An investment here, specifically online (“content marketing”), offers ongoing brand awareness and loyalty.

A very abbreviated list of vehicles for your “out-of-this-world” offer:

• Curated news
• Info-products (e.g. whitepapers, case studies)
• Social media interaction
• and of course, web content

Actionable Tips for Your Offer

Even if you’re not explicitly “selling” something, you ARE selling a time investment with your content. With that in mind:

• Write it by tuning your dial to WII.FM? — What’s In It For Me?
• Be sure to offer value — no one likes garbage
• Make every word count — “But Wait, There’s More!”

Let’s hope you’ll never be abducted by aliens. But, be aware: the content’s out there.

Attention, local friends:

In May I’ll be teaching again. Join me for an introductory social media class and/or classes focused exclusively on Facebook and Twitter basics. Community members are welcome to join the class by registering with Staunton Parks and Recreation.

Introduction to Social Media

You’ve probably heard about “social media”. What you may not realize is how amazing this emerging communication technology is to daily life! Come to learn more about two of the biggest social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) and how they are used. In this lecture-based class you’ll watch the instructor explore both on the big screen.

Introduction to Facebook

Did you know there are more people over the age of 60 than teenagers on Facebook? It’s true: and it’s not just a reflection of demographics. It’s also because more people are seeing how Facebook and other social media tools are transforming our social and business lives. Come to this lecture-based class to observe some of the basics – from setting up a new profile to connecting with distant family and friends. (And, you’ll see why businesses need to set up a Facebook business page, too.)

Introduction to Twitter

Can you really communicate using just 140 characters? It may sound difficult, but it isn’t – and it’s transforming how people are communicating, learning, and even volunteering! In this introductory class we’ll explore what Twitter is, how it works, and how it is contributing to some interesting and positive shifts in a lot of surprising areas. You’ll learn how to setup a Twitter “handle”, how to send messages, and how to share messages.

These classes are very affordable and will be held at the downtown library:

Monday, May 23:
Facebook, 10-11am
Twitter, 12-1pm
Social Media, 6-7pm

Wednesday, May 25:
Facebook, 10-11am
Twitter, 12-1pm
Social Media, 6-7pm

Thursday, May 26:
Facebook, 10-11am
Twitter, 12-1pm
Social Media, 6-7pm

Friday, May 27:
Facebook, 3pm

Content marketing requires technology tools to produce, manage, and organize content that your audience finds useful. In this new, semi-regular feature, I’ll be featuring tech tools to help you get the job done faster and better.

Hyper Alerts – Notification for Facebook Page Activity

Hyper Alerts will notify you whenever someone comments on one of your Facebook pages. It works similarly to Google Alerts – just enter the pages you’re monitoring and the preferred notification schedule.

Advantages include:

• Schedule notifications to suit you (compared to FB’s auto-send)
• Adds context: shows comments to specific updates
• Track pages you don’t manage!
• Hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly reports
• You can use an email address different than what you use with FB – great for community managers

Anyone who manages three or more Facebook business pages knows how disruptive it can be if you’re trying to respond to Facebook conversations and activity. (I recommend responding to everyone at least once; however, this is particularly time-consuming. I learned that managing multiple Facebook pages for AOL!)

What tools would you recommend to monitor Facebook? What about tools for other content marketing activities?

Please let me know your choice recommendations. I’ll be sharing these and other content marketing tech tools as Technology Editor for the print magazine, Chief Content Officer. Watch your mailbox!

My first job after college was at a weirdly sterile advertising agency. I didn’t realize at the time how usual it was that I had my own office – with a window, no less! I promptly moved in and pasted up a bunch of band posters, photos, and a collection of odds and ends. It said:

I am creative, and I am ready to work!

Secretly, I also hoped it said:

Come talk to me! We might have something in common!

I quickly discovered why the agency was so sterile. Non-work conversations were not encouraged here. “Don’t bring your playthings to work,” was the stern, typed memo (!) from the boss telling me to remove the “nonsense”. (Memo – yes, despite agency use of email!)

How things have changed! Now companies of all kinds – not just so-called “creative” work environments – encourage employees bring “more of who they are” to the workplace.

This is particularly exciting to see in corporate use of social media… especially when the model is built around the employees themselves.

That’s one reason why I enjoyed interviewing employees at Incept, a blood banking contact center in Ohio. I discovered their company’s social media policy is built on showcasing their employees individuality.

While you’re there read “How to Make Content Social: Learn How Incept’s Employees Use Social Media to Engage Customers”, the case study I wrote about Incept. I applaud how Nate Riggs of Social Business Strategies lead the way and encouraged Incept to embrace social media use on an individual level.

Thank goodness times change.

I think bringing “who you are” to work is a lot healthier and certainly more fun. It builds solid work relationships in-house and with outside vendors and employees. Embracing the diversity of interests in your business can also demonstrably  build the bottom line, too.

Friend or foe? No, the question is: friend or business page when it comes to Facebook.

In the rush to “get on Facebook” many have made a common mistake. The mistake is setting a personal profile but using it for a business. Are you “friends” with a business? Tsk, tsk. That small business set it up wrong. No worries, though: it’s an easy fix. Here’s the “how” and “why”:

Disadvantages for a Business using a Personal Profile

• It’s against Facebook policy
• You have “it’s complicated” as your relationship status
• You get annoying invitations for Farmville or other games
• You look unprofessional!

Advantages of a Business Page on Facebook

• You look professional
• You can use more diverse apps
• You can block time-sinks, such as game requests
• You can reference other businesses on your wall
• Other businesses can showcase you on their business page
• You’ll have more fans (“likes”) because you won’t be asking for access to customers’ private info that Facebook “friends” can share, such as religious or political leaning

How Can I Fix My Profile?

• Create a personal profile, if you don’t already have one. Simply go to Facebook.com and sign up.
• Create a Facebook business page. Go to any existing business you “like” and scroll to the bottom left. Click “create page”. Here’s local Staunton Parks & Rec‘s page, for example. When you create the page you’ll automatically be the business page admin.
• Tell your friends. Send a note to to your Facebook friends telling them you’ll be deleting your friend profile in favor of a business profile. Ask that they “like” your business profile by sending a direct link.
• Delete your old profile. Navigate to “delete profile”. You’ll still be able to use your legitimate personal profile. That’s the profile that is your business page’s new administrator.
• When you reach 25 fans (“likes”)… you can set a permanent address. Go to www.facebook.com/username – but be warned! You can only set this ONCE.

Here are tools and strategies to maximize your business page once you have it set up properly.

Reminder: you can follow this blog and other updates on Facebook. Virginia-based artisans can sign up for the Facebook marketing class I’m teaching this Spring, too!

I asked Claire Jarrett, a social media colleague across the pond, to share some thoughts about why social media is a growing marketing force. Here’s her guest post. Thanks, Claire!

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People are slowly losing trust in newspaper and television media sources, and fast trying to gain access to news sources which haven’t gone through a hefty editing process. People want reliable information, straight from the horse’s mouth.  Blog posts seem to be attracting these people more than a prominent 4-column front-page article in a newspaper. People want their news immediately, they no longer wish to be in front of their television sets to belatedly know what is happening to Roger Federer at the U S Open; they want to see everything live on a web page – now.

Our youth, in whose hands tomorrow lies, are increasingly using the internet to confirm anything and everything. Even big business is beginning to prefer social media to electronic or print media to get their message across. Customers also want confirmation from social media before buying a new product.

How is it that people opt to browse their net pages to ascertain or understand a sudden progress or downfall, relating to any topic, from sports to stock markets?  Why is this sudden change occurring? Is it really the impact created by the powerful reach of various forms of social media? Statistics say a clear `yes’.

A staggering billion tweets were processed by Twitter in the United States throughout December 2009, which works out to an incredible 40 million tweets every day. Being distinct from traditional media on many counts, social media has come to take the centre stage in the day-to-day happenings of society.

Social media carries information to people in an assertive and authoritative manner that has earned it a trust that is difficult for others forms of media to match. Holding an ever-growing global audience in its grasp, social media has taken on the arduous task of satisfying the media expectations of the populace who have very little time for communication. That social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US speaks volumes of the firm belief and faith the Americans have placed on social media.

The days ahead are likely to further widen the gap between social media and all other forms of media and it is going to be a challenging job for the latter to keep up. Having already won the confidence of the majority of people in a very short span of time, there is no doubt that social media will become more effective and powerful over the coming years.

About the author: Claire Jarrett runs Marketing By Web, who offer PPC Management and is also an associate for PML Media, a Social Media Management company

Hello CMI friends!

Thank you for reading my article and hopping over here. I look forward to getting to know the CMI community better.

As my bio indicates, I am particularly interested in the intersection of content marketing and restoration of the built and natural world…

If that sounds like you too, or you just want to “talk shop”, I’d love to connect.

Sincerely,
Katie
@KatieMcCaskey

Here are details about social media services offered.

Social Media Strategy Consulting

Autumn Olive Farms (Waynesboro, VA)
Best Address (Washington, D.C.)
Big “O” Tree (Stuarts Draft, VA)
Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA)
Liz Beavers, sculptor (Staunton, VA)
T&E Meats (Harrisonburg, VA)
RVNN.tv (Elkhart, IN)

Social Media Management

Three real estate brands, Facebook/Twitter: Aol Real Estate, Rented Spaces, Housing Watch – Aol (America Online) – 2009
George Bowers Grocery, Facebook/Twitter – (co-owner) – 2008
Geezeo – 2007

Social Media Monitoring and Reputation Management

~ clients not disclosed ~

Clients determine best course of action and response when I alert them of discussions relating to their brand and service.

Social Media Instruction

Facebook for Artists – Artisan Center of Virginia – Spring 2011
Introduction to Facebook – Staunton Parks and Recreation – Spring 2010
Introduction to Social Media – Staunton Creative Community Fund – Fall 2009