Tweet-able Lessons from #cmworld 2011

9 seconds. Its the attention span of goldfish—and most of your audience. Know this. (TY @sallyhogshead)

Bring your best game to an introduction. It’s your only hope for further access and relationship-building. (TY @sallyhogshead)

You, and your content, must be fascinating. How? By tapping into your authentic self, as person or organization. (TY @sallyhogshead)

If you’re practicing real-time content marketing, you might be able to leverage paragraph 2 in mainstream news stories. (TY @dmscott)

No one should prevent you from telling your story. (TY @ReginaBrett)

Your content should make a positive difference in the world. (TY @ReginaBrett)

Irna Phillips sparked soap opera industry & became early content marketer. She insisted: “Programming must sell product.” (TY @TPLDrew)

We all have an audience, no matter its size. (TY @TPLDrew)

Content + Audience + Resources = Participation Creation (TY @TPLDrew)

Who is your duet partner? Don’t be afraid to pair with unlikely partners to grow your respective audiences. (TY @TPLDrew)

Reach out and respect your “super fans”; they will return the favor. (TY @StoryWorldwide)

Content marketing is not just tactical; it’s social. It’s personal.

When you think you know your customer—get to know them some more.

Also… I’m listed on Alltop!

This blog is now listed as a top resource under “content marketing“—thanks, Alltop! And, thanks to you, too. I appreciate the email, tweets, and DM discussions. Join my free newsletter for tips to grow your business using content. It’s simple to sign up!

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.

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

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.

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!

—-

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

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

Content is constantly evolving - are you prepared?

Ah, silly content producer…. did you think that you could rest easy after battling zombie content that never dies?

Uh, no.

Besides zombies, you have to worry with something else, too.

No, we’re not talking about finding the “next Twitter” or searching for the “Facebook killer” or discovering some cutting edge app. The distribution channel doesn’t matter as much as this factoid:

Your content will evolve. Will your brand’s online marketing efforts evolve along with it?

Not so long ago web content was treated a lot like traditional print content. You built it, got it approved, and forgot it. Now, with Web 2.0 tools you’re expected to keep that content updated and fresh — expectations set by both the public and the search engines. This is the inverse of zombie content  — and it is demanding. Darwin-esque demanding, in fact, if you want to win with content.

I am working again with a client whose website I built wayyy back in 2006. Naturally, this clients’ business has evolved, as has the marketing needs. The new site requires the flexibility to allow for content evolution. We left the “set it and forget it” online communication stage ages ago.

Here’s what you can do to prepare for ever-evolving content:

1 – Invest in a content management system and teach stakeholders how to use it. This is not carte blanc to let just anyone near your site. Hell, no. You still need content leadership and one person in charge of editorial considerations (not your intern, people, please!). Rather, you want to build a content system backbone that allows for frequent and easy updates. Where appropriate, teams or groups can feed the content beast of your site… again, with dedicated leadership in place to ensure standards are met and marketing messaging is on point.

2 – Accept that content changes. Some people are in great denial here for one simple fact: it’s a lot of work. Sure, you can still slap up a website and forget it. But in an environment growing to expect engagement, is a static site enough? Winning with online content demands that someone manage the regular influx of new material. And again: you need someone to keep your new content on message.

So, bottom line. Is your online content vibrant, alive, and growing? Have you evolved?

How do you define your content strategy? My content philosophy is neatly expressed as “G.I.V.E.:”

G – Great content; defined by giving your audience useful, relevant, and thought-provoking information that directly speaks to their interests and needs

I – Influence; content that demonstrates your leadership, while also directing your audience to a certain behavioral outcome (permission marketing conversion, direct sale, etc.)

V – Value; expressed by your audience’s willingness to share content and make referrals on your behalf

E – Economy; content that conveys critical information clearly and quickly, understanding short attention spans and the requirement to stand apart from a crowd.

Hi @twitter friends,

How do you use Twitter and social media? As a commercial writer, let me share how I use it (personally, versus professionally).

I believe social media is a creativity engine, a way to share and spark ideas.

First of all, I rarely answer the literal question “what are you doing?”.  Instead, I try and share information I find useful and think you’ll find entertaining, educational, informative, or thought-provoking.

I tend to follow people who share a similar philosophy.

In alphabetical order, here are the top 10 topics you’ll probably find in my Twitter stream. If we share interests, I would honored for your “follow”.

Environmental Issues – downtown revitalization, smart development, transportation, and everyday environmental choices by individuals and cities

Food/Farm Issues – interests me as co-owner of a neighborhood grocery store (@GeorgeBowers) 

Historic Home Restoration – we are in the slow, yet rewarding, process of doing just that

Microfinance – I’m honored to be part of SPARC-PLUG, a local mico-lending program for economic development; it’s been a critical component to our small business

Real Estate – from architecture and design, to notions of history, community, to real estate as a financial investment…

Social Media – because the evolution of social media tools and use are fascinating … not to mention a cornerstone of business.

@Staunton, Virginia – because I love the walkable, creative, and historic town where I live…

Technology & Society – how are we using technology? How can technology bring about positive changes?

Urbanism -  I am interested in urbanism from design, environmental, and social prospectives…

“Urban Escapee” Themes – wondering if you could live outside the big city? I wondered that, too. Turns out it’s becoming easier and easier…

What are your “Top 10 Topics”? Send me an @reply or DM. I’d love to know.

To our shared creativity,

Katie

@KatieMcCaskey

Challenge: Use a confirmation email to reaffirm a customer’s decision to sign up
Solution: Introduce new customers to other areas of a website
Client: Independent grocery store

—

Thank you!

Thank you for activating your newsletter subscription. You join a select group of people who appreciate good food and support local, independent businesses.

Here are a few more items that may interest you.

EVENTS:
Every Monday we donate 10% of our sales to local charitable organizations. Keep track of other fun events via our Events Calendar:
http://www.georgebowersgrocery.com/calendar/

(P.S. If you use Google Calendars, you can sync it directly to your calendar)

SEE FOR YOURSELF:
Browse behind-the-scenes of local food producers. Isn’t it great to know where your food comes from and who made it?
http://www.georgebowersgrocery.com/photos/

FRIEND/FOLLOW US:
(‘Cuz we’d be flattered!)
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GeorgeBowersGrocery
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GeorgeBowers

We always appreciate you passing along some kind words on our behalf. After all, good food should be shared with good friends. We look forward to getting to know you better and seeing you again soon.

Sincerely,
Brian and Katie (and George)
George Bowers Grocery
614 West Beverley Street
Staunton, Virginia 24401
540-255-6811
http://www.georgebowersgrocery.com