Score with content marketing + social media: "Play bigger than you are"

Score with content marke/ng and social media

Leverage your exper/se, the web and social media to ‘play bigger than you are!’

Didi Yunginger @LuminComm hCp://lumincommunica/ons.com

‘Playing bigger’


•  Like athletes who give up height or speed or strength to an opponent, businesses can use strategies to ‘play bigger’ in their compe//ve spaces

•  By embodying the truth in today’s world that everyone is a publisher and any person or organiza/on can establish itself as a thought leader

•  By engaging customers and turning them into ambassadors for your brand

•  By leveraging a combina/on of content marke/ng + social media

What does that mean?


Obviously,Starbucksisthe“bigger”brandhere.ButontheirFacebookpresencealone,howdifferentdoestheglobalbrandlookfromCommunityCoffee?A92-year-old,family-ownedcoffeecompanyoutofBatonRouge,Louisiana,with30coffeehouselocaIonsandaveryacIvesocialrelaIonshipwiththeircustomer(fan)base!

Here’s how to ‘play bigger than you are’

with content marke/ng & social media, in 7 simple steps:


#1 Take stock


•  Consider your exper/se (keeping in mind your en/re staff)

•  Do an audit of your exis/ng content assets (case studies, reports, ar/cles)

•  Now, how might you leverage these resources more fully by repurposing using different formats and promo/ng via more and different channels?

•  i.e., blog, webinars, a podcast, even by securing a speaking engagement, perhaps on a panel or workshop at an upcoming trade show

#2 Claim your spot


•  Even if you’re not ready to deploy your content strategy, set up all your social media accounts

•  Claim the names (i.e., @yourbrand on TwiCer, etc.) and do the basic account setup

•  Start gathering or planning art files: your logo, as well as cover/banner graphics and other suppor/ve images

•  The appropriate channels for you will vary depending on your industry but generally, and for now, the ‘big 3’ might be considered TwiCer, LinkedIn and Facebook

#3 Calendar


•  Commit to crea/ng and pos/ng content on a regular basis

•  Think about industry trends and ques/ons your customers or prospects frequently ask

•  Then, begin crea/ng a list of topics – including repurposing of any exis/ng materials you have that might be refashioned effec/vely as blog ar/cles, press releases, reports for external distribu/on, etc.

•  Begin reshaping your list into a calendar, taking into considera/on your sales cycle, other seasonal issues, etc.

#4 Find the influencers


•  Conduct research to iden/fy influencers opera/ng in your subject area online (one good tool is BuzzSumo)

•  Add them to the list of people you wish to be Following on TwiCer

•  Pay aCen/on to their posts, Retweet and Comment so you’re taking an ac/ve part in the community and the conversa/on

•  You will learn and uncover countless resources while you nurture awareness for your own brand and influencer status

Influencers: Individuals who have the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, posi<on, or rela<onship [businessdic/onary.com]

#5 Curate


•  Use all the resources at your disposal to curate relevant, valuable informa/on (trade magazines, business publica/ons, industry blogs, list servs, enewsleCers, etc.)

•  Share those golden nuggets via a Resource Center on your website, through commentary on your own blog and posts on your social accounts, par/cularly on TwiCer

•  Be sure to use a link shortener such as bit.ly or ow.ly or a social media management plaiorm such as Hootsuite or TweetDeck that performs that func/on automa/cally to avoid sharing overly long URLs

#6 Be precise: Words maCer!


•  Do keyword research to understand specifically how people use online search and social tools to go about finding answers to key ques/ons in your field

•  Free keyword research tools include those from SpyFu and SEMRush

•  Google’s Keyword Planner is the most widely known and probably used, but you must set up a Google AdWords account to access it

•  Then, use these keywords and keyword phrases in planning and crea/ng your content

•  Incorporate them into alt tags on any images you use (which will make these findable by search engines as well)

•  Use them with hashtags in your Tweets to make your posts findable beyond your exis/ng followership

•  In the example at right, the link I’ve shared and called out with the # mark will be seen by my fol- lowers but also anyone who uses TwiCer as a news and research tool and searches #contentmarke/ng

#7 Be your own source


•  Consider whether you have an opportunity to collect and present original research that would be useful to others and compelling to local or trade press

•  Publicity – or “earned” media – amplifies your reach and your credibility

One more criteria…


•  This one’s a bit of an intangible

•  Believe in yourself and your teammates (colleagues, in the organiza/onal world) – and exude that belief through your ac/ons and tone

•  Get ready, play BIG!


Thank you!

About Didi Yunginger With 25+ years in wri/ng and marke/ng, Didi has carefully honed the skills to build successful content marke/ng + social media campaigns. Those skills include researching, planning and organizing, wri/ng/edi/ng, in addi/on to up-to-the-minute knowledge and experience with digital and social media strategy.

About Lumin Communica4ons, LLC Lumin specializes in content marke/ng – fresh, search-op/mized website copy, regular blog ar/cles on /mely and relevant topics, white papers/case studies/reports that posi/on your organiza/on as a leader, etc. – and social media services for small- to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits to help them clarify and amplify their messages to enhance both reach and impact.

Score with content marketing + social media: "Play bigger than you are"

Marketing

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