First is Rich Content, Social Media Comes Second! | Hello Bloggerz

Content is the currency of social.

By now, a large percentage of firms, small companies and online businesses have understood that their participation at social media channels is indispensable for success. Those who don?t yet understand the ?necessity of being social? at least have a fear that if they don?t join social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, they will be left behind.

That?s why most of the small businesses have Facebook pages, Google+ (or Plus) company pages and Twitter accounts. Many of them are also smart enough to advertise their social media pages offline and asking people to ?like? or ?follow?.

But, they are missing one vital point ? ?rich content?.

The fact of the matter is that social media can?t help your business grow, if you don?t have a social media content strategy in place. According to recent statistics, around 91% of online adults are regular social media users. But have you ever thought why these users go to different social media sites on a regular basis? What is it that attracts users to Facebook? Why do people feel the need to go to YouTube daily? What are people looking for when they log into their Twitter accounts?

If it?s not about their family or friends, it?s rich content. Definitely, social media users are looking for value-added services and great products. But what they are desperately looking for is new ideas and useful information that they can use to improve their day to day problems and issues.

?Content is the currency of social?, says Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company. Therefore, the biggest reason why most of the small businesses and companies fail with social media is that they lack a content strategy. They are deprived of the rich content that is essentially required to fuel their social media activities, to achieve business growth or increase revenue.

Content can take many different forms ? blog posts, videos, images, podcasts, contests, poll questions, quizzes, infographics. However, content can be termed as ?rich? only when it has the ability to engage a target audience, stimulate conversations and evoke responses (or actions). Sadly enough, most of the small businesses aren?t ready to provide their prospective customers with rich content. Worst of all, many of them don?t even have a social media content strategy in the first place.

Any social media platform is like a starting point for trains, occupied by people of different demographics, pulled only by engines that have ?rich content? as their fuel.

Social content is not the same as the content on your websites. If you are an active internet user, you?ll come across thousands of companies that have attractively designed websites with well-written content on them, yet they are unable to make a hit when it comes to social media marketing. The rich content that you need to drive momentum among your target audience frequenting different social media channels doesn?t live on your company website. In fact, it needs to be created in the forms of videos, blog posts, images, podcasts etc. Through these content sharing mediums, you can share tips, how to?s, interviews, tutorials, factoids, case studies, live events, news and opinions among others. That?s what you need to deliver, because that?s what your target audience is actually looking for.

Before jumping on to the social media bandwagon with your eyes blindfolded (simply because everyone else is doing it), you need to take a step back, relax and think. You need to ask yourself whether you have developed an effective social media plan which also includes a ?rich content strategy?, in addition to conversation monitoring, goals identification, implementation and key success metrics.

A rich content strategy should involve ?

Determining the focus of your content
Deciding on the type of the content
Choosing the posting frequency
Creating a content calendar
Finding out what works and what doesn?t

Though you may like to give different shapes to your content strategy for social media marketing, you must have a content strategy in the first place. Find out where you target audience is hanging out. Understand clearly what they like talking about. And then create a rich content strategy that can encourage your prospective customers to associate with your brand. Tweak as and when required.

Are you using social media to grow your small business? Do you have an effective content strategy in place to make the most of your social media marketing efforts? Please share your views and opinions in the box below.

This post was written by...

Obaidul Haque ? who has written 229 posts on Hello Bloggerz.

Obaidul is a professional SEO, freelance writer, guest blogger and online marketer. Owner of HelloBloggerz.com, he works with a wide range of clients from all across the globe and helps them expand the online reach of their businesses. Music is like oxygen to him. He can be reached via Google+ or Twitter.

Source: http://www.hellobloggerz.com/social-media/content-strategy-for-social-media

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