Create Social Media Content That Succeeds for SMB

BANGALORE, INDIA: Here are 10 ways to create successful content:

1. Make the Customer the Hero

They succeed, you succeed, right? Tell a customer story in a way that makes them look like they saved the day, came up with a solution, and reaped the reward. It's not about you. We love to hear stories that appear to be about us. If you can see yourself in the story, you are more likely to buy into the message.

2. Mobilize your Entire Company

You are an expert in your industry, your department, and your organization. Use your expertise to teach others. You're not the only expert, however. Your IT department, HR, C-Suite, engineers, etc. all have great advice to share as well. Ask them to provide content and suddenly, generating content can be a way of life at your company.

3. Stick to your Business Goals

Determine why you're creating this content. It all goes toward your marketing goals.This means understanding the people that read your content and creating more of it for them. Have strong calls-to-action so your readers do what you want them to do and constantly optimize your content based on your metrics and results.

4. Create a content Engine

Start with the content you already have, such as a case study or ebook. From there, transition your existing content into other content mediums. For instance, take that customer case study and make an ebook out of it by telling the whole story and include takeaways, interviews, additional stories or insights. Then read the ebook aloud and record that for an audio book. Make at least 5 blog posts out of key insights from your ebook. Shoot a video with the customer and put that on your YouTube channel. Strip out the audio of the interview and turn that into a podcast. The list goes on!

 

5. Take Intelligent Risks

If you're willing to be transparent with your stuff, you will be successful. We don't have any secrets, especially with social media, so don't be afraid! This could be sharing pricing info, competitor comparisons, or your recipes. We tend to fear failure, but those that succeed keep on trying, no matter what. Try new things. Who cares if your blog post had no retweets? The only person who saw that failure was you.

Also read: Kingfisher lesson: How not to fall like Mallya

6. Be a Storyteller

Whether it's a customer story, a story from an employee or the reason behind how your business started, being a storyteller can help you break through, demonstrate who you are, and make an impact. Get inspired to start thinking differently about your content and using it to tell a strong story. But not just any story. Tell the ones that are unique. The ones that resonate with you. If they relate to you, they'll probably relate to others too.

7. Go beyond text

Much like the content engine, try different mediums. Today, there are plenty of platforms to share your visual content, like Pinterest for infographics. Or you could try creating a video or podcast.

8. Gather content from others

You don't have to be the one creating content all the time. It could be as simple as a tweet asking your followers for ideas or opinions, which then turns into a blog post. Or it can be a larger effort such as the Domino's Pizza Turnaround, where customer surveys led to a complete change in their food and some great video content.

9. Be Transperent

Oil Can Henry's does one simple thing to stand apart from other oil change franchises. Customers stay in their car and watch the mechanics working over a video feed on custom TV screens. This creates a feeling of ease and encourages trust. If your brand doesn't lend itself to such physical transparency, let your CEO Tweet, make your quarterly holding calls public or have a public Q&A session on a Google+ Hangout. Check out this post for more ideas on becoming a more transparent brand.

10. Have a timed approach

Create a calendar that spells out what you're going to say and when you're going to say it. Make sure it's relevant to where people are in their lives and/or the season. Nobody cares about Santa Claus in August and your product or service may have peak times as well. Timing also relates to when you post content, when you share it and how often you do both. For instance, check out this Twitter data from Buddy Media which gives the busy and non-busy hours for tweeting.

Source: blogs.salesforce.com