image flickr @tessawatson

As I approach my tenth year working in social media, I often look at the lay of the land and think of where “blogging” was back in 2005 (before the words “social media” even existed) and where the art of doing business socially stands today.  I am both amazed at how far brands have come and shocked at the same time that many businesses haven’t come far enough.

What do I mean?  Well, for example, let’s look at the role that daily content plays not only in the social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more, but its place (or lack thereof) in the overall marketing communications plan as an example of not seriously moving ahead with a brand’s social media opportunities.

After closely watching many larger brands via social media, I have noticed that there are some that spend their time putting together one-off online campaigns that are clever, eye catching, entertaining and very expensive.  The amazing creative and the efforts behind it might grab attention for the short term and even receive awards for their outstanding work, but will these same campaigns…

  1. Inspire loyalty in the customer?
  2. Position the brand as experts?
  3. Elicit trust?
  4. Create an impulse to think of the brand first when shopping?
  5. Ultimately sell products?

Sadly, many times the answer is no to these questions because there is often a big disconnect between the high level glossy promotions and the daily content strategy where in the everyday on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and more, you have the opportunity to be front and center with your customer and create content that answers the call of the above questions.

Daily social content should keep in mind the companies mission, short and long term marketing and sales goals as well as promoting the big digital and PR campaigns.  There should be a 360° approach taking place daily on all social networks where your brand has a presence. While this may seem like common sense, many brands with the larger budgets don’t take this approach and often miss a chance to build a long term consistent relationship with their customer which can be a huge driver in maintaining and increasing sales.  Client Bigelow Tea is a great example of how to invest in strategic daily content as noted in our case study:

 

So how does a brand find daily social media success?  Ask the following and share the answer directly or indirectly with every Facebook update, every Tweet, every Pin, every blog entry, every Tumblr post, and every video on YouTube:

  1. What is your mission?
  2. What do you sell (be specific…down to the smallest details…customers want to know everything)?
  3. What is the big deal about what you sell?
  4. Why should the consumer pick your brand over any other (without degrading your competition)?
  5. Does your company do good in the world by taking care of your employees, honoring the environment, or giving back in some way?

If every brand (or agency for that brand) fully understands that daily content is not random, you are ahead of the game, you will win against your competition, and you are the innovators still…at this point.

-Valorie Luther, Founder Creative Concepts

 

photo credit: tjmwatson via photopin cc