Is Your Content Organized For Social Media Marketing?

Over the next year you are determined to get your business focused on social media marketing. That’s great. Now let’s spend a few weeks getting our content organized so we make it easy to become a content publishing machine.

At this point you should have done your research so you know the keywords and phrases that your businesses is looking to compete and win with. You should also have a Unique Selling Proposition that positions your product or service differently than the competing brands in the space. Now we need to translate that into attention getting, educational content that motivates your target customer to interact with you business and convert to a sale or a lead.

Don’t get stumped on content ideas you can use for “link bait”. So everyone is on the same page, “link bait” is content that is specially created to attract your best prospects and convert them to leads. It should have a high perceived value by the target customer because it gives them just the information they are looking for at the right time. It can be in the form of a whitepaper, video, ebook, webinar, special consultation…you get the idea.

Here are a few ways to think about developing solid content that will get your target customers attention and make them want to learn more about your business:

1. Answer your target prospects most burning questions. Whatever medium you use (Video, whitepaper, article, ebook), you want your content to be found when your prospects are looking for solutions to their problems. Answering questions you know they have is a great way to find yourself at the top of the search engine results page.
2. Create an innovative approach (a “system” or “formula”) and use various content to educate your target audience about this specially designed approach. Key in on why it  saves them money, time or get’s them more customers.
3. Tips and mini courses are another way to make interesting content and be able to educate your target customers.

Now you are going to have two types of content.

First, content on your “home base”, that’s your website and blog. For the most part, you want to have your “link bait” on your “home base”. Second, you will have content that gets published in your distributed network. That’s web 2.0 sites, social networks, article directories and other places in the distributed web that your target audience hangs out in. You will then use your distributed content and social media to engage with prospects and drive them to your “home base”.

Key in this example is you are not hard selling at any time. If you have “link bait” that answers questions or is helpful and additive to the discussion taking place in the various web communities you are involved with, this is a natural process and you are a helpful person.

Now, let’s get organized. When you go to publish your content and register for accounts around the web…you will need to register for just about everything (article directories, web 2.0 sites you build pages on). If you are just getting started, here is a list of content and other resources you should put into an easy to access folder so it makes publishing a breeze:

• 10-12 articles
• 250-350 word doc with your website/company mission
• Agree on passwords and usernames for all the accounts you will open up
• Have a short and long form bio for the “author” or your articles
• Have nice graphics of your “link bait” with a description of what it is and why it’s important
• Don’t be shy, create video either in screencast or headshot form. Do 5-10, 30 sec to 2:30 minute videos that you can use on social sites, your own website and on video channels like You Tube
• If you have a company/product PowerPoint, you can use that as well
• Put company contact info in the folder so it is handy
• Keyword worksheet so you know what your titles and anchor text should be

Now you, or someone you delegate this task to, can quickly build up your presence in social media presence. Add content to this folder on a regular basis and you will have a content publishing machine. Make sure you are monitoring what articles and “link bait” is getting picked up most and learn why so you can further hone your content to attract your best customers.

We have a complete step-by-step social media marketing program that walks through this process in much more detail at Surefire Social.

Now go do it!