Social Media is More Than Just Social Media

One of the most common confessions I hear from business owners for neglecting to use social media as part of their marketing strategy is lack of good content to share. It’s either they don’t have enough time to find and share content, or they lack the money to invest in content creation.

The thing is, social media is more than just writing and/or sharing articles for content marketing. There are many great ways to promote your brand on social media platforms without requiring dozens of articles or hours of curating information. Much of this needed content can be generated in the real world.

In his article below, Matthew Peneycad outlines some great ways to produce content that can be promoted and shared as social media content. Content that will have a greater impact for branding than your typical social media content marketing…

90% of Social Media Has Nothing to Do With Social Media

For many marketers and business owners, regularly producing high-value content is an ongoing challenge. In my experience, some marketers believe that they need to spend a small fortune to create valuable content, and sometimes they do. The challenge then, is how to produce great content on a regular basis without breaking the bank.

Too frequently, there is a community manager who is tasked with creating all of a brand’s content, and they spend hours upon hours on their computer, online, and on social media platforms working on scraping together next month’s content calendar. Despite the sometimes herculean effort that goes into this, it is also a big part of the problem.

For most organizations, the best way to create compelling content has nothing to do with computers, the internet or social media. In fact, most of what makes for amazing social media marketing has nothing to do with social media at all.

So, what can you do to avoid the peaks and valleys of great content and become a more dependable source of value to your consumers?

Well, it’s pretty simple really. Get off your computer, and start looking to the real world for content generating opportunities. Following are a few ideas for where to start:

Prove your brand’s promise

Undoubtedly you have a deep understanding of what your brand means to consumers’ lives and continually work to prove this through everything you do. Create compelling content by documenting, capturing, and finding new and creative ways to prove your brand’s promise. Don’t just talk about it, live it, and showcase that.

Showcase your product or service

While you certainly don’t wan to over do your self-promotion, or try to hard sell your consumers via social media, a key reason why people are attracted to you on social media is because of your product or service. Think about showcasing your product or service, how it is used, who uses it, where it is produced, and on. The key thing here is to show the reality of your product or service, not just rhyme off information from a sell sheet.

Community spotlight

For too many brands a community spotlight means commenting or liking a contribution that one of your consumers made on social media. Consider spotlighting consumers who use your product or service in interesting ways, or who do particularly interesting things themselves that are related to your brand. When you’ve identified these people, reach out to them, meet with them, and find some time to see them in person to learn what they’re up to, and how your brand plays a role in their life. Chances are that others interested in your brand, will be interested in these people as well.

Do something interesting

Have you ever noticed that the most interesting of your friends to follow on social media are those who live interesting lives? The reason for this is that their social media profiles mirror their real lives. The same principles hold true for brands. Find opportunities for your brand to live an interesting life and you’ll be rewarded with numerous opportunities for great content creation. Think about planning an event, making a splash with a new product launch, sponsoring a conference, or holding training sessions, to list a few ideas.

These are just a few thought-starters, but if you find yourself in a content creation rut, shut down your computer and get out there to show your consumers what your brand is all about in the real world.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/social-media/90-of-social-media-has-nothing-to-do-with-social-media-0344121#owLErzgA5TbprWkj.99

What are some other ways you can use real life events for social media marketing content? Please share your ideas below.

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By Bradley Benner