So we’ve established that there is a place for social media in your marketing toolbox. And we’ve also established that social media is all about the exchange of information. The next obvious question is what kind of content should be exchanged through social networks?
I have been tweeting for about 2 years now and I’ve read a lot of tweets in my day. I follow all kinds of different people: big box retailers, small independent merchants, marketing professionals, retail consultants (like me) and the NFL. As you can see, you can pretty much find tweets about whatever subject you are interested in (remember that, it will be important later). Twitter can be pretty addictive and today’s technology allows people to stay connected on their mobile phones. The other neat thing about Twitter is that tweets are now Google searchable (remember that too, it will also be important later on).
The messages I get via TweetDeck (that’s just a tool to follow and send Tweets) are varied. As you read this, the NFL is keeping me up to date on the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Whole Foods sent me a recipe for a fennel and tangerine salad and The Retail Doctor informed me about the dangers of ‘peeing in your own hat’ (if you are a retail manager or owner, you must read this post: http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/motivation/hat). Where do you fit in with this? Ask yourself this question and write the answer down:
“What is my area of expertise?” or “If I were to talk the ears off of someone, what subject would I discuss?”
Your social media content should be about whatever you wrote down.
Hopefully, that subject you have expertise in reflects the kind of business you are in. Al Bundy sold shoes for a living. Would he tweet about it? Probably not (If you don’t know who Al Bundy is, click here).
Here are a few points to consider when building your content for social media:
Remember, social media is not an outlet for you to put out commercials. You need to offer something of value in your content. This article you are reading is giving you basic knowledge of social media marketing and I’m not charging you a thing for it.
You only have 140 characters when tweeting so it literally forces you to be concise when delivering messages. Links to your blog or an article that is relevant to your area of expertise are great. Sharing information is the core value of social media.
Deliver content that is meaningful and relevant to your particular category or area of expertise. If you sell shoes, I don’t really care that the producer of The Hurt Locker won’t be at the Oscars. I’m following you because of your expertise.
Keep it light and fluffy. If you want to grab attention, you need to have minimal writing skills to keep the reader engaged. If you enjoy what you do, then writing about it shouldn’t be too hard. Stay away from formal essay or article writing protocols. After all, this is the Internet.
Like commercials, people can easily forget about you. It’s important to maintain your presence on social networking sites with a certain frequency. While there is no written law, my research suggest posting at least 2 times a week will keep your brand out there in social media land. Some (like me) post every day. As long as you are outputting something of value, you will always find someone to read it.
