Social Media Essential Part of an Integrated Content Marketing Strategy
In my personal life, I get all sorts of important news from my social media feeds – which of my friends has a new job/new puppy/new hair color, who is winning the Taylor Swift / Kanye feud…
But as a business marketer, I know that social media remains an essential part of an integrated content marketing strategy – and it’s not just for companies to reach consumers. 93 percent of business-to-business (B2B) marketers are using social media to distribute content.
By Alyssa Hall, AVP, Marketing and Business Development, CDI LLC
The Miriam Webster definition of the word “social”: relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other. Definition of “media”: a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression. And though businesses are using social media as a means to reach customers and increase sales, to be successful, we have to stay true to the basic definitions – conveying and expressing thoughts in a way that is enjoyable to those in our social networks.
A winning marketing strategy integrates social media and always holds out hope for the viral video or any content with runaway views, likes, and shares (think kittens and babies, people). A 2016 B2B report by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs revealed that 93 percent of B2B marketers are using social media to distribute content (up from 87 percent three years ago).
It’s a bit like playing the lottery. If you keep producing great content that offers useful and enjoyable information, eventually your subscriber base expands and your brand wins big with name recognition, repeated electronic and word-of-mouth referrals, and loyal repeat customers.
But you can’t win if you don’t play.
To help you get started, I’ve written a three-part series of blog posts – the first of which will outline four important tenets of content marketing using social media.
Tip #1: Produce Quality Content
The worlds of sales and marketing have changed – people do not want to be told what they want. They aren’t looking for a hard sell. They want to find a partner in the companies with which they work. A reliable source of information that is useful to them, educational, and not an obvious push to get their money. A piece of quality content – if it’s relevant and useful to your desired customer base – will be read, liked, shared, and referenced.
Focus on producing a steady pipeline of quality content, including:
- Data sheets
- Printed Books or Brochures
- E-books
- Whitepapers
- PowerPoint Slideshows
- Blog Entries
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Online Experiences
Define your goal to be publishing quality content online, where it is immediately accessible worldwide. Take inventory, brainstorm, and build a catalog of new content ideas. Think about the issues your customers are facing – whether directly related to your industry or otherwise, and help them to discover solutions. Don’t be the salesperson, be the expert.
Tip #2: Empower Everyone to Contribute
The Internet, online communities, social media sites, e-mail, and mobile apps are used by billions of people all over the world. These tools are open for business and everyone on your team can contribute.
- Keywords: Someone with an interest in analytics can search Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other sites to determine how to best phrase an article title and its description. You can engineer content to appear at the top of the search results page or purchase keywords for optimum placement.
- Social Media Networks: Your marketing team can research which social media networks or platforms are best for hosting your content and reaching your target market.
- Online Experiences: As a team, trace the path you want your users to take through your content. For example, after an article, offer a free download and a more impressive bonus item when the reader subscribes. You can also build a lavish site, a game, or an interactive media experience that takes the user on a memorable journey before delivering one or more branded messages.
- Listen: I’ll never forget the sales manager who once said having two ears and one mouth was enough to remind him every day of the importance of listening twice as much as speaking. It’s true. Not everyone on the team is going to have the time and creative energy to write content or produce videos. That’s fine. They can listen to customers and record their ideas or reply with empathy and offer positive suggestions.
Educate your organization on best practices for social selling with an emphasis on building relationships. One of the best ways to empower the team to succeed is to invite them to develop their own full profiles on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Encourage them to reveal a glimpse into their personal lives and tell their own story. Contribute details about your favorite Netflix shows, to dog parks, to baseball teams to recent vacation or business travel. Relationships are built on engagement, trust, and authenticity.
Tip #3: Get in the Game (Participate!)
You want to attract people and build trust by sharing content, ideas, comments, and moments lived online. When you post a whitepaper and announce its availability online, and your customer expresses a sincere interest in locating that item, you will feel that sense of connection. And when 200 other users view or share that same item, you begin to see how social media can transform your business.
After your team develops their profiles, have them monitor social networks every day. Divide the sites up or work in shifts to optimize coverage. Reply with helpful comments, suggestions, similar solutions, or links to related content. You’re getting to know your customer and they are getting to know you!
Tip #4: Develop Relationships
Every day, read at least three entries from new contacts and cultivate a sense of belonging. Add them to your network. They want to feel trusted and valued. Instead of demanding attention about the newest product or demonstrating how much you already know about the user’s problems, continue to build rapport.
Make sure to visit your friends’ and followers’ sites, “like” their content, thank them for business – engage with them. In social media, engagement is everything. “Congrats on the new baby!” and “Nice job in the marathon” go a long way towards making your relationship more personal. Know who people want to do business with? People they like. People with whom they feel a personal connection. People who are present but not pushy.
A final part of relationship-building is to know your audience. Be aware in social media exchanges that an end-user who wants a case study is not going to be interested in a case study for resellers or distributors. And the opposite scenario is also likely. Resellers are more interested in secrets for winning new business, overcoming configuration difficulties, and generating more business. Product users want to leverage the success of other customers, minimize risk, implement new features, save time, reduce costs, add value, and see return on investment.
Conclusion
To capture market share through your social media marketing campaigns, optimize the customer experience with engaging content, actively assist customers in their unique journeys to discover and evaluate the right products and services for their needs, and resolve additional needs with social media platforms and online communities.
I promise your social media investment is never wasted. In just a few months, your staff will bond as a high-performance team, they will feel a renewed sense of focus on their technological strengths and core values, and the impact they have on site visitors will be measurable.