IT social media marketing starts (and ends) with content
April 15th, 2009 - Posted by Tim Freestone
Forget about blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and everything else for a moment. Platforms come and go, and linking your marketing future exclusively to a tool could leave you at the mercy of a company that isn’t your own. Instead, focus on the content, and use that starting point as a way to reach your target market on whatever platform has the highest potential. As they enter and fall from favor, the impact to your company will be minimal, and while your competitors are scrambling to adjust to a new reality, you’ll find the transition to be nearly effortless.
It’s hard to imagine the decline and fall of Facebook or LinkedIn. They are just too popular right now. And blogs … they’re everywhere. How could they ever go away? But, as you know, shifts in media and technology are a fact of life. Newspapers were once thought to be unassailable. In the social media space, we’ve seen patterns change already, too. Remember MySpace? Once upon a time, nobody could imagine anything replacing it – and the converse proved true with unprecedented speed.
Don’t misunderstand me on this one – social media marketing is important; it’s perhaps the most powerful development in business-to-business marketing since the commercialization of the internet. To write it off as a fad is to cede at least some of your business to the competition. But, you have to have a prudent approach to this space in order to win, and that starts with not pinning your entire social media marketing strategy to the success of the platforms you choose.
Instead, start with content.
Decide what you want to communicate to the market. Then, choose your medium – it could include a written article, photos or multimedia. Likely, all of these will be involved. Emphasize the value you deliver to your clients, and craft a compelling message that makes it easy for a client or prospect to see how you can help. Explain how new technologies can deliver a business advantage, speak to specific pain points and generally solve your market’s problems.
Once you’ve done this, it’s time to look at platforms.
You’ll need to be flexible. Build and launch your blog. Develop a LinkedIn community. Communicate your blog headlines via Twitter. Integrate these environments to create a contained online community that is designed to retain your market’s attention and entice clients and prospects to return regularly. But, focus on the content. Your core content piece should be carved into pieces that use the platforms to engage your target market.
Publish your blog post.
Tweet your headline.
Post your article to LinkedIn and facilitate a discussion.
If any of these platforms is surpassed by another, the risk to your company will be minimal. You can continue to develop content, and adapt its use to the environment that comes next.
In the realm of social media marketing, you’re clients and prospects won’t be sold by the fact that you have a blog or a Facebook fan page – they will be hooked by what you’re using these tools to say. Message is paramount: tools are merely tools.
Forget about blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and everything else for a moment. Platforms come and go, and linking your marketing future exclusively to a tool could leave you at the mercy of a company that isn’t your own. Instead, focus on the content, and use that starting point as a way to reach your target market on whatever platform has the highest potential. As they enter and fall from favor, the impact to your company will be minimal, and while your competitors are scrambling to adjust to a new reality, you’ll find the transition to be nearly effortless.
It’s hard to imagine the decline and fall of Facebook or LinkedIn. They are just too popular right now. And blogs … they’re everywhere. How could they ever go away? But, as you know, shifts in media and technology are a fact of life. Newspapers were once thought to be unassailable. In the social media space, we’ve seen patterns change already, too. Remember MySpace? Once upon a time, nobody could imagine anything replacing it – and the converse proved true with unprecedented speed.
Don’t misunderstand me on this one – social media marketing is important; it’s perhaps the most powerful development in business-to-business marketing since the commercialization of the internet. To write it off as a fad is to cede at least some of your business to the competition. But, you have to have a prudent approach to this space in order to win, and that starts with not pinning your entire social media marketing strategy to the success of the platforms you choose.
Instead, start with content.
Decide what you want to communicate to the market. Then, choose your medium – it could include a written article, photos or multimedia. Likely, all of these will be involved. Emphasize the value you deliver to your clients, and craft a compelling message that makes it easy for a client or prospect to see how you can help. Explain how new technologies can deliver a business advantage, speak to specific pain points and generally solve your market’s problems.
Once you’ve done this, it’s time to look at platforms.
You’ll need to be flexible. Build and launch your blog. Develop a LinkedIn community. Communicate your blog headlines via Twitter. Integrate these environments to create a contained online community that is designed to retain your market’s attention and entice clients and prospects to return regularly. But, focus on the content. Your core content piece should be carved into pieces that use the platforms to engage your target market.
Publish your blog post.
Tweet your headline.
Post your article to LinkedIn and facilitate a discussion.
If any of these platforms is surpassed by another, the risk to your company will be minimal. You can continue to develop content, and adapt its use to the environment that comes next.
In the realm of social media marketing, you’re clients and prospects won’t be sold by the fact that you have a blog or a Facebook fan page – they will be hooked by what you’re using these tools to say. Message is paramount: tools are merely tools.
