Creating Content Your Customers Must Have
Creating content your customers must have.
The perfect product. The best brand. Even if you have these you can still find yourself lagging behind if you don’t take control of your social media content. The truth is you need more than a flashy website to get customers talking about your brand. What you need is content. Valuable, easy-to-access information that leaves consumers tweeting their rave reviews to the world. How do businesses create must-have content?
Tell a story
Storytelling isn’t just for novelists, according to Copyblogger’s James Chartrand. If you want consumers to listen to your message then tell them stories with problems, solutions, fears and emotions.
Telling tales through social media is an ideal way to engage potential and current customers. As part of their social media strategy, Toyota recently launched its Sienna Family campaign, a series of YouTube commercials telling the story of the typical American “minivan family.” As of May 2010 the latest installment, “Swagger Wagon,” had been viewed more than 1.3 million times.
Share tips, tricks, and know-how
Whether it’s trading efficiency tips with administrative assistants or teaching aquarium hobbyists how to use a state-of-the-art filter, sharing knowledge is an ideal way to build a trusting and profitable two-way relationship.
For example, if your clients are in a knowledge-heavy industry (think IT or education), consider using social bookmarking sites, such as Del.icio.us or Digg. These sites allow you to share relevant web resources, such as news stories, video, or research, which might be valuable to consumers.
Sharing information can also support customer service initiatives. Consider posting, for example, product demonstrations or how-to videos.
Keep things fresh
We live in a perpetually churning news/information cycle—which means that adding a post to the company blog once a month just won’t cut it. Whatever type of content you use to engage customers it’s critical to keep it fresh, according to Gordon Plutsky.
So how fresh is fresh? There’s no set-in-stone rule, but you’ll need to find a line between posts so few that customers will wonder “are they still in business” and outright, customer-repelling spam. Many experts recommend that no matter how much content you share with consumers, try to make it regular. If you blog, for instance, make it as much a part of your weekly schedule as your staff meeting.
If you can’t spend the time writing posts, tweeting tidbits or distributing documents, it’s time to invest in a social media engagement company with the ability to consistently share your message with the right consumers.