16 Jun Social Media Breakfast 79: Recap
For the Axiom team, this past weekend was spent digesting all of the digital and social knowledge served up at the 79th installment of Minneapolis’ Social Media Breakfasts last Friday morning (#SMBMSP79 on Twitter). The session featured speaker Lee Odden, content marketing mastermind, industry thought leader and author of the book Optimize, which discusses the substantial value of integrating SEO, social media, and content marketing. As a company that relentlessly works to optimize strategies for clients in areas of digital and social, our ears are always open to the tips and tricks of the fields’ experts. Here are some of the key takeaways from Friday’s breakfast:
The More Content You Create The More “Hooks You Have In The Water”
Lee suggests spending the same amount of budget and energy on distribution as on content creation. He states the biggest flops in content marketing are missed opportunities as the result of companies failing to ensure their content is at the right place and the right time. Many companies create bite-worthy content, but don’t take the time and effort to maximize its reach.
Co-Create Content With Your Target Audience
First, determine the influencers that impact your target audience and understand their worldview. What information are they looking for? It’s important to attend the same conferences they do, and strive to build relationships that will enable you to uncover this information. From there, you can work together to create content that benefits everyone involved. One way to accomplish this is by asking influencers to contribute to a round-up post on a pertinent topic. Another creative way is through participation marketing. Campaigns such as “Doritos Crash The Super Bowl” and REI’s 1440 Project encourage influential consumers to share their own experiences, thus having their audience actively involved in the process of content creation.
Be The Best Answer
Content is only productive if there is mutual benefit. Lee states that good content should have three parts. What is it? How does it solve a problem? What do I do next? Even if your content is out of this world, it won’t be useful to your audience if you don’t tell them how to use it. Content marketing is less about the sale and more about delivering information that speaks benefits to users. The key here is consistency. If you are preaching best practices, make sure you are using them. Prove your capability with case studies. Most importantly, be diligent about asking yourself if the content you deliver solves a problem for users and gives clear direction on how to move forward.
Want to learn more about how an effective content marketing strategy can accelerate your sales? Email Leah Teravskis at leaht@axiomcom.com.
Photo courtesy of @smbmsp.
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