So, a month after taking the ‘Leap’ out on my own, the keyboard has been a very central focal point in my life for most of that time as the picture above implies. After numerous years of building other businesses and brands in some really interesting industries, it was time to once again focus on and start building my own brand. Business cards? Check. Designing a site? Check. Creating content? Check. Then the fun part, linking the social media and ensuring a consistent brand message across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Google+. Which brings me to the question, when exactly does social media stop being fun and become another thing you ‘have’ to do?
One major hurdle businesses face when starting out with social media and a marketing plan is coming up with great content. In the case of social media, it is coming up with that great content… over and over again. Because of the real-time and always-on nature of the social networks, there’s a lot of pressure for businesses to provide consistently valuable information to their audience, day in and day out. Its not long before this leads to content fatigue, and eventually giving up on social media altogether. After all, who has the time to post, blog and tweet every single day? You have a business to run!
One way I’ve found over the years to avoid social media burn out is by reusing your content. You don’t have to come up with brilliant posts or tweets that entice your audience over to your blog or website landing page – you already have them. It’s just a matter of unlocking them from the content you’ve created elsewhere. Let’s face it you are in business because you are an expert – on something. To sell your product you’ve created sales or datasheets, maybe a product guide or content for your website, or article for an industry magazine? These are all content assets you own.
So to reach a wider audience with assets you already own there are a few simple steps to follow. The first of which comes down to that wonderful four-letter word ‘PLAN”.
1. Create a calendar to keep your activity across all the social media platforms you use. Allocate topics – product promotions, new tools in your industry or even a basic customer appreciation week. If you know what you’re going to be talking about it is easier to pull that content from your archives.
2. Determine exactly what content to reuse. You want to choose the type of content that retains its value long after it’s been published. Think tips and tricks posts, opinion pieces, or industry insights here. A cool tip is to rewrite a couple of new headlines to introduce a new insight.
3. Finally ensure it works towards your brand’s goals. Why are you on social media? Is it to drive traffic to your website or blog? Try reusing archived posts and guest posts. Is it to get new customers? Maybe you’ll want to consider reviving an old landing page.
Remember you are in business for a reason, just because social media is real-time and always-on doesn’t mean you need to be. If it still seems to be a bit more to handle than what you want, contact me. That’s why I went in to marketing.
HELP! I NEED TO GET A MARKETING STRATEGY!
