Content is the big social media buzzword of 2014. And whether you’re trying to sell windows or t-shirts, online content has two goals that play off each other: increase user interaction while building your brand (or your client’s brand) at the same time. Again, these strategies work hand in hand – your content needs to bring potential customers to your site, and your content needs to show a level of expertise in a given field.
So how does your company develop the right type of content to bring in potential clients and customers? Simple – by creating a content strategy system.
Nao Media and Consulting uses a content strategy system to manage our client’s content needs Check out our “3 How’s” to developing a successful content strategy system:
How do you speak to your market?
The answer to this question determines the tone of your blog or online content platform. If blogging, the best blogs take on an informal approach to the writing – addressing readers as “you” and the blog as “us”. So yes, while your content should be formal in the sense of having correct spelling and punctuation, you do want to have a personal touch with your online content.
Beyond that, you need to know your market. When Nao was creating content for a company that sold used golf balls online, we made sure to use terminology that would resonate with the weekend warriors. When we created online content for a local hospital in Columbus, Georgia, we looked at who would read our blog (local citizens in the county) and geared content towards a local bent. The first and most important step in building a content strategy system begins with your audience.
How often do you want to publish?
Determining the frequency of your content posts is important to consider as you build a content strategy system. Creating a schedule is one of the first steps we take with clients (as well as this very blog). We have content topics weeks, sometimes months, planned in advance. This not only lets our clients see what’s coming up on the schedule, which they can tweak, but also lets us see holes in our content strategy system that we need to improve upon.
How will you distribute your content?
There’s an idea in content marketing that it’s not how much online content you create, but how you distribute it. And while Nao might not agree with that verbatim, the idea is intriguing. There’s many social platforms to distribute content. It’s important to note two things: first, know the rules of the specific platform. The verbiage for Facebook will not be acceptable for Twitter. Second, look to create content that spans across each platform. A post on Twitter will highlight different aspects than a post on Facebook. But, if done right, you can get double the mileage out of the same post.
Every company must develop an online content strategy system with concrete goals in mind. But how you achieve these goals is part of a larger content strategy, like what we offer at Nao Media & Consulting. Before you start, ask the right questions and create the right plan – your brand, and your customers will thank you for it.
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