by Miriam Hara | Nov 5, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
There’s much ado about content management these days. In fact, it’s the new buzz word in the social media and marketing landscape. With so many business and brand managers just grappling with the ever-changing dynamics of the worldwide internet and what it means for their business and brand portfolios, content management is yet another aspect of this evolving channel that they need to understand. Content Management is the umbrella of the social media marketing landscape, where content creation strategy plays a significant role under that umbrella.
Like all initiatives in marketing, and more specifically, advertising, achieving critical mass is extremely important in social media. By now, I believe many businesses have come to terms with the fact that social media takes a lot of time and effort. In business terms, that means it’s not free, but nor is it inexpensive. In order for social media initiatives to work, clear goals need to be defined and closely tied into clear and precise strategy. This is what we, at 3H, refer to as Content Creation Strategy. In the social media arena, being without a plan that outlines specific strategy means that businesses are essentially just shooting at random.
Here’s a quick overview of a Content Creation Strategy.
Define your audience: As with marketing, a clear and concise statement of who your target is, is essential. Without it, you are just pushing out content without intent. The beauty of social media is that you can aim… very specifically. Hallelujah! Niche marketing is where it’s at, especially in social media. Why not take advantage of it? Mine the internet and find other like-minded and complementary sites that also speak to your target audience. Define your target: not only by where they go, but by what they do and what they like.
Create a plan: Content creation, like advertising, needs to have a plan. What are the relevant topics for your brand or business? Are there key cycles that you need to build up to and are important? In traditional advertising, if February was Heart Health month, then all the major brands with something to “sell” in heart health would be advertising in February. In the social media environment, there’s no need for that. Slow builds to peak event activity garners greater rewards. At 3H, we establish social media calendars, months in advance. This doesn’t mean that it is set in stone, but the ability to be nimble and flexible on a moment’s notice is key.
Mix it up: Content creation doesn’t only speak to words, blog posts, posts on Facebook, or discussion comments on LinkedIn. Make sure that you blend in a mix of visual(photos) and if possible, video as well. Once you engage in the social media platform, you’ll be surprised how many consumers you have that are your advocates already; sending photos, testimonials and videos and allowing you to share them on your social media properties.
Know where to be: Part of any solid strategy is knowing where to be seen. Assessing the true value of each social media property is essential as well as understanding the must-have versus the nice-to-have. There are so many properties… yet, so little budget. Assess the need to be on every social media property versus the key properties; building towards achieving a broader range and greater reach. That’s what strategy is all about.
If you haven’t established a content creation strategy for your brand or business, then stop what you’re doing… and do it now. Marketing is all about efficiencies, and a content creation strategy plays right into that. Content creation does reap rewards and does provide ROI, but only if, there’s clear objectives and strategy behind the content.
by Miriam Hara | Oct 31, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
In today’s competitive market, businesses must get found. Once found they must be perceived as keeping up with the ever-changing business environment. Business content marketing enables businesses to have the right first impression.
Striving for top of mind business and brand awareness is critical within an increasingly fragmented media space. Social Media has allowed everyone to become a publisher of content. So to keep pace within this competitive environment, businesses must publish content.
However, it’s difficult for most businesses that offer services to feel “comfortable” creating content that provides a valuable ROI. Business content marketing is no easy task. More often than not, it requires skill sets that some businesses don’t typically use.
Here’s a 5 step process that will help you maximize your efforts for business content marketing:
- Think about your business.
Yes, this sounds simple. But the actual process of writing down the services you offer and why clients should choose your business will help provide you with a business platform. This platform will be the basis for all your business content creation.
- Think about your sales process.
What are the concerns and questions that your potential clients and customers ask? What are the major roadblocks that your sales process currently faces? Often, the day-to-day sales operations offer a wealth of relevant subject material. When broken down, it can provide content creation ideas. It has been my experience that just one question can garner two or three different content references on the same subject.
- Find the key phrases and keywords.
Within the questions that potential clients ask, there are a substantial number of keywords that you can access for search engine efficiency. Armed with these keywords or key phrases, assess them with Google Keyword Planner or other keyword search tools. Google Keyword Planner, or Market Samurai (which is the one 3H uses), provide information on monthly keyword searches as well as other related, relevant keywords on the subject. Choose a maximum of five words to be included in each article written.
- Hire a writer to create content.
It is essential to have a well written article to place your business above that of your competition. It’s about all about establishing credibility and expertise. Remember to enrich business content creation with keywords to increase the efficiency of your efforts. Not only will you be providing good content, but you’ll be adding strength to your SEO initiatives. In order to create relevant business content that also promotes SEO, hire a professional.
- Double up on your efforts.
Make sure that the article written aims to establish a rapport with those reading your business content. Lastly, be sure to include a call to action at the end of each article. This will aid in lead generation and creating an integrated sales approach.
So here’s my call to action: I would like to invite you to download some of my “quick read” ebooks: Branding Understood, Social Media Understood or Marketing Understood. I look forward to hearing what you think!
by Miriam Hara | Oct 28, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest, Social Media
What is content marketing and how does it apply to building business and brand? A good way to start this conversation would be to reference the Janet Jackson song: “What have you done for me lately?”. Content marketing involves imparting information and knowledge with no expectation of return. In other words, it’s about giving back. Really? Really!
How do businesses go from a mindset of selling to one of guidance with no real concrete ROI? We all hear a lot about business relationships today. Business relationships have always been at the cornerstone of business success. What has evolved is how these relationships are being built today.
- It’s all about Google.
Gone are the days of brochure websites. Now websites need to perform by offering fresh and current information to get on the Google radar – that’s a good thing. The benefit of getting on the Google radar is that you’ll see your website rank go up. Content marketing assists in doing just that. Essentially you want your business to get found by your target when they are looking for your product or service. And there’s a strategy to developing this content, however that will be for another post.
- Websites are the first impression.
You know the old sales adage, “get your foot in the door”? That hasn’t changed over time. Although now a website is the window to building sales. Leveraging knowledge just makes sense. Having forums and relevant content on your site adds credibility. (See my recent post on Websites 2013: Maximizing Performance). And rather than you calling, with the hopes of turning that cold call into a warm call, prospects can and will reach out to you. So to completely leverage that content, be sure to have a prominent and visible “contact us” mechanism.
- Spread the word and increase your reach.
Content creation is a lot of work. And you need to keep updating the content on your website. So it is important to maximize the footprint of each “knowledge bite” your business imparts. Equally important is sharing it on social media platforms that link back to you site. (ie: LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups, Digg It, StumbleUpon). Continuous momentum of content marketing will start establishing your business by building the foundation for forming relationships.
Everyday there’s something new in the social media arena (or at least it feels like it). Understandably, it’s hard for businesses to keep up in the quick evolving nature of the marketing landscape. Couple the speed of this evolution with the lack of real expertise to navigate through these changes and businesses are finding themselves in a very challenging position. But challenges have always been what marketing has been about. Are you up for the challenge?
by Miriam Hara | Oct 21, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest
Where is brand awareness today?
Many marketers and business executives don’t value brand awareness as much as they did a decade ago. Some say it’s a thing of the past while others insist that it’s alive and well. For those who are in the former camp, I would urge them to think again. Investors put a lot of stock (excuse the pun!) in brand awareness. In fact, it plays a significant role in determining whether or not they will support a product or company.
Brand awareness is no longer about yelling the loudest and longest. Now it’s really about breaking away from the clutter to make your brand impression count.
Rather than trying to convince non-believers that brand awareness really does increase ROI, the aim of this post is to carve out what the building blocks of brand awareness are in today’s multidimensional market environment.
Be different: In order to develop brand awareness you need to provide your consumer base with something to remember and want to talk about. Your brand needs be solid and stand out through its brand persona, premise and brand positioning. It’s not enough to just talk at people anymore, brands must engage and interact with their audience. This is becoming increasingly important for building solid brand awareness. In order to do that, your brand needs to establish a voice and tone.
Get found: It’s important that your marketing strategy includes a strong SEO component. This should include a comprehensive online advertising campaign or a google keyword campaign.
Be engaged: One of the marketing channels available to us now is social media. How effectively you use this channel can mean the difference between success and failure. So it’s important that your marketing plan include a social media strategy in order to increase engagement and build upon your other SEO initiatives.
Be holistic: Don’t just rely on new media, make sure you have a good dose of traditional media too. I often laugh when people say, “Traditional media is no longer effective”, especially when I come across 30 second TV or radio ads urging me to go to Facebook and “Like” them! And yes, you’ll also find the same message in print media. But regardless of what channel you choose to communicate in, make sure that all your communications tactics drive your point of contact to the same place.
Be consistent: Don’t rely on a one hit wonder, especially with branding! It takes a solid, consistent commitment to build brand awareness. The good news is that with social media, relative to traditional media, being “out there” doesn’t necessarily take a lot of money – but it does take a lot of time and planning.
Be website ready: There’s nothing worse than having your audience listen and engage with your brand only to direct them to a website that isn’t primed to take advantage of that opportunity! First impressions count. And in today’s environment, that means your website has to perform well by creating a positive experience to potential consumers and customers.
How do you feel about building brand awareness in the current market conditions? And what have you done to outperform your competitors?
Please share your thoughts here…
by Miriam Hara | Oct 19, 2013 | Design, Interactive, Latest
It’s no longer good enough for businesses and their brands to have brochure websites. Now websites have to work a lot harder – especially when it comes to establishing business creditability within the internet environment. An integral part of any solid website design is having navigation that’s easy to follow in order to access information and improve performance on the www.
Any solid website design should consider the following to perform well on the internet.
Allow for social media integration.
The evolution of website design has kept pace with the emergence of social media as well as the various blogging platforms that are now available. Opt for content to provide value rather than glitz and great flash animations, these tire quickly. Credible information not only promotes your expertise, it also increases your chances to get found.
Ensure you get found.
What’s the point of having a website if you can’t be found? SEO is as much a part of the development of a website design as the content. Keywords aren’t just for google ad words – they are the cornerstone of your website when it comes to getting found. Make sure you have your h1 tags enriched with keywords that will drive traffic to your site.
Be user-centric.
Make sure that viewers won’t be frustrated navigating your website. You need to keep that bounce rate % down and the enjoyment rate up!
Keep it fresh.
Google is known to change its algorithm quite often. However, good, fresh contest is the basic premise of google search engines. Make sure that your website provides fresh content, often and consistently. And it’s important that this content is relevant information. Add videos, whitepapers, develop ebooks or even publish how-to projects – anything to keep the integrity of the site strong and provide value to those who visit your site.
Build for tomorrow.
Just like urban planning, a website needs a good infrastructure to build upon. The front end of a website is what we in the marketing field describe as “fun”, but ultimately it’s the navigation and structure of the site that will enable your brand site to really perform.
Who goes there?
Having good solid traffic is great. But if you don’t know who visits your website, you’re only scratching the surface of what your website can do for your business. Make your website work for you – its part or your sales team. Have strategically placed calls to action where you can ask for a visitor’s information. Tie in your social media tactics by adding content like e-books, recipes, entertainment ideas, crafts or scientific white papers to download. But make sure you ask for the visitor’s information to create leads. There are a few good companies such as Hubspot that can assist you in data farming your traffic.
Be responsive!
In today’s competitive and fast paced world, where mobile is becoming the next best thing (if it isn’t already), your site must be responsive… in more ways than one!
Does your website measure up? Take a quick audit of your website against these basic suggestions and see how well your website really performs.
