For many marketers, their first foray into social media was putting up a Facebook fan page or Twitter account – to which they randomly posted random content. Of course, this experiment failed as they attracted only a small and ragtag assortment of fans and followers.

The key to an effective social media plan is to establish the importance of strategic content. It is the act of creating (or uncovering) and distributing this content that will help you achieve your strategic objectives.

Some of you may cringe at this suggestion, but it’s really about bringing the discipline of marketing and publishing to the seeming randomness of social media:

1. Staying on brand
2. Targeting content
3. Keeping content recent and frequent
4. Building an expectation of value
5. Providing a feedback loop

If you’re a victim of the “what are we going to post today?” syndrome, here are a few tips to get started with strategic content development:

1. Analyze your primary target audience. What value can you bring to them?
2. Audit your content assets. You’ll be surprised by what’s available in-house or from third parties.
3. Recruit contributors. Don’t be too narrow. Interest may come from some very unexpected places.
4. Develop an “editorial” calendar. Create a rollout plan that will provide your audience with relevant and timely content, but will also allow plenty of room for topical postings, following interesting threads or just reveling in the spontaneity of the social environment.

Now that the shine is off social media, isn’t it time to put it to work for your organization?

Categories: Brand Amp, Conversation-Centric Marketing, How to Go Social, Zeitgeist & Coffee