When a user interacts with you using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc, there is an understanding between you and the user as to what you will deliver.
There are three general content creation categories, (1) Bulletin Board, (2) Informational (3) Emotional. You should focus on one category for each effort. Sometimes, you can mix 1 & 2 or 2 & 3, but don’t try to do them all in one effort.
Bulletin Board – current news and events. These can be as simple as “new address 200 W. Main”. A Bulletin Board could also highlight an upcoming event. For the most part, this content is specific to a time and a place. Here is an example of a workshop video that was done for SCORE Chicago
Informational – “Our new facility is 3000 sq. ft. it includes ..” Product descriptions are also information videos. Training tips, insights into operations etc. Pointed answers to questions. Below you will find a product video and an answer to a question.
Emotional “ we are creating an environment that will …” A good video tour of a house would be emotional., connecting with you so that you want to live there. Emotional, does not have to be complex. Here is a short video done by Google about a person moving to Paris.
Understand what is the goal of your content. Then, create a place that is consistent with that goal. You can have more than one channel or Twitter effort. One person in Chicago has 5 different Twitter accounts, each one targeted toward a different effort.
Jess Constable, a recent guest on my TV show, has a business that sells jewelry. To that end, she has a website that showcases her jewelry (bulletin board + information). www.jesslc.com . Separately, she maintains a blog that connects with a community providing insights into simplifying your live makeundermylife.com . While the efforts are complementary, she doesn’t sell on her blog.
At one point or another I’ve heard someone define crazy as repeating the same exercise but expecting different results. Mentally I have this picture of an old Simson’s commercial where Bart or Homer keeps reaching for a Butterfinger after being repeatedly shocked. Basically, this is exactly how I see most marketers approaching the social space.
The metaphor here is to how the advertising world has learned to run itself by household level data supplied by the Neilsen’s of the world. Was this data every really useful? Did it ever shed insights on what really moved the needle? Or, did we just become so desperate to justify what we were doing we grew to accept them as a course of action. These statistics became an enabler to do our whim – kind of like my Weight Watchers diet.
Why then, when approaching social would we think things would be any different? Immediately, we’ve all jumped on the buzz bandwagon looking for justification. Problem is people have not “settled” yet and are still pushing for a social answer that is more accountable and more related to actual business performance.
As service providers then, the question is how do we step to the plate? How do we provide a measure that truly speaks to business value created? Start by finding the “client of the future.” Producing meaningful metrics is entirely contingent on dumping the current episodic, campaign driven mentality of marketing and re-orientating the go to market with a customer centric strategy. Look for folks who get the “4-B’s” or the like, they are few and far between. Conversely, you can continue to play the Pancho to your clients as they tilt their windmills with cries of “reach”, “popularity”, and “friends”.
Yesterday, Walker Sands’ very own John Fairley moderated a discussion on social media and search engine optimization (SEO) at the Social Media Breakfast Chicago #3 event hosted by SCORE Chicago. John brought up a lot of great points for discussion in the group about social media and SEO, but after attending and discussing with the group I think there are some key takeaways everyone can start using today.
No doubt social media has a large influence on SEO. Take Walker Sands for example. If you Google a brand, such as ours “Walker Sands”, you will find that more than half of the links are influenced by social media. From our LinkedIn account, to Google reviews, to our Twitter stream and even our blog. Social media plays a large part in the content displayed in the search engine results page.
As John put it to the group, all of these social media sites are linking back to your Web site. And even though a lot of sites have adapted no follow links (meaning you may not get the benefit of link juice from them), they are increasing your visibility in the search engine results page.
So what does this mean?
Social media can and does influence your SEO. However, the goals for your brand may determine what strategy works best for you.
If you are an already well established brand, you may want to leverage social media to help you optimize for other keywords and phrases. For example, if chip giant Lays decided they wanted to enter the dessert game and offer chocolate-covered potato chips, simply putting it on their website may not be enough. As part of their marketing campaign they may leverage a blog to discuss the finer points of chocolate-covered potato chips or even YouTube videos about how to make and eat the chips properly. These social media tools in conjunction with their larger marketing campaign will help Lays rank for dessert ideas and chocolate-covered potato chips.
On the other hand, a less well-known and established brand may take a different approach to utilizing social media for SEO. This may include a startup company looking to fill out their brand more strongly. They might focus all of their social media and community building on branded items that help push their name to the top of the search engine results page and help fill out all of the results when someone searches for them.
John Fairley suggests that focusing strong efforts in some channels (the ones that specifically make sense for your business) is definitely better than spreading yourself too thin. He suggests that everyone should get a blog because that is the social media channel that you can most easily utilize to help influence search engine ranking.
Beyond a blog, if Facebook doesn’t make sense for your company, wait to use it. But if Yelp or Twitter does, make sure to not only leverage that but to build those communities into strong locations for your brand.
Thanks to John for leading a great discussion on social media and SEO, also wanted to shout out to the group members at the SCORE event that helped keep the conversation so lively!
I’m always honored when I’m asked to speak on a panel or moderate an event in front of a roomful of people. It can be intimidating, however, as hundreds of ears tune in for the pearls of wisdom you hopefully offer. Usually, no one throws rotten fruit in my direction.
Last week [Oct 20 09] I had a new honor, and this one was exceedingly fulfilling. The organizers for Social Media Breakfast Chicago have created a program where the moderator leads a discussion for about a dozen attendees in a small room, not a discussion with four panelists who pontificate in front of a ballroom crowd. This approach allows everyone to participate as the moderator–me, in this case–asks questions that the group can embrace and illuminate upon. Everyone is involved to the degree that makes them comfortable.
I’m a journalist by training (these days, that makes me an editorial consultant), so the approach is ideal: I was able to do what I do best, ask questions and then sit back and take notes. My panel discussed mobile marketing trends, one of the hottest topics of interest to communication professionals. Our group included a small business consultant, a media analyst from a major retailer, a non-profit “policy wonk” (his words!) and marketers with international clients.
While I could fill a few pages with take-aways from the SMBChicago event, I’ll leave just one: Attend the group’s next breakfast seminar. You’ll learn much when everyone gets to participate.
We’re back with a fantastic lineup for our second Social Media Breakfast Chicago on Tuesday, October 20. Registration goes live at noon CDT on Friday, October 9. The lineup is below. You can register here: http://smbchicago2.eventbrite.com/
Topics of Discussion:
Measuring the Impact of Your Social Media Efforts
Tery Spataro, Digital Director, Proof Digital Media Chicago
Measurement, measurement, measurement: what does it mean in the social media space? Even with something as subjective as social media, there are means for measuring the results of outreach, participation, and reputation. First, it’s all about defining the objective and determining what you want to achieve. Second, it’s about turning those objectives into tangible metrics and then analyzing the results.
The Future of News on the Social Web and its Implications for Marketers
Jonathan Ozeran, Product Manager, Innovation at Tribune Interactive
The social web has radically altered the landscape for collecting, producing and distributing news and information. This holds equally true for traditional media publishers as it does for bloggers, entrepreneurs, academics — essentially anyone interested in having their voice heard. With the rapid and exponential growth of new products, tools, techniques and services, the technological barriers to entry continue to decrease at a dizzying pace. All of these changes have left publishers, marketers and advertisers vying for lead positions by leveraging creativity, ingenuity and social demeanor to dominate and retain the conversation. Our discussion will focus on the advantages and implications of these new tools on a consumer culture becoming increasingly social and visible on the web.
Obama’s Social Networking Strategy: Interpretation & Implementation
Kevin Flynn, Owner, Fly Social Media
During 2008, Kevin spent over 1,000 hours working on the Blogging Team at the National Headquarters of the Obama For America Presidential Campaign in Chicago. Kevin will lead a discussion on interpreting and implementing the Obama For America social media strategy and how it can be adapted into any social media initiative.
Personal and Business Interaction On Social Networks
Tracy Swartz, RedEye reporter and CTA columnist, RedEye Chicago
Are you the face of your company? Do you handle your company’s social media strategy? As the popularity of social networking sites continue to grow, so does the question of where to draw the line between your professional and personal net presence. Tracy will moderate a discussion on how she has successfully created a social media presence while standing within the goals of her company.
Mobile Media: Is the Future as Bright as We Think?
Eric Benderoff, Editorial Consultant, Bendable Media
The Web is becoming increasingly mobile, but the technologies for working and communicating online while on the go are not at all developing like the desktop-based environment familiar to us worker bees. Key differences include: Higher access costs, slower network speeds, unreliable connections, multiple platforms controlled by different service companies and a little trend known as “apps.” Many people believe that mobile development is where the Web was in the mid-1990s. Will it follow the same growth patterns? Be prepared to discuss what’s working, what’s not and what should people pay for content while on the go.
We here at Social Media Breakfast – Chicago truly appreciate everyone who was able to come to our first event. By all reviews and comments, it was a smash hit and we’re planning our second date as we speak.
In an effort to bring all of our participants together both offline and on, we’re providing a full list of the participants to our first Social Media Chicago event. Along with names, I’ve included Twitter handles and an easy way to add multiple participants at once.
You’ll notice many participants do not have an active handle. If for some reason, this is incorrect or if we’ve accidentally left someone off of this list or the Twitter handle is incorrect, please leave a comment and we’ll correct ASAP.
Many thanks Again.
Co-Hosts
Scott Bishop @thescottbishop
Craig Bagdon @craigbagdon
Mike Pilarz @mikepilarz
Table Moderators
Allan Schoenberg @allanschoenberg
Amber Porter Cox @amberportercox
Gini Dietrich @ginidietrich
Jeff Willinger @jwillie
Mike Dwyer @Cruiter
Participants
Alicia Kan @aliciakan
Charee Klimek @ChareeKlimek
Chris Campbell @WCVentures
Craig Grabiner @cgrab34
Cyril Nigg @earthbelowus
Doc Kane @dockane
Elizabeth Griffiths @elizabethag
Erin Serkaian @erinserkaian
Gordon Dymowski @gordondym
Gregg Jaffe @big_teeth
Jacqueline Zenn @jazspin
Jean Pickering @tektitegroup
Jen Luby @SecndCitySoiree
Jennifer Stuart @jenstuart27
Jenny Pfafflin @LittlePriest
Jim Binder @jimbinder
John Fowler @JohnRayFowler
John Merritt @johnemerritt
Juli Barcelona @julibarcelona
Justin Brunner @justinspage
Karen Chodzicki @KarenChodzicki
Larry Dantonio @Moparlar
Lin Dantonio @LinDantonio
Lynn Sheka @LSheka
Matt Cheuvront @mattChevy
Mike Hernalsteen @mikehernalsteen
Monica O’Brien @monicaobrien
Nicole G. Simonds @NicoleGSimonds
Philip Nowak @PhilipNowak
Tim McDonald @tamcdonald
Topher Alexander @Topher_A
Tristan Blease @thetristan
Veronica Ludwig @VeronicaLudwig
MJ Tam @mjtam
Erin Thomas
Akanksha Hoskote
Stacy Neier
Kevin Maasi
Jon Lafayette @jlafayette
Jody Russo
Jennifer Chhatlani
Jennifer Lucente @chiarchitecture
Jeff Kramer
Chidinma Kin
Emily Ledergerber
Dan Prager
4. Click “Ninja Follow” (*note: Do not worry if you are already following folks, it will automatically let you know)
5. Only if your settings are sent to receive updates via your phone thru SMS text, you’ll need to go to the new folks you’re following and turn it off. Go to Twitter and click “Following”. You will need to click on the settings tab and turn off the SMS button. Otherwise, like me, you’ll get 100 text messages in about 4 minutes.
Let us know if you have any questions. See you soon at the next Social Media Breakfast Chicago event.
