Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy, Part 6 - Provide Consistent Content, Don’t Simply Dabble
Posted By: Thomas Shaw, 8:00am Tuesday 11 August 2009
Now that you’ve got spokespeople, guidelines and an understanding of the landscape, you are ready to engage in social media. Social media is about contributing to the conversation, not just selling your product or service.
It is acceptable to tout company announcements and activities, but participation means going beyond promotions. Share third party resources with your followers, fans and social media network. Offer them interesting articles and opportunities that will help them better understand the industry and see the value you can provide.
If you have a blog, tweet links to interesting articles that may provide valuable information on emerging trends or other educational materials within it and drive people back to your content. The more valuable your content, the more your audience will grow.
Commit to your social media network. Be consistent with your updates, while you may not be able to post your own content on every occasion, regularly offer general thoughts and opinions on other content. Staying involved with your network is the only way to really leverage the platform. Anyone can create noise in social media, it is up to you to provide valuable insight.
Staying on top of trends in your industry and having the ability to deliver well thought out analysis positions you as a thought leader, builds your organization’s credibility and can positively influence your organization’s online reputation.