Content marketing articles from our agency

We’re as delighted as the next user/consumer about the growing trend of big and little businesses everywhere turning their attention to social media channels. In its various guises (feeds, pages, video channels etc) there’s no doubting as a communication channel, social is here to stay. The one thing people forget, is you’ve gotta feed the social beast – and it likes to eat content.

Let me put it a different way. If you saw your company’s Facebook Page as a social channel, then you need to provide programming. Imagine doing all this hard work to get half the English speaking population in the world to Like your page in the process building a massive a audience, but not really be sure what it is you’d like to say to them. Or worse, having nothing new to say, instead just repeating what you said somewhere else…

Go Pies’ is not a value-add status update on your company’s Facebook page unless you happen to be the Collingwood Football Club. And if most of your Facebook database don’t barrack for Collingwood, this kind of thing will likely result in a break-up of the relationship between you and them. But wait, you say – surely it’s a conversation starter? Nope, it’s annoying chat room agitation that will end in tears.

A basic rule of thumb to remember is this: First, before anything, create strong content. It takes strong content to engage social influencers. Once social influencers are true believers, then everybody else follows. Essentially, that’s how it goes in the world of social media. Actually, it’s also how it goes in the world of everything else media also (Just ask Ben Elton).

What we’re trying to say here is that to manage your brand in social channels you’re going to need a content strategy – and that strategy needs to work within the rules of social engagement like: just you try and control this you big bad ass corporate and we’ll have you and you social media training wheels for breakfast!

Next up is the question of what content. Can the content you use everywhere else be funnelled out through your social channels too? Yes and No.

Yes in the sense it would need to be the hit of the week – the content worth highlighting – the stand out content worth sharing – that’s a good idea. No in the sense that if you throw 40 different chunks of content a day at people your content will only act as an annoying advertisement in between other chunks of stand out content in a feed – which may well include the latest LOL Cat video, whether you like it or not.

Content strategy is everything here and in a nod to the chicken and egg debate, it’s arguable that this one should be nutted out first, in order for the social strategy to be nailed.

The interesting thing about social media in a business environment is that it’s forcing brands to become publishers that in turn, must produce content. You think Starbucks had any intention of getting into the publishing scene when they thought they were in the business of selling coffee?

Think again my friends, because it’s a brave new content-driven social media world we find ourselves in.

Ps: Starbucks Frappuccino, in collaboration with the MOG Music Network, provided music fans with exclusive access to video coverage of the Bonnaroo Buzz Tour in the lead up to the 10th anniversary of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

And we thought Starbucks was in the business of making coffee.