A Blog Ain’t Nothin’ But Work
An early social media guru updates his followers via falcon.
When it comes to building awareness of your product, service or brand, there is no denying the power of social media. However, in a dynamic environment full of an increasing number of tools and trends, we find that technology often overwhelms strategy. What people fail to realize, contrary to what some “gurus” claim, is that blogs, Twitter accounts, and Facebook fan pages are not inherently revenue-generating machines… they’re work.
Each individual strategy will vary, depending on the available resources and desired goals, but there are four elements that we deem essential: Consistency, Authenticity, Relevance, and Diligence.
Tools cannot perform work in and of themselves, and in reality, that’s all Twitter and Facebook are. Granted, they are two of the most efficient broadcasting tools ever created, but they primarily serve as amplifiers. Furthermore, they not only amplify your messaging, but they also amplify the thoughts and ideas of anyone willing to share them, be it positive or negative.
So before you decide to publish that first blog post, send that first tweet, or invite your 239 Facebook friends to “Become a Fan” of your page, we strongly recommend you develop a social media strategy. Venturing out of the harbor without reviewing a chart is downright foolish, so do yourself a favor and plot your course prior to setting sail.
Each individual strategy will vary, depending on the available resources and desired goals, but there are four elements that we deem essential: Consistency, Authenticity, Relevance, and Diligence.
Followers, Facebook fans, and RSS subscribers have a voracious appetite for content. If you are unprepared to keep those morsels coming, people will quickly leave your table. This is where Consistency is important. Establish a pace you are comfortable with from the start (be it daily, weekly, or even monthly) and increase that pace only if you possess the resources to sustain it. If you are too aggressive, you will quickly find yourself struggling to maintain consistency.
Be realistic about your capabilities and know your limits. It is extremely important to identify who will be responsible for developing and managing the content before you begin. Don’t assume people will contribute in their free time, and definitely don’t depend on it. It’s not worth having a Twitter account if you update it annually.
Let’s assume you’ve tasked someone with developing content at a comfortable pace. They’re eager to get started, but what type of content is appropriate? Obviously this depends on your industry (we’ll get to Relevance in a moment), but whatever topics you decide to tackle, we recommend you do so with Authenticity. Each and every message is an opportunity to differentiate your voice from the millions of others in the marketplace. Use the blog to distinguish what is important to your brand and emphasize your core values throughout. The Web rewards authentic content by propagating it, which in turn develops your audience and amplifies your messaging. The net result of consistent authenticity is increased influence and brand awareness.
Relevance is a seemingly obvious essential, but it is often abandoned in an effort to remain consistent. What is relevant content? Well, for us it includes news related to projects we’ve worked on, press clippings, portfolio updates, and inspirational findings. If you find yourself struggling with relevance, your industry is either too obscure, or your posting pace is too aggressive. Typically it’s the latter of the two, and quite frankly, it’s time to reconsider your business model if producing relevant content is too difficult.
Nothing is more deadly than irrelevant filler, for two reasons: First, filler provides no value to your audience. Second, once you deem it acceptable to post filler, you will continue to post filler.
Nothing is more deadly than irrelevant filler, for two reasons: First, filler provides no value to your audience. Second, once you deem it acceptable to post filler, you will continue to post filler. It may be tempting to publish an impulse tweet in the name of “awareness”, but what you ate for lunch is simply noise. Produce enough noise and people will tune out. The calculated solution would be to slow your posting pace, thereby creating additional time to develop relevant content and reestablish consistency.
Finally, we find ourselves at Diligence. Don’t expect to launch your Twitter account and suddenly have thousands of followers exalting your product. Remember when we said social media was work? It takes time and dedication to establish yourself within a social group, online is no different. Actively participate in multiple networks, post comments to other blogs, and constantly work on expanding your audience. The social media landscape is vast, and it’s often difficult to determine which node will produce the greatest impact, so remain diligent.
