Have you embraced content marketing yet? Have you bought into the idea that content is, in fact, king?
It’s difficult not to feel like the role and value of content has dramatically changed over the past year. It was not that long ago that brands were getting their heads around social media; now they have to think about becoming publishers. No wonder some brands have little idea about what to do given the landscape is changing so fast.
Here’s the thing about content marketing and social media: they’re both meant to attract eyeballs and, at the end of the day, drive transactions. In other words, they’re marketing and sales tools that can be leveraged to attract target audiences to change their thinking or behaviour.
It’s really as simple as that, although it can be difficult to tell given the hype surrounding content marketing and social media.
Here’s another reality: content marketing and social media have the potential to be perfect partners because while they share the same mandate, they address the challenges in different ways.
Content marketing involves the use of content – Webinars, videos, blog posts, case studies, whitepapers, etc. – to build a brand’s profile and provide existing and potential customers with some kind of value. By creating content that resonates, brands hope consumers will think of them in a different way, establish a relationship and, ideally, buy a product or service.
Meanwhile, social media is a way to engage and have conversations with consumers by using tools that allow for two-way dialog. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Linked, YouTube, Tumblr or Pinterest, brands leverage social media to connect with consumers and, hopefully, have them connect back.
So what happens when you put content marketing and social media together?
If done right, the content created or delivered by a brand is distributed using social media services to target audiences looking to consumer content in different ways.
By using social media, brands can do a better job of getting content into the hands of people who may find it interesting or useful. As important, social media lets consumers engage with brands about this content.
In other words, content marketing and social media complement and support each other.
It explains why many brands are embracing content marketing because it provides more ammunition for their social media efforts. At the same time, social media can offer an effective distribution network for companies creating a lot of content.
Bottom line: content marketing and social media can be a powerful one-two punch.
More: For some other thoughts, Erin Nelson has a post on the “real magic” of content marketing, while Lee Oden has a post on five ways that B2B business can win with content marketing and social media.
Social media receives credit for many things, including its ability to have a major impact on societal and political issues.
It pretty much goes without saying that professional athletes have a spotty track record when it comes to using Twitter.
In a recent article in USA Today
If you’re worried about being asked to turn over your Facebook account during a job interview, then I am really happy you are reading this post.
Like a boxer that refuses to go down, blogs keep bouncing back even as new social media services such as Pinterest capture the spotlight.
The question about the role of social media in politics has been asked many times (even on occasion by this blog). It is a very important question, and with every election we inch closer to an answer.
While I’ve never read the books and I haven’t seen the movie yet, I still feel like I know almost everything about The Hunger Games from just listening to people talk about it. People seem to go nuts for The Hunger Games. It’s breaking box office records. It’s also causing quite a stir in the social media world. Today, I decided to take a look at just what kind of a stir it’s producing.
Facebook and Google, the two digital behemoths, just can’t seem to get along.
