10 steps to build your business through your content

10 Steps to Build Your Business Through Your Content


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

THIS IS A PRESENTATION WE GAVE AT BLOGWORLD NY 2012

Finding the right type of content to create can be a challenge. However, getting people plugged into your content can be even more difficult. With the onslaught of information hitting us, how can a business stand out and make an impression?

The answer is communication.

How an individual or business communicates to someone makes the difference. Content can get someone's attention, but if there is no connection, there will be no sale. It’s not just about content.

Real and authentic communication, not marketing, through your content will help increase the bottom line.


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

KEY TAKE AWAYS FROM THIS PRESENTION:

1. Learning the difference between creating content and connecting customers with your content.

2. How to increase sales and referrals through effective communication with effective content.

3. How different types of content speak differently to audiences, and how to best use certain channels.


… Are We Here


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

SO, WHY ARE WE HERE TALKING ABOUT CONTENT?

• Depending on who you talk to Social Media is almost 10 years old, and we still have companies who are wondering where to start when it comes to their content.

• Many companies, large and small, are still creating content that serves no purpose to their audience let alone their business.

• And you know what? The companies are not to blame, because they have not been educated on why content is important and how it works on the social web.

• These two things are what we plan to solve with this presentation, or at the very least give you a good head start!


Understand What Content Truly Means Today

Understand What Content Truly Means Today


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

CONTENT DOESN’T WORK LIKE IT DID IN THE “OLD DAYS”

• When it comes to content, the immediate impulse for many companies is to market themselves to a perceived audience.

• This is wrong. People on the social web do not want to be marketed to. They want communication. They also want to be treated like participants of the brands they respect and who have earned their trust.

• People are looking for resources of helpful information, and they return to, and most importantly, refer their friends to sources of content that help them.

• So, the question you need to ask yourself is, how can you become and be seen as a helpful resource with your content?


Connecting Content to Your Business


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

GUESS WHAT? YOUR CONTENT IS YOUR PRODUCT, TOO!

• Do you buy products or services that are just okay?

• Do you read and share content that comes across as a commercial or product pitch? Or comes across as if someone quickly put it together with much thought or care?

• Hopefully you answered “no” to both questions.

• Put as much care into your content as you do your product or service. Because, the reality is your content is a bridge for your customers to get to you and your business.

• If people like your content, they are that much closer to liking you, and more importantly, wanting to buy from you!


Keeping People’s Attention With Your Content


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

YOU HAVE 2.5 to 5 SECONDS TO WIN A CUSTOMER

• Audience attention online is extremely fickle.

• Put yourself into the seat of your customers and think about how you “surf the web” for the things you want or are thinking about purchasing.

• Do you stick around for the 10 minute video that explains what a product does? Do you take the time to read the 1500 word blog post with no pictures?

• You need to start thinking how you and your content will be interesting, and how it will grab your audiences attention.

• Start thinking like a potential customer, because the most dangerous thing you can do is assume that there is an audience who wants your content.


Creating Content

That Leads to the $$$


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

BECAUSE ULTIMATELY YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY, RIGHT?

• The Social Web is just one giant referral engine, and we refer things we like to our peers.

• This is why content becomes incredibly important, because if people are referring your content to others, it is pretty much as if they are referring your products and services. We’ll talk about this more in a bit.

• So, think about the things you refer and why, and think about your content and if it is something you would want share to your network.


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, LET’S TAKE A MOMENT TOBREAK DOWN WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY IS.

• Take out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle creating two columns.

• Leave some space at the bottom, because that is where we are going to write down the “secret content formula.”

• Label the top left column “What Social Media Is” and the right column “What Social Media Isn’t.”

• Your piece of paper should look like the next slide


What Social Media IsWhat Social Media Is

What Social Media Isn’tWhat Social Media Isn’t

“Insert Secret Content Formula Here”“Insert Secret Content Formula Here”


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

ON THE “WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS” COLUMN WRITE DOWN THE FOLLOWING

• Communication• People• Passion• Emotion• Referral Engine• Relationship Builder• Connectivity• Sharing• Loyalty• Content

You get the idea. The above list gives you a good start, and as you continue your Social Media education feel free to add more words here that share the similar theme!




CommunicationPeoplePassionEmotion Referral EngineRelationship Builder




MESSAGE/IDENTITY

NOW LET’S ADD SOME WORDS TO THE “WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T” COLUMN

• Facebook• Twitter• Blogs• Pinterest• Marketing• Advertising• Followers/Fans• Automated• Strategies• Tools

All of the words above are tactics, and they have little or nothing to do when it comes to what Social Media really is.

Now you have a nice cheat sheet you can reference!






FacebookTwitterMarketingBulletin BoardsBlogsPinterest

FacebookTwitterMarketingBulletin BoardsBlogsPinterest



It’s All About CommunicationIt’s All About Communication


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

COMMUNICATION IS KEY!

• We’ve said this a thousand times, but it holds true – those who communicate the best in the social space win the customers.

• Communication is not marketing!

• Repeat. Communication is not marketing, and this is what businesses and organizations need to learn. They need to communicate with and not market at their customers through Social Media channels.

• This is why companies fail when it comes to Social Media. They see the available channels as just another way to advertise. People don’t want to be marketed to online unless they choose to be.


Now we can talk about the 10 steps that will help your content build your business!


Step .5 Identify Your Business GoalsStep .5 Identify Your Business Goals


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

OKAY, WE LIED. THERE ARE MORE THAN STEPS

• Before you begin thinking about content, you need to take some time to identify what your overall business objectives are and how your content will help achieve those goals.

• Is your goal Brand Awareness? Is it Transactions or Sales? Is it Loyalty Programs? What about Customer Service? If you are a non-profit your goal might be Fundraising or Campaign Awareness.

• Remember, Social Media works when it is integrated with your overall marketing efforts. So, no your goals before getting started.


Step 1ListenStep 1Listen


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

LISTEN BEFORE YOU SPEAK

• Before you know what kind of content to create, you need a better understanding of who your audience might be.

• Take the time to listen to your brand, competition, industry, and consumer voice.

• What is already being said about you? What is already being said about your industry? Better yet, what is not being said, and where might you begin sharing your voice? What is your competition doing? What aren’t they doing? What could you be doing better?

• Take advantage of the free tools like Google Alerts, RSS feeds, and Twitter hashtags to begin building your Social Intelligence Dashboards.

HELPFUL RESOURCE

Check out our blog post that breaks down the simple steps needed to build your Social Media Intelligence Dashboard:

Why Aren’t You Listening?

http://www.davidmoncur.com/2012/01/why-arent-you-listening/


Step 2Identify Your Content SubjectsStep 2Identify Your Content Subjects


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

THIS IS SOMETHING WE CALL YOUR CONTENT BUBBLE

• We have talked about this concept in previous presentations, and it has helped all of our clients.

• After taking some time to listen you will have a better idea of what you should talk about.

• Your Content Bubble is built from four layers of subjects including: Core Subject, Related Subjects, Passion Subjects, and Shared Subjects.

• When put together these layers create a solid foundation of content subjects you can work from.

HELPFUL RESOURCE

Our Director of Social Media gave a great presentation on how to build your Content Bubble. Check it out!

Building Your Content Bubble

http://wordpress.tv/2011/10/30/david-murray-building-your-content-bubble/


Step 3Filter Your Subjects

Into “Types” Of Content

Step 3Filter Your Subjects

Into “Types” Of Content


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

NOW TAKE YOUR CONTENT SUBJECTS AND FILTER THEM INTO TYPES OF CONTENT

• It has been our experience that content falls into three types of funnels:

1. Expertise – show people your opinions and how smart you are

2. Personality – show people your smile and how fun you are

3. Curated – show people content you found that relates strongly with who you are

• Find the balance between these three types of content. You may have to adjust and change between these three categories as you go!


Step 4Cultivate Your Botanical Garden

Step 4Cultivate Your Botanical Garden


Step 5Identify Social Networks You Can Manage

Step 5Identify Social Networks You Can Manage


Step 6Organize Your Efforts

Step 6Organize Your Efforts


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

CONTENT WILL TAKE WORK, SO MANAGE WHAT YOU CAN!

• Aim to create a beautiful content garden that people will want to visit, return to, and tell their friends about.

• Gardens have weeds and bugs, so be ready to prune and spray your garden so it looks nice!

• This is why it is important not to jump on every social network that is available. Begin with what you can manage.

• Because you will need to organize your publishing efforts, and when you are starting out, it is good to focus on quality, not just quantity.

• Aim to organize your content by tasks, and not channel.


Step 7Build Unique Value for Your

Social Networks

Step 7Build Unique Value for Your

Social Networks


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

WHY WOULD I WANT TO FOLLOW YOU ON “X” SOCIAL NETWORK?

• Create unique value for each of your social networks so there is a reason for people to follow all of them.

• If you are sharing the same content on all your social networks at the same time, this is called auto-populating, and it devalues your content.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

We talk more about creating unique value of your social networks in our presentation we gave at BlogWorld LA. Feel free to check it out!

Breaking Down Your Content for the Social Web

http://www.slideshare.net/ThinkMoncur/breaking-dow-your-content-for-the-social-web

http://www.slideshare.net/ThinkMoncur/breaking-dow-your-content-for-the-social-web


Step 8Provide A Call to Action

Step 8Provide A Call to Action


Step 9Make It Easy For People

to Accomplish Your Calls to Action

Step 9Make It Easy For People

to Accomplish Your Calls to Action


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

PROVIDE CALL TO ACTIONS AND DON’T MAKE IT HARD FOR PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU WANT!

• Do you like trying to find where you are supposed to click to learn more about your product? Do you like filling out 16 fields of information just so you can sign up for a newsletter?

• Provide clear call to actions with clear directions, and with as few steps as possible.

• Again, people have short attention spans (2.5 to 5 seconds). Don’t make them work for what you want, because they wont.


Step 10Measure and ReviewStep 10Measure and Review


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU NEED TO MEASURE

• You are going to have to take the time to look at what is happening with your content.

• Don’t focus on the clicks, focus on the behavior. How are people behaving with what you are sharing online?

• Look to see who is sharing what and who is part of your community.

• Remember to align what you are measuring with your overall marketing objectives.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Want to learn more about Social Media ROI? Feel free to check out our presentation about this tricky subject:

How To Measure Social Media ROI

Or you can watch the presentation here:

Social Media U: Measuring ROI

http://www.slideshare.net/ThinkMoncur/you-can-measure-the-roi-of-social-media

http://vimeo.com/42158473


Step 10.5Rinse and Repeat

Step 10.5Rinse and Repeat


Remember the Secret Content Formula Earlier?

Are You Ready For It?

The Secret to Successful Content Is…


HELPHELP


MESSAGE/IDENTITY

PEOPLE REMEMBER THOSE WHO HELP THEM

• How will your content help your audience? How do you plan to help your audience through your content? The value in your content is how it helps people with their problems.

• All the above steps should be geared towards helping your customers in some way.

• Don’t expect people to buy your stuff or sign up for your newsletter if there isn’t value for them in doing so.

• People share and talk about helpful resources. They ignore spammers.

• Now, you have all the steps you need to start building great content that will ultimately help build your business!

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Be sure to check out our blog. We talk a lot about content and best practices when it comes to Branding and Social Media.

www.thinkmoncur.com

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. We’d be happy to help!

http://www.thinkmoncur.com/


Thank You!

www.moncurassociates.comLike Us On Facebook

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Have A Great Day!

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http://www.davidmoncur.com/


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10 steps to build your business through your content

Business

effective content

content isimportant

aboutyour content

right type of content

secret content formula

different types of content

content doesnt work

friends tosources of