Students are required to tweet, so see what they say at #NYUSMI all week!

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Content is an idea made consumable. Ideas evolve into creations which are then delivered via a variety of asset types. These assets are not what’s important; they’re just the vehicle to deliver the idea.

If you write a brilliant article on the debt ceiling, the article isn’t the content; your thoughts and ideas put into words is the content.

If you have a photo gallery on Flickr of owls with stupid expressions on their faces, the gallery isn’t content. The photos aren’t content. The content is the concept: the idea of curating the photos, captioning them, and creating a new way of looking at them.

So when we are creating a content strategy, let’s not focus on what assets there are, but let’s look at the ideas. Are we delivering the right ideas to the right people at the right time and place?

What do you think Content is?

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Unfortunately, content farms have lowered the pay — and the standards. Content farms churn out poorly written, sometimes nearly unintelligible garbage. To lure readers to view ads and to build search traffic to sites (thus making them more attractive to advertisers), companies like Demand Media pay writers as little as 3 cents a word to churn out keyword-stuffed garbage. A recent New York Times article, Google’s War on Nonsense, describes the nasty practice, and Google’s new efforts to fight it via the “Panda” algorithm, a newly-implemented technology that pushes the worst offenders to the bottom of the search results.

But writers now have a secret weapon of their own: the rel=author tag. As Jen Dennis recently blogged, the rel=author tag means authors can actually claim credit for what they write. The byline once again regains power, as Google rewards good authors by elevating their personal page rank, or “AuthorRank.” The writer’s authority will come from the byline, not from the traffic to the site where it resides. In turn, a site’s search results will improve when it features quality writing from a highly ranked author — thereby motivating sites to use good quality content.

This might just be the antidote to content-farm crap and .03-a-word post generation.

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But another key to reputation management is being proactive about controlling your content in the first place. A good content strategy should include a plan for social media. The challenge is to balance the dichotomy of the essential spontaneity and immediacy of social media with the need for planning and controlling the content you release.

The elements of content strategy for social media include the creation of a content calendar, rules of engagement, and editorial guidelines.

A Content Calendar plans your content distribution in advance, to account for seasonal content, new products or services being offered, and key announcements. It is a living document that by definition will change to respond to relevant news, current events, memes, and changes. But planning ahead determines you’ll always have appropriate content ready, and allows advance planning for releasing that content.

Social Media Guidelines are the golden rules by which all your social media posts are governed. This is particularly important for those for whom multiple people are posting via blogs, Twitter, or other channels. For a small company or a single individual, these guidelines can be simple, outlining which topics are appropriate, whether it’s acceptable to mention competitors or endorse vendors, talking about current projects, and so on. For a larger company, it might include legal restrictions (consult with the company’s legal team), privacy policies, and rules around the protection of intellectual property. It is important, however, to not be too restrictive with these guidelines, as it undermines the essence of social media — the individual conversation. IBM was a pioneer in creating social media guidelines, creating a wiki in which employees could discuss and contribute to the rules and guidelines for social media. Together, IBM’s employees created a guide to posting that serves as a model for others and continues to evolve with evolving social media channels.

Editorial Guidelines are a more creative exercise. You have identified the content you want to distribute via social media, but have you thought about how to present it? Your voice is important. It should reflect your brand strategy, but also recognize the forum in which you are speaking. Don’t try to be hip and cool on Twitter if your brand isn’t hip and cool. But don’t embarrass yourself with a lack of understanding of the medium. (For example, don’t tweet every day with a promo for your latest product.)

Social Media requires planning, just like any other communications channel. Make sure you have a content strategy in place before you start participating.

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Piggly Wiggly, the supermarket chain, came up with a great idea: users voted on what type of dance Mr. Pig, their mascot, would perform on their Facebook page on the day they hit 25,000 fans. Voters got excited, numbers got boosted, and now, you and I can enjoy watching Mr. Pig do the “Single Ladies” dance. Not to be missed…

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100476193630990

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“Users indicated that more responsive brands would benefit from greater loyalty and purchasing. Almost 60% of respondents said they would be more likely to follow a brand that answered them, and 64% said they would be more likely to make a purchase from that brand.”

Also of note is the finding that many users Tweet questions to their followers without actually addressing the message to a brand, yet still appreciate answers from the brand.

Read the article here.

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So I turned to the contemporary venter’s platform of choice: Twitter. It’s a great way to let off steam; 140 characters of outrage sent out into the world, with an @ tag pointing a finger at the deserving target.

My first tweet went like this:

@FreshDirect charged a $64 “auto-renewal fee” — but no delivery! What a scam!

A few moments later, I added,

@FreshDirect has lost this customer for life with this ridiculous scam of a “recurring charge” for nothing! #fraud

I wondered if @FreshDirect would respond. It took a few days, but soon enough, I got a boilerplate message along the lines of “Let us make it right! Please DM us so we can help.”I ignored it.  My vitriol had been spent, I was over it, I was over them. I was done with @FreshDirect.

And then I got a phone call. Fresh Direct customer service called me to apologize. The woman I spoke to had apparently listened to the recordings of my conversations with their phone support person, and agreed with me that the representative had not done a good job communicating with me. She listened to me, apologized sincerely, and offered to make it up to me with a gift credit to my account.

I realized as we spoke that it was Twitter that had led to the phone call. The likelihood of my call being the one that was “monitored for training purposes” was slim; she picked me out to listen to because my angry Tweets had gotten someone’s attention. What is particularly interesting about this is that I don’t have any personal information other than my name attached to my Twitter account. That means someone looked at my Twitter account to find out my real name, and then looked up my phone number in their customer database, and then called me.

Big brother? Or good customer service? On the one hand, I am slightly creeped out that they tracked me down that way. On the other, I recognize that our digital lives become more integrated every day. I don’t try to hide my identity across my various channels; in fact, I make it a point to promote myself this way. So why should I be surprised that someone was able to connect the dots?

The truth is, in the end, it was a great customer experience. I felt validated, appeased, and appreciated. Two weeks after I vowed they’d lost a customer for life, I was placing an order, using the credit that soothed my irritation. And not only had they regained a customer, they regained my good will, and the word-of-mouth that comes with it.

@Freshdirect, thank you for making things right! Was really angry; customer svc reached out to me (!) and apologized for my bad experience.

We tell our stories now in the digital world, good and bad, but the smart company knows how to use the digital to make it personal.

Now I’m off to go  order some of that great half-baked bread…

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1. Use their ideas. People who engage with a brand on Facebook, whether by responding to a wall post, posting on their own, or commenting on a photo or video, are people who are already excited about your brand. Take advantage of their good ideas and use them to generate new content, or even new products or campaigns. Every time a user writes “I wish you…” or “why don’t you…” on your wall, pay attention — it could be your next service offering or product idea.Example(s): B2B company could create a white paper around subjects being discussed on their Facebook wall, or a retailer could introduce a product in a new color that’s frequently requested.
2. Crowd-source content. You can ask the people who like your brand to create content for you. Inviting participation from your fans will spur loyalty, engagement, and new ideas.Example: A food company introducing a new product might ask users to provide recipes using the product, or meal ideas.
3. Continue the conversation. Every piece of content on your Facebook page is another opportunity to reach new fans and engage with your existing ones. Pay attention to what people are saying and respond — ask them to elaborate.Example: If someone says they love the shoes you’ve sold them, ask why. A discussion of the great colors and features of the shoe will only reinforce the positive post for others who see the discussion (and the additional feedback may provide you valuable customer insights as well).
4. Boost your SEO. By engaging users on Facebook with relevant content, you’ll provide the impetus for users to generate new content using the relevant keyword search terms they use.Example(s): In a recent report, Forrester cited the example of Alberto-Culver’s hairstyle videos for Nexxus, which were distributed via social media web sites including Facebook. Nexxus’ content now dominates search results pages for a number of hairstyle-related keywords, and, according to Forrester, has increased the Nexxus brand’s online recognition by 600% since the beginning of the promotion.
5. Use it in other channels. User-generated content can be leveraged both digital and offline.Example(s): Create a list of “top 10 tips” from users, or “Favorites from our community,” by asking users to provide them. Then compile them into a publication you can share, crediting the users. (Make sure if you’re soliciting content for your own use that you let users know you’ll be using their content and that by posting they are giving permission for you to do so.)

There is an abundance of content created by people who are your brand advocates. Use it!

Statistics courtesy of Facebook.com

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The conference features four tracks to address the needs of beginners and experienced content strategists alike. I will be leading the track (or “stream,” as the UK folks call it) for Content Strategy for Social Media and Mobile.

Developing a complete content strategy is no longer just about web content. With the explosion of social media as both a popular consumer choice and an invaluable business platform, it is critical to consider how your strategy works in these new channels. More and more, people are consuming content not on their computer but on mobile devices. And now, tablets are shifting the digital paradigm again.

How do you plan for something like Facebook, where the conversation changes and evolves daily? What’s the right content for a Facebook page, and what content would be better on YouTube, in an app, or on your web site? How do you know what is the right channel to distribute your content? Do you even need a Twitter account, and if you do, how can you use it strategically to distribute valuable content? And how can you measure your success?

In this track, we’ll explore key social media channels and how to integrate them into your overall Content Strategy. Learn how to develop effective content for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more. Discover the value of social bookmarking and content sharing. Workshops, case studies and interactive sessions will explore the challenges of creating an effective and usable Content Strategy for these moving targets. You’ll come away with an understanding of best practices for social media and mobile, and the skills you need to develop effective, integrated Content Strategy across all of today’s dynamic digital media.

Please let me know if you have particular questions you’d like answered or topics you’d like to discuss at the conference. I would love to hear from you!

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