Why I like a good content production strategy

8 February 2010 in Explanation, Toolkit by Kate | View Comments

Can’t figure out where to start a “social media” marketing program?  Why don’t you start with a content strategy.  Frankly, I don’t think most social media programs should be done without a content production component, for a few reasons:

  1. It’s your starting point. It’s pretty hard to have a social media program without having content to put out.  One way to get that is by pushing out other peoples’ content. But the best way – for obvious reasons – is usually to push out your own content.  See below.
  2. It gives you credibility in your industry and backs up your product or service. By putting out your own content, people (end-users, customers, partners) see that you know what you’re talking about, and that you have internal knowledge on whatever space you’re in.  This content and credibility also justifies your product/service as a solution when it comes to making a decision.
  3. It’s your brand. By branding your content, and developing a sense of expertise in your industry, you increase your brand image and your brand awareness, and you’re ideally able to reach a lot more people if your content is valuable enough to pass along.
  4. It’s easy. This is the part that a lot of companies don’t recognize.  You already have all of this content inside your doors.  If you think about it, your company exists because it’s got at least some level of knowledge that’s directly applicable to the solution you’re offering.  You may have internal marketing documents, business plans, strategy meeting notes, or product write-ups that can easily be repurposed into content.  Not to mention the wealth of knowledge you and your coworkers have in their heads.  I’ve never actually seen a company that doesn’t have scores of content opportunities inside their walls.

It doesn’t have to be formal.  Instead of dedicating the amount of time it might take to write a white paper, why not try a few blog posts, or a one-pager on the subject?

So if you’re considering getting your feet wet in social media, think seriously about how you can add your own content to that.

What success have you seen with content production in your organization?  Do you have any examples of identifying creative content opportunities?

If you’re interested, you can get more information on how we can help you with your content production strategies.

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  • I do content production strategy all the time.. from scheduled publication, archive analysis, repurpose print content for online, new content sources, co-branded solutions... it is the predecessor for a social media programme. Too often web teams are so engrossed in a development project that they forgot about what goes into the shell they are building.

    Great article.... now if only you also share an example of content production strategy for beginners :)
  • You're so right, content *is* easy!

    Every now and then, even I find myself getting caught up in a case of content anxiety. Then I remember, why reinvent the wheel? Simply taking the time to brainstorm all the things you already have to share (or wanted to share, but maybe didn't have the time) is a great pre social media activity - and helps to get folks thinking about content in a much more proactive, collaborative way.

    One of the hurdles of a self-sustaining content strategy can be more of a cultural shift, then a strategic one. Pulling content can take time and be taxing, but getting everyone in a "sharing" frame of mind can really help keep the momentum and encourage free form sharing on an ongoing basis.

    I'm also a big fan of the ongoing archiving of content in all shapes and sizes - you just never know when it'll come in handy.

    Right now Proxy Apparel (http://proxyapparel.com/) is in the throws of digging in and gearing up for some awesome social media marketing implementation. A huge component is almost a year's worth of video, photos and written reflection that we've been cataloging. It's been collecting in the "one day" pile - and was easily ready to be grabbed, worked with and eventually, shared at just the right moment.

    Archiving both ideas and content provides a base for future content development and give you something to pull from when you're juggling 101 different things and content has started to run a little to stale ...and really, who in communications hasn't had those days, ek.

    Thanks Kate for helping to shed light on the importance of content - and how a content strategy can be managed while ensuring value to the rest of your marketing communication program (including social media).
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