As most small businesses begin to dip their toes into the social media waters, the shear number of social networking websites and online tools can be very intimidating, even crippling. And it certainly doesn’t help that new social tools are being introduced everyday. To help small businesses navigate these waters, we’ve developed a pretty simple, social media strategy process that involves three main steps.

1. Goal Setting – What do you want this social media effort to achieve?

Before we decide which tools to implement, every company needs to figure out what their main goal will be and what strategies would be best to achieve that goal.

• More sales?
• Get some attention?
• Improved customer service?
• Improved customer loyalty?
• Reputation monitoring?
• Just increase your presence online?

2. Strategy Development

With your main goal defined, specific strategies can be determined by identifying a few key elements. When presenting to groups, I’ve found that a fishing analogy works well to explain this:

• Identify your fish = profile your ideal target buyers and the people, groups and mediums that influence them.
• Where are your fish/influencers swimming (social networking sites, forums, blogs, etc.)? This is where a lot of companies get tripped up. Certainly sites like Facebook and Twitter get a lot of press, but that doesn’t mean that those should be your focus. Based on your industry, there may be some smaller, niche social sites, forums or blogs that would be much more productive fishing holes. But here’s the fail-safe approach…If you don’t know, ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS! Find out in which sites their spending time. Ask them which tools they typically use to learn about products and services.
• What type of bait (content) will they find valuable? – This is your content strategy. What topics will resonate with your buyers? What problems do your products/services solve? Which content formats (written, video, audio, etc.) will ensure your message gets delivered?

3. Monitoring the Success of Your Efforts

Once your strategy has been developed and implemented, you need to pay attention to the customer engagement that is taking place surrounding your presence, as well as monitoring your analytics data to determine which types of content/topics are getting attention and which social media ponds are getting the most bites.

You may find that you’re only getting bites with certain content topics or in a few social media ponds, but at least you’re now aware and can hone your content strategy and focus your time on your most productive fishing holes.

Can’t see this video? Click this: Brody Dorland Video Presentation – Traditional Media is On Its Last Let

I don’t know about where you live, but in Kansas City, tow truck drivers seem fairly aggressive in their “customer acquisition efforts.” Drive on any highway in Kansas City and you’ll see them. Perched on frontage roads and sitting in parking lots ready to come to the rescue of motorists in need.

I’m not an expert in the industry by any means, so maybe it takes this aggressiveness to make a living as a tow truck driver. Some might see this laying-in-wait strategy as sort of vulture-like, waiting to pounce and take advantage of people in need. Or, you could view tow truck drivers as the cowboys on the white horses, coming to the rescue. However you look at it, I think we can learn a couple things about content marketing from these savers of stalled cars.

1. They know exactly where their customers are and that’s where they hang out.

2. Because they hang out where their customers are, they’re ready to jump into action when they see a need.

Tow truck drivers know who their target audience is, mostly rush-hour commuters on highly traveled roadways. So that’s where you’ll find them hanging out. Do we have as good a handle on who (specifically) our target market is, and where (exactly) they hang out online? If not, here are three places to look for them:

Blogs – do keyword searches for blogs within the industry in which your customers work and start reading the top 5. You need to educate yourself on what your target customers are reading so you know where your content can add value.

Forums – forums are a great place to look for the “pain” of your target market. Listen for specific issues, questions and problems and then create valuable content that addresses those things.

Social Media Communities – sites like Facebook and Twitter are great places to find out what your customers care about and what they’re interested in, in their own words. Listen for those interests and words and then create content for each.

So what can we learn from our tow-truck-driving friends of the highway? When approaching our content marketing efforts we need to be more aggressive about finding out where our customers are hanging out online, pay attention to their needs and jump to their aid with relevant content. Approaching content marketing with this type of customer-centered strategy could have an amazing impact on your business.

Imagine your customer saying, “Wow, I was just commenting about how hard it is to hire good HR people and then company x posted a great blog about just that topic! They must be paying attention!”

This is what we’re all trying to accomplish with our content marketing efforts – one relationship and solved problem at a time.

“Give a man a fish…feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish…feed him for a lifetime.”

Well that’s our mantra these days when businesses approach us looking for social media help in Kansas City. View the video below to get a feel for how we simplify the social media strategy process and help Kansas City businesses catch their ideal fish.

Can’t see this video? Click here: Brody Dorland – Social Media Speaker at KC MIC Speaker Showcase

If you would like to hire Brody for an upcoming meeting, event or social media workshop, please call 913-440-9930 or complete our contact form.

Original Post:

I must be doing something right…NBC Action News keeps calling. Here’s another interview from Tuesday (3/23) morning’s newscast on Twitter etiquette and a few best practices to remember.

Quick Summary:

• Google, your boss and God can see everything you do on social media.
• Leading with the hard sell or being overly self promotional is a significant turn off. Don’t be that guy.
• Know that your competitors are probably monitoring your activity. Don’t tip them off.
• Be relevant, valuable and a real person.

Original Post:

Despite community outreach efforts to locate a serial rapist in the Waldo area of Kansas City, MO, it’s unfortunate that some people have the audacity to push false information into the social realms, which has created a false sense of hope within the Waldo community.

Unlike journalists who are ethically required to back up their stories with facts, the general public has free reign to post content (fact or fiction) through blogs, social networking sites and other online forums. This content is then viewed by both interested searchers and search engines, who spread and index the news through their normal channels.  In most cases, accuracy is “assumed”. But you never know when there might be a bad apple in the bunch.

Can’t see the video above? View it here.

I know I didn’t get to touch on everything. What did I miss? Do you disagree with this approach? I’d love your feedback…

You’ve even read articles (here) about why you should have a blog. And these articles make sense and spell out the benefits that a blog can provide in terms of helping you market yourself on the web. But how do you get started? If you’re ready to pull the trigger, what are the things you need to consider so that your blog is not set up for failure?

Let’s break this process down into three key considerations: developing your blog content strategy, blog setup and ongoing content development. Ready to dig in?

Your Blog Content Strategy

Before you dive head first into the blogosphere, it’s vital to think through the overall marketing strategy of your organization and translate that into a blog content strategy. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is your ideal buyer?
• What are their needs/pain points as they relate to your offering?
• What types of content would they find most valuable?
• In which formats should your content be created (written word, video, audio, all of the above)?
• Which words or phrases would they use when searching for your offering online?
• Do you have the capabilities to create this content in-house?

With these questions answered, spend some time brainstorming content topics and ideas that fall in line with your buyer’s informational needs. Your goal should be to consistently and frequently provide content that will attract buyers/influencers and move them to the next step in their buying process, which may be a phone call to you.

Blog Setup

The first question you need to ask yourself here is whether your blog will be seamlessly integrated within an existing website, or will this be a separate entity that you are starting from scratch. For most companies, it’s recommended that your blog be seamless with your website. This scenario typically requires programming assistance, but if you are building your entire website on a blogging platform (ex: Wordpress), programming assistance might not be required.

Important note: Search engines love blogs. The backend structure of blog websites is very search-engine friendly and the content you post is like food for search engine spiders. If you keep feeding them good food, they’ll reward you with higher search engine rankings. But there’s a caveat to this. Housing a blog on your website domain (ex: www.YourSite.com/blog) ensures that your website is getting the credit for feeding the spiders, thus higher rankings. If your company blog is hosted on a blog platform (ex: yourcompany.wordpress.com) separately from your company website, the search engines won’t put two and two together and you won’t get much credit for the food (content) you’re dishing out.

Another piece of blog setup is your blog’s design and layout. Design/brand consistency is always important and you don’t want new blog visitors feeling like they just jumped out of the trunk of a car and have no idea where they are. Try to incorporate your brand image into your blog design as much as you can and if you have the budget, hire a designer to create a custom theme that integrates your brand seamlessly. If you’re starting from scratch, there are also some amazing, inexpensive, pre-designed themes out there that can provide a high-end look for chump change.

Best Practices / Things to Avoid

As blogs and the practice of blogging have matured, several best practices have developed relating to the setup, usability and function of blogs. Here are a few to remember:

• Make sure to provide interested readers with both RSS AND e-mail subscription options.
• Create topic-based categories for your blog content so visitors can quickly locate the blog posts that match their informational needs.
• Offer content sharing mechanisms that allow visitors to share your content via e-mail, social networking sites and social bookmarking tools.
• Include links to your own social media profiles to build your network of followers.
• Include links to your most popular blog posts so that visitors can see your best stuff.

Ongoing Content Development

Can’t think of anything to blog about? Step out of your box and listen to your marketplace. Engaging in and monitoring the social media realm is great for content inspiration. Subscribe to industry blogs. Follow industry experts on Twitter. Identify online forums and groups that might be the virtual stomping grounds of your buyers. Take note of the questions they ask or the comments they make related to your offering.

If you’re still struggling, try this exercise. Keep a notepad next to your phone. After every prospect or client phone call, jot down the topics you covered during your conversation. At the end of the day, you’ll likely have noted a few common questions/topics that would make great blog topics.

As more and more content ideas develop, write them down! Start an editorial calendar that helps you organize your blogging schedule. Then develop some internal processes and dedicate some time for content development each week.

If you can’t get it done yourself, hire a professional copywriter to help you with content ideas and copywriting. A sit-down session with them once a month may be all you need to knock out several blog posts. Then space the posts out according to your desired frequency.

A Final Word of Advice

This is not an “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” scenario. Don’t expect too much, too soon. Between regular blogging, valuable content, promotion of your content via social media and the search engines, you should see a gradual, steady increase in traffic and opportunities each month. Conversely, as your blogging drops off, you’ll probably see a steady decrease. Keeping an eye on your traffic statistics can be a great motivator!

Here comes the sales pitch…If you need assistance with creating a blog (or a website, or both!) for your company, we’d love to help. Sometimes it feels like that’s all we do these days. Give us a call or submit our inquiry form and we’ll talk through things. No obligations.

Can’t see this animation? Click here.

For non-web-savvy people and businesses, the negative connotations of blogs and blogging are still top of mind. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Aren’t blogs just personal online diaries?
• If I start one, what the heck would I write about?
• I’d rather not create more work for myself or my business…

What is a blog…really?

When we look at what a blog really is, we have to remember that it’s just a smattering of web applications that have been tied together into a user-friendly platform to facilitate easy web publishing. Those individual applications combined provide both individuals and businesses with an incredibly powerful marketing tool that by far outweighs the cost of setup and creating content.

A Semantics Issue – You Don’t Have to Call It a Blog

If you can’t get past the negative connotations, let’s just toss the “blog” term out the window and call it something else. Here are a few examples: “Resource Center”, “The Latest”, “News Room”, “Press Releases”, “Case Studies” or “Upcoming Events”. Are you more comfortable with those? By chance, are one of those titles already incorporated into your website? Probably. Are you having to call your web guy anytime you want to add something new? Are you syndicating that content so that thousands of eyeballs are receiving your message within minutes of you publishing it?

Key Features of Blog Platforms

What really matters here are the features and functionality that a blog platform provides. It’s up to you how you position this area of your website from a content strategy perspective. Here are the key features that make a blog platform a no-brainer for most businesses.

1. No Programmer Required – I could literally teach my grandma how to setup a blog, pick a theme (design/layout) and start adding content. However, a seemless integration of a blog within a website will probably require some programming. But once setup, content updates can be made on your own.
2. User-Friendly Content Management Tools – Most blog platforms offer very intuitive tools for adding new website content, images, videos, etc. The experience is what I would call “stupid proof”, and in a lot of cases, the content editors have a very Microsoft Word-type of  feel.
3. Search-Engine Friendly – The programming backbone of blogs help make them naturally search engine spider friendly and posting high-quality content frequently acts as spider food and link bait.
4. Built-In RSS Feed - Realize that if you have a static, brochure-ware website, you have no RSS feed. And not having an RSS feed is like creating a TV show, but people can’t record/DVR it or be notified of new episodes. Syndicating your blog content online can mean thousands, even millions of eyeballs experiencing your content with the click of your “publish” button.
5. Reader Interaction – Blogs come standard with the “Leave a Comment” feature. Whether you’re starting a discussion, explaining a concept or promoting your products or services, interaction with interested parties is never a bad strategy. Listen, learn, improve.
6. Plugins, Extensions and Modules Oh My! – With the most popular blog platforms being open source (anyone can access the program’s source code), the programming/development community has built countless add-on programs that add functionality to blogs. Want a contact form? No problem. Want to integrate your social media presence? No problem. Want an e-commerce site? No problem. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

My Recommendation

No matter your profession or business, if you approach me about taking your marketing or website to the next level, I’m going to recommend a blog. With that being said, I’m also going to help you develop a content strategy and the processes and procedures to help you support it.