In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, establishing brand authority and positioning oneself as a thought leader is imperative for businesses striving for longevity and success. The most effective strategy to achieve this is through content marketing. This comprehensive guide will detail the steps necessary to build brand authority and thought leadership, leveraging the power of content marketing.

Understanding Brand Authority and Thought Leadership

Brand authority refers to the level of trust and respect a brand commands within its industry. It signifies that a brand is knowledgeable and reliable, making it the go-to resource for information and solutions. Thought leadership, on the other hand, is the practice of positioning oneself or one’s organization as the foremost expert in a specific field. Thought leaders offer insights and advice that shape industry trends and influence others.

The Importance of Content Marketing

Content marketing is the cornerstone of building brand authority and thought leadership. By consistently producing and sharing high-quality, relevant content, brands can educate their audience, showcase their expertise, and build trust. This strategic approach involves creating and distributing valuable content to attract, engage, and retain a clearly defined audience.

Developing a Content Strategy

1. Define Your Goals and Objectives

The first step in developing a content strategy is to clearly define your goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or establish authority in your industry? Understanding your objectives will guide your content creation efforts and ensure that each piece of content aligns with your overarching business goals.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Knowing your audience is crucial for effective content marketing. Develop detailed buyer personas to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. This information will help you create content that resonates with your audience and addresses their specific challenges.

3. Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is essential for identifying the terms and phrases your audience uses to search for information related to your industry. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to discover high-volume, relevant keywords. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your content to improve its visibility on search engines.

4. Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar helps you plan and organize your content creation efforts. It ensures that you consistently produce and publish content, covering various topics relevant to your audience. A well-structured content calendar includes publication dates, content formats, and assigned responsibilities.

Creating High-Quality Content

1. Focus on Originality and Value

To build brand authority and thought leadership, your content must be original and provide value to your audience. Share unique insights, data, and perspectives that your audience cannot find elsewhere. This will help you stand out as a credible source of information.

2. Use a Variety of Content Formats

Diversify your content by using different formats such as blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, videos, podcasts, and infographics. This approach ensures that you cater to different audience preferences and keep your content engaging.

3. Prioritize Long-Form Content

Long-form content, such as comprehensive guides, in-depth articles, and detailed reports, tends to perform better in search engines. These pieces demonstrate your expertise and provide more value to your audience, helping to establish your authority in the field.

4. Optimize for SEO

Ensure that your content is optimized for search engines. Use relevant keywords in your titles, headings, and throughout the content. Include meta descriptions, alt texts for images, and internal and external links to improve your content’s search engine ranking.

Distributing Your Content

1. Leverage Social Media

Social media platforms are powerful tools for distributing your content and reaching a broader audience. Share your content on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and participating in discussions.

2. Collaborate with Influencers

Partnering with influencers in your industry can amplify your reach and enhance your credibility. Influencers can help promote your content to their followers, increasing your visibility and attracting a larger audience.

3. Utilize Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective way to distribute your content directly to your audience. Create a mailing list and regularly send newsletters featuring your latest content. Personalize your emails to increase engagement and drive traffic to your website.

Engaging with Your Audience

1. Encourage Interaction

Encourage your audience to interact with your content by asking questions, prompting discussions, and inviting feedback. This engagement helps build a community around your brand and fosters trust and loyalty

2. Respond to Comments

Be responsive to comments and feedback on your content. Address questions and concerns promptly to show that you value your audience’s input. This interaction helps to humanize your brand and strengthen your relationship with your audience.

3. Monitor and Analyze Performance

Use analytics tools to monitor the performance of your content. Track metrics such as page views, engagement rates, and conversion rates to understand what works and what doesn’t. Use this data to refine your content strategy and improve future content.

Establishing Thought Leadership

1. Guest Blogging

Contribute guest posts to reputable websites in your industry. This practice helps you reach a wider audience and establish yourself as a thought leader. Ensure that your guest posts offer valuable insights and link back to your website.

2. Speaking Engagements

Participate in industry conferences, webinars, and podcasts as a speaker. Sharing your expertise through these platforms enhances your credibility and positions you as a thought leader.

3. Publishing Research and Case Studies

Conduct original research and publish your findings in the form of reports and case studies. This content not only demonstrates your expertise but also provides valuable information that can influence industry trends and decisions.

4. Networking and Community Involvement

Engage with other industry professionals and thought leaders. Join industry groups, attend events, and participate in online forums. Building relationships within your industry can open up opportunities for collaboration and further establish your authority.

Conclusion

Building brand authority and thought leadership through content marketing requires a strategic and consistent approach. By developing a solid content strategy, creating high-quality content, and engaging with your audience, you can position your brand as a trusted and influential resource in your industry. Remember, the key to success is delivering value to your audience and continuously refining your efforts based on feedback and performance data.

The post Comprehensive Guide to Building Brand Authority and Thought Leadership with Content Marketing appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Understanding Content Marketing

Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. The goal is to drive profitable customer action by providing meaningful information that addresses the needs and interests of the audience.

The Evolution of Content Marketing

Content marketing has evolved from traditional advertising methods to a more sophisticated approach that focuses on building relationships with consumers. Today, it encompasses various formats, including blog posts, videos, infographics, and more, each designed to engage audiences in different ways.

Benefits of Content Marketing

Boosting Engagement

One of the primary benefits of content marketing is its ability to boost engagement. By providing content that resonates with your audience, you can encourage more interactions, shares, and comments, fostering a sense of community and loyalty.

Building Trust with Your Audience

Trust is a crucial component of any successful marketing strategy. Content marketing allows you to build trust by consistently delivering valuable information, demonstrating your expertise, and addressing your audience’s pain points. Over time, this builds credibility and encourages long-term customer relationships.

Driving Conversions

Effective content marketing doesn’t just engage and build trust; it also drives conversions. By guiding your audience through the buyer’s journey with targeted content, you can convert prospects into customers and customers into repeat buyers.

Types of Content Marketing

Blog Posts

Blogs are a staple of content marketing. They provide a platform to share in-depth information, tips, and insights on various topics relevant to your audience. Regularly updated blogs can also improve your website’s SEO and drive organic traffic.

Videos

Video content is incredibly engaging and can convey complex information in an easily digestible format. From tutorials and product demos to customer testimonials and behind-the-scenes looks, videos can capture attention and drive engagement.

Infographics

Infographics combine visuals with data to tell a story or explain a concept. They’re highly shareable and can simplify complex information, making it more accessible to your audience.

Social Media Content

Social media platforms are perfect for sharing content and interacting with your audience in real-time. Whether it’s a tweet, a Facebook post, or an Instagram story, social media content can drive engagement and expand your reach.

E-books and Whitepapers

E-books and whitepapers offer in-depth information on specific topics. They’re excellent for generating leads, as users often provide their contact information in exchange for these valuable resources.

Creating an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

Setting Clear Goals

Before diving into content creation, it’s essential to set clear, measurable goals. Whether you aim to increase website traffic, generate leads, or boost brand awareness, having defined objectives will guide your strategy and help you measure success.

Identifying Your Target Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for creating content that resonates. Identify your target audience’s demographics, interests, and pain points to tailor your content to their needs and preferences.

Content Planning and Scheduling

A well-organized content calendar helps ensure consistent content creation and distribution. Plan your content around key dates, events, and themes relevant to your audience, and schedule regular updates to maintain engagement.

Content Creation Tips

Writing Compelling Headlines

Your headline is the first thing readers see, so make it count. Craft headlines that are intriguing, clear, and promise value to entice readers to click and read more.

Crafting High-Quality Content

High-quality content is informative, well-researched, and engaging. Focus on providing value, using a conversational tone, and breaking up text with headings, bullet points, and visuals to enhance readability.

Using Visuals Effectively

Visuals can significantly enhance your content by making it more engaging and easier to understand. Use images, videos, infographics, and charts to complement your written content and keep readers interested.

SEO and Content Marketing

Importance of SEO in Content Marketing

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is vital for ensuring your content reaches a broader audience. By optimizing your content for search engines, you can improve its visibility and drive more organic traffic to your site.

On-Page SEO Techniques

On-page SEO involves optimizing individual pages on your website. This includes using relevant keywords, creating meta descriptions, optimizing images, and ensuring your content is easy to read and navigate.

Off-Page SEO Strategies

Off-page SEO focuses on activities outside your website that impact your search engine rankings. This includes building backlinks, engaging in social media marketing, and collaborating with influencers to expand your reach.

Leveraging Social Media for Content Marketing

Choosing the Right Platforms

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Choose platforms that align with your audience’s preferences and your content style. For instance, Instagram is great for visual content, while LinkedIn is ideal for professional articles and networking.

Engaging with Your Audience

Social media is all about interaction. Respond to comments, engage in conversations, and encourage user-generated content to build a vibrant and engaged community around your brand.

Measuring Social Media Success

Track metrics like engagement rates, shares, and follower growth to gauge the effectiveness of your social media efforts. Use this data to refine your strategy and improve future content.

Email Marketing and Content Marketing Integration

Building an Email List

An email list is a valuable asset for content marketers. Offer incentives like exclusive content, discounts, or free resources to encourage sign-ups and grow your list.

Creating Engaging Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to keep your audience informed and engaged. Share your latest content, updates, and special offers in a visually appealing and easy-to-read format.

Analyzing Email Campaign Performance

Use email marketing tools to track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Analyze this data to understand what works and what doesn’t, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Measuring the Success of Your Content Marketing Efforts

Key Metrics to Track

Track metrics like website traffic, engagement rates, lead generation, and conversion rates to measure your content marketing success. These metrics provide insights into how well your content resonates with your audience and contributes to your goals.

Tools for Measuring Performance

Tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and email marketing software can help you track and analyze your content marketing performance. Use these tools to gather data and make informed decisions.

Adjusting Your Strategy Based on Data

Content marketing is an ongoing process. Regularly review your performance data and adjust your strategy to ensure continuous improvement and better results.

Common Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Focusing Too Much on Sales

While the ultimate goal is to drive conversions, focusing too much on sales can turn off your audience. Instead, aim to provide value and build relationships through informative and engaging content.

Neglecting SEO

Ignoring SEO can limit your content’s reach. Ensure your content is optimized for search engines to attract organic traffic and improve visibility.

Ignoring Data and Analytics

Data and analytics are crucial for understanding what works and what doesn’t. Regularly review your performance metrics and use this information to refine your strategy and improve your content.

Future Trends in Content Marketing

AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in content marketing. From generating ideas to creating personalized content, AI tools can help streamline your content creation process and enhance efficiency.

Increased Personalization

Personalization is key to engaging your audience. Use data to create tailored content that addresses individual preferences and needs, making your audience feel valued and understood.

Interactive Content

Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics, is gaining popularity. This type of content engages users in a fun and immersive way, encouraging more interaction and sharing.

Conclusion

Content marketing is a powerful tool for boosting engagement, building trust, and driving conversions. By understanding its potential and implementing effective strategies, you can create meaningful connections with your audience and achieve your marketing goals. Stay adaptable, keep learning, and continue to refine your approach to stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

The post Power of Content Marketing: Enhance Engagement, Build Trust, and Boost Conversions appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

However, executing a successful content marketing strategy is not an easy feat. It requires careful planning, strategic thinking, creativity, and consistency to achieve the desired results. This is where a content manager comes in. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of content marketing, what a content manager does, and why UK businesses need to hire a freelance content manager to help them achieve their content marketing goals.

Benefits of Content Marketing

Before diving into the role of a content manager, let’s first discuss the benefits of content marketing. Content marketing is a long-term strategy that can yield significant returns for businesses when executed effectively. Here are some of the benefits of content marketing:

Attracting and retaining customers: By creating valuable and engaging content, businesses can attract potential customers to their website, social media pages, or other online platforms. This can lead to increased website traffic, social media engagement, and ultimately, more sales and revenue.

Building brand awareness and reputation: Consistently creating and sharing high-quality content can help businesses establish their brand identity and reputation. When businesses create content that resonates with their target audience, they can build trust and credibility, which can lead to long-term customer loyalty and advocacy.

Generating leads and sales: Content marketing can be a powerful lead generation tool when done right. By creating content that addresses the pain points and challenges of their target audience, businesses can attract potential customers who are looking for solutions. This can lead to increased lead generation, which can ultimately result in more sales.

Establishing expertise and thought leadership: By creating content that showcases their expertise and knowledge, businesses can establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry. This can help them attract top talent, establish partnerships, and gain recognition and respect from their peers and competitors.

What Does a Content Manager Do?

A content manager is responsible for overseeing the planning, creation, and distribution of content that aligns with a business’s goals and objectives. Here are some of the key responsibilities of a content manager:

Planning and executing a content marketing strategy: A content manager is responsible for developing and executing a content marketing strategy that aligns with a business’s goals and objectives. This involves conducting market research, identifying target audiences, creating a content calendar, and determining the most effective channels for distribution.

Managing and creating content across various channels: A content manager is responsible for overseeing the creation of high-quality and engaging content across various channels, including the company website, social media pages, email marketing campaigns, and more.

Analyzing and reporting on content performance: A content manager is responsible for tracking and analyzing the performance of content across various channels. This involves using tools such as Google Analytics to measure website traffic, social media engagement, and other key metrics. Based on this data, a content manager can make informed decisions about how to improve content performance.

Collaborating with other teams, such as SEO and social media: A content manager is responsible for collaborating with other teams, such as SEO and social media, to ensure that the content created aligns with the overall marketing strategy. This involves working closely with these teams to identify keyword opportunities, create content that aligns with social media campaigns, and more.

Why Hire a Freelance Content Manager?

Now that we have a better understanding of what a content manager does, let’s explore why UK businesses should consider hiring a freelance content manager to help them achieve their content marketing goals.

Expertise and Experience

Freelance content managers are experts in their field. They have a wealth of experience in creating and managing content strategies for a variety of businesses, industries, and target audiences. By hiring a freelancer, you are gaining access to their expertise, knowledge, and skills. They can help you to develop and execute a content marketing strategy that is tailored to your business goals and target audience.

In addition, freelancers are often up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in content marketing. They have experience with a wide range of tools and platforms, and can help you to choose the right ones for your business. By working with a freelance content manager, you can rest assured that your content marketing strategy is in good hands.

Cost-Effective Solution

Hiring a full-time content manager can be expensive, especially for small businesses. Freelancers, on the other hand, offer a cost-effective solution. You only pay for the work they do, and you don’t have to worry about employee benefits, taxes, or other overhead costs associated with hiring a full-time employee.

Furthermore, hiring a freelancer allows you to scale your content marketing efforts up or down as needed. You can hire a freelancer to work on a specific project, or you can engage them on a long-term basis. This flexibility allows you to adapt your content marketing strategy to changes in your business needs and budget.

Access to a Wider Range of Skills

A freelance content manager may work alone, but they often have a network of professionals that they can call on for support. This means that by hiring a freelancer, you may gain access to a wider range of skills and expertise than you would have in-house.

For example, a freelance content manager may work with freelance writers, graphic designers, videographers, or social media managers to create and distribute content. By leveraging the skills and expertise of these professionals, you can create high-quality content that engages your target audience and drives results.

Conclusion

In conclusion, UK businesses can benefit greatly from hiring a freelance content manager. They offer a cost-effective, flexible, and expert solution to your content marketing needs. By working with a freelance content manager, you can develop and execute a content marketing strategy that drives results and helps you to achieve your business goals.

If you are looking for a freelance content manager to help you with your content marketing strategy, look for a smaller agency or freelancer. Searching for regions of the UK with your chosen service can also yield some great and affordable results, for example running a search for SEO Devon or looking for a UK content marketing agency can bring up some great options. And of course, if they’re ranking on page one for their targeted search results, thats a good sign!

The post What is a Content Manager? Hiring a UK Content Marketer appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

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1. Define Your Target Audience

Before creating any content, it’s essential to identify your target audience. Who are you creating content for? What are their needs and challenges? What are their interests and preferences? Answering these questions will help you create content that resonates with your target audience and drives engagement. You can use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and surveys to gather data on your audience and refine your target audience persona.

2. Set Your Content Goals

Once you have defined your target audience, it’s time to set your content marketing goals. What do you want to achieve with your content? Do you want to drive website traffic, generate leads, increase social media followers, or boost brand awareness? Setting clear and measurable goals will help you track your progress and evaluate the success of your content marketing strategy.

3. Determine Your Content Types

There are various types of content you can create to engage with your audience, including blog posts, infographics, videos, podcasts, e-books, case studies, and more. Determine which content types are best suited to your target audience and your business goals. For example, if you want to drive website traffic, blog posts and SEO-optimized content may be more effective, while if you want to increase social media followers, visual content like videos and infographics may be more effective.

4. Create a Content Calendar

Once you have identified your target audience, set your content goals, and determined your content types, it’s time to create a content calendar. A content calendar is a schedule that outlines when and what type of content you will publish. It’s essential to have a consistent content schedule to build trust and engagement with your audience. You can use tools like Google Calendar, Trello, or Asana to create and manage your content calendar.

5. Optimize Your Content for SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Optimizing your content for SEO can drive more organic traffic to your website and increase your visibility. Some key SEO best practices include using relevant keywords in your content, creating high-quality content that provides value to your audience, optimizing your meta tags and descriptions, and using internal and external links to increase credibility.

6. Promote Your Content

Creating great content is only half the battle; you also need to promote it to reach your audience. Promoting your content can involve sharing it on social media, email marketing, influencer outreach, paid advertising, and more. Identify the channels that are most effective for your target audience and your business goals and develop a promotion plan to get your content in front of your audience.

More details: The Importance of Branding for Your Business’s Success

7. Measure Your Results

Finally, it’s essential to measure the results of your content marketing strategy to evaluate its success and make any necessary adjustments. Use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and email marketing analytics to track your website traffic, engagement, leads, and conversions. Use this data to refine your strategy and make informed decisions about your content marketing efforts.

In conclusion, creating a successful content marketing strategy requires careful planning, a deep understanding of your audience, and a commitment to ongoing measurement and optimization. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can create a content marketing strategy that resonates with your audience, drives engagement, and helps you achieve your business goals.

The post How to Create a Successful Content Marketing Strategy for Your Business appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Before creating anything

Before you create or share anything, it’s essential to consider three key factors: your target market, your reason for sharing content and the value you’re offering your readers and followers. By answering questions and ensuring you have a clear focus before you begin, you can maximise the chances of achieving your desired outcomes. 

1. Define your target audience

Before you start conjuring up ideas or writing articles or putting posts together, it’s vital to define your audience. Who are you looking to attract? This is crucial because it will affect the content focus, the networks and platforms you use, the way you present your content and the tone of voice. Once you have established an ideal buyer persona, use analytics and research Internet usage and buying habits to boost your chances of creating high-quality leads and ensure you reach people who are likely to have a genuine interest in the products or services you sell. 

1. What is your why?

Whenever you post or share content on social media, there should be an objective. Think about what you want to achieve with your social media campaigns. Once your targets are clear, you can figure out the best ways to hit your goals. 

1. What value are you giving?

The most effective content serves a purpose. Before you start creating content or writing for the web, think about what you’re offering your audience and how you can add value to your posts. You could provide useful advice, product demonstrations, outfit ideas or answer frequently asked questions, for example. This will have more impact than a generic post. 

Content creation methods

There are several methods you can use to generate social media content ideas. You might already have ideas whizzing around in your head, but it’s also wise to plan strategically and to use research and monitoring to inform your choices. You can analyse audience behaviour and evaluate how people react to different types of post and content to update and refresh your strategy as you go. If you’re wondering how to come up with social media content and looking for inspiration to create captivating, useful, engaging content, here are some suggestions to consider:

Creating content that answers questions or solves problems

Often, web users open search engines or social media feeds looking for the answers to questions or advice or tips to solve problems. As a content creator, you can add value to your posts, enhance customer service and increase consumer confidence by providing accurate information, easy access to guidelines and demonstrations and offering rapid responses. Examples of content ideas include help guides, step-by-step instructions or tutorials and frequently asked questions answered in short interview clips. By providing answers and solving problems via social media, brands can build buyer confidence and increase the chances of converting leads. If customers have questions about an item in their cart, they may abandon it if they can’t find the answer quickly.

Engaging in other people’s posts

According to the latest statistics, there are currently over 3.5 billion active social media users in the world (source). Social networks actively encourage communication and facilitate interaction and engaging in other people’s posts can trigger ideas and help you develop and build on content strategies that target your ideal buyer or customer. Building a network of contacts and virtual friends and followers can open doors and provide inspiration, as well as enabling your business to take advantage of establishing relationships with customers and potential business clients. Take ideas from other posts, interact with users and start conversations. Rather than leaving simple comments, like ‘great post,’ delve deeper into the subjects that are up for discussion, read other people’s feedback, share posts and use the debate to formulate new ideas, which will appeal to and attract those who are already involved in the conversation. 

Share your problems and experiences

One of the most advantageous aspects of social media marketing is the opportunity to display a human side and showcase the personality and ethos of your brand. By creating visual content for social media and curating posts, you can share your own experiences and talk about problems you’ve encountered and solved to build deeper connections, tell people more about your business and what it stands for and facilitate engagement. Being open and honest about issues and negative experiences can also improve transparency and foster trust. Figures show that 86% of shoppers prefer brands to be transparent and authentic on social media (source). 

Find low competition long-tail keywords

When looking for content creation tips to make your social media posts more impactful and accessible, it’s beneficial to consider finding long-tail keywords to write about. Long-tail keywords tend to be less popular than shorter search terms and keywords, and as a result, competition is not as fierce. The upshot is that long-tail keywords often convert extremely well because they offer more specificity and relevancy. According to research conducted by Wordstream, the average conversion rate for the top 10% of landing pages is 11.45%. For long-tail keywords, the figure rises to 36% (source). People who have search queries don’t want to trawl through pages of generic results that aren’t actually useful. Using long-tail keywords enables people to gather more relevant information and access content that serves a purpose. As a content creator, you can utilise search engine analysis and keyword research to find low-competition long-tail keywords that are linked to subjects, products, services or topics you want to discuss or share on social media. 

Take notes on everything

Flashes of inspiration can come out of the blue when you’re thinking about creating content, and it’s useful to get into the practice of taking notes and carrying a notebook or your phone around with you so that you can jot down ideas on the move. You might find that articles or books you read, conversation topics that crop up in the office, TV shows you watch or discussions you happen to overhear on the bus or in a cafe inspire you. When you come to create posts or share stories, you can read through your notes and start creating outlines and developing your ideas. 

Take topics out of existing blog posts and expand on them

Blog posts generate reactions and provoke thoughts. Even if you’ve written the post, you might find that you have ideas that spring to mind once you’ve shared an article, or that your opinion changes or the situation develops over the course of time. Going back through previous blog posts, looking at reader comments and reactions and exploring topics that seem to trigger debate or encourage people to interact with the article is an excellent way to develop content and to ensure your posts are relevant to your target market. Expand on what you’ve already said, provide updates if you’re discussing an event or a scenario that is ongoing and consider looking at popular subjects from a different angle or perspective. 

Clustering and brainstorming

Brainstorming is a technique that enables you to note down ideas or thoughts freely, and it can be instrumental in creating content and laying the foundations for an article or a series of posts. Through brainstorming, you can start clustering, building on ideas that are linked and intertwined to create a more specific approach, theme or subject. For businesses, it can be useful to explore brainstorming and clustering topics that are discussed within the industry or sector to produce content that is relevant to the target buyer and interesting to the audience. 

Loosening up

Social media provides an outlet for brands to loosen up and strike a balance between talking and writing about business and building relationships with customers and followers via techniques like storytelling. Social media users respond positively to brands that they follow and interact with on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Statistics show that 90% of consumers who connect with businesses on social media buy from those brands (source). People buy from people and injecting personality and telling stories followers can relate to can help to boost conversion rates and enhance brand image. With features like Instagram Stories and the option to add images and video clips to text, storytelling is an incredible way for brands to connect with audiences and encourage them to share posts and buy products and services. Over 90% of mobile users share videos with others and 64% of web users make a purchase after watching brand videos on social networks (source). It’s beneficial to use social media to develop relationships and let followers and virtual friends get to know your brand. 

Summary

Social media content can be extremely powerful, but it’s critical to ensure you produce the right type of content to connect with your audience and achieve your objectives. Before you start thinking about how to come up with social media content, create an ideal buyer persona, think about what you want to gain from your posts and how you’re going to use social media to benefit your customers and offer value. When drawing up plans for content creation on social media, consider your audience, look to build on and expand previous posts, think about solving problems, answering questions and using your own experiences and take notes constantly. Analyse reactions to different topics to trigger further discussion, add a human side to your business through your posts, engage with others and look for long-tail keywords to write about. Be original, be creative, always ensure your posts are valuable and use platforms to strengthen ties and encourage interaction.  

The post How to come up with social media content that is relevant and useful to your audience appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The most active Twitter users create 80% of the content

Just check out the numbers in the Pew report, and you’ll get a good idea of just how lopsided all the content creation is on Twitter. The median U.S. adult Twitter user sends out just two tweets a month. In contrast, the top 10% of Twitter users send out, on average, 138 tweets monthly.The top 10% of Twitter users are more likely to favorite content, and have much more extensive networks than everyone else.

Thus, on just about any topic, the views of the top Twitter users are going to drown out the views of the average Joe (or Joanne) on Main Street. That might be fine if you’re talking about sports or entertainment: a bunch of loudmouths can send out tweet storms about their favorite sports teams or about “Game of Thrones” and you can basically ignore them.

But what if we’re talking about politics, or some other topic that really matters? In that case, the whole idea of “de-platforming” people whose political views you don’t like (as Twitter is now doing with loud voices on the political right) is much more serious than you might suppose. There simply are not enough smaller voices to fill the void if a big-name personality is de-platformed off Twitter.

The political nature of Twitter

Interestingly, the Pew research study actually touched on the topic of politics. As Pew found out, Twitter users are more likely to identify as a Democratic voter than you’d expect if you selected a person at random from the U.S. adult population. Thus, by simple extrapolation, you’d expect to find more pro-Democratic content on Twitter than pro-Republican content. And, by matter of simple extrapolation, it’s not a stretch to say that you’d except to find more anti-Trump content than pro-Trump content on Twitter.

Of course, the Pew team didn’t ask directly about people’s choice of presidential candidate, but they did ask for views about several hot-button issues – such as immigration and racial issues – that tend to divide people along political lines. As might be expected, adult users on Twitter tend to have more liberal views when it comes to immigration and racial and gender issues. Interestingly, the Top 10% of users on Twitter tend to tweet a lot about politics, so it’s a good bet that your Twitter feed is probably overweight on liberal, Democratic views. Depending on where you stand politically, that’s either a good thing or a very bad thing.

What, exactly, is Twitter these days?

Parsing through all the numbers, it’s hard to determine what Twitter really is these days. It’s not a media company, even though Twitter has experimented with more video and entertainment content. It’s not a “public square” anymore, because only 10% of people are really doing all the talking on Twitter. Odds are, your neighbor next door is lucky to post 1-2 times per month, if he or she is even on Twitter. And Twitter is not even really a communication platform these days, because people have found other ways to chat, communicate and hang out.

Taking a big picture view of the Pew data, it’s perhaps easier to see why Twitter is having such a hard time re-inventing itself. The mainstream consensus has been that Twitter is a vast, sprawling public square full of lively discourse and passionate discussions. But peer under the hood, and you might walk away with a very different view of Twitter.

The post The Twitter Universe May Look a Lot Different Than We Thought appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Create a publishing schedule

By now, you’ve probably heard that brands should be thinking like publishers. And that is indeed the case – just as major media companies have editorial meetings, publishing calendars, and content schedules, you should be creating a scaled-down version of this system for your own company. It all starts by committing to a certain number of posts per week for each different social media platform.

Prioritize different social media platforms

That being said, you probably don’t have the time or resources to produce prodigious amounts of content for every major social media platform. That means you will have to prioritize different social media platforms. For example, if you run a fashion business, you’ll definitely want to prioritize Instagram. If you run a B2B company, you’ll probably want to prioritize LinkedIn.

Focus on authenticity

The big buzzword in social media circles these days is “authenticity.” What this means in practical terms is that you should always be looking to showcase what makes you unique. Instead of a canned brand message full of industry jargon, for example, look for ways to explain what your business does in very simple terms that anyone (and especially potential prospects!) can understand. Above all, don’t try to pretend something that you’re not – people on social media are able to sniff out immediately if you are not being authentic.

Develop a consistent brand persona

The most successful brands on social media are able to develop a consistent voice and message that seamlessly transfers across platforms. This does not just mean cutting-and-pasting whatever you posted on Twitter and adding it to Facebook or other social media platforms. Instead, it means adapting your presence on each major platform so that different elements of your overall brand personality are able to shine. In other words, it shouldn’t feel like two different people are running two different social media accounts.

Listen

This bit of advice is perhaps the easiest to follow – but also the piece of advice that most brands tend to forget. We’re so programmed to think in terms of a “broadcast” marketing model, in which brand messages are blasted out to an unsuspecting audience, that we often forget that brands are really conversations. There are people talking about your brand online – so go out and find them. Even a very simple step – like doing a search for a certain hashtag – can often uncover conversations going on around you.

Final Thought

By following these tips above, you can help to optimize your social media presence. In addition to getting more fans and followers, you’ll also be getting a lot more engagement. With just a little effort, you’ll soon be able to convert a growing percentage of those fans and followers into customers.

The post 5 Tips For Engaging Your Customers Through Social Media appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Step 1: Decide on your overall content strategy

Before you ever set up a Brand Account on YouTube, it’s worth taking some time to map out an overall content strategy. Here’s where it can really pay to do a little due diligence about your competitors. See what types of content they are creating, what topics they are using, and what types of YouTube videos are getting the most engagement (i.e. the most “likes” and views). This will help you decide on the best type of content to create for your brand

Step 2: Get a handle on YouTube analytics

YouTube offers a very powerful back end for content creators that makes it possible to put together a very detailed analysis of what’s working, and what types of people you are reaching with your videos. Within the Analytics tab, for example, you can check out view counts, average watch time, and interaction rates. And within the Demographics tab, you can check out the geographic location, age, and gender of your audience. Spending even 30 minutes a week poring over this data can help you tweak your content. For example, if you’re a brand selling to a millennial audience, and your YouTube viewers are skewing much older, then you’ll need to think of ways to make your content more relatable to a younger audience.

Step 3: Optimize for SEO

One important insight here is that YouTube is actually the world’s second largest search engine (trailing only Google). So naturally, SEO is going to be a major factor in getting your videos to pop in YouTube search queries. There are a few basic ways to optimize your videos – such as by choosing the right titles, keywords, hashtags and video descriptions. Moreover, the better that you can make your thumbnail images for each video, the higher the likelihood that people will be clicking on your videos.

Step 4: Continually fine-tune and tweak your content

On YouTube, you have to be creative in order to stay ahead of the competition. That’s why many content creators will spend a lot of time elsewhere on YouTube, seeing what top creators are doing, and how they are finding new ways to engage viewers. There’s always something new that you can be doing to improve your overall YouTube video content creation strategy. So think of this as a continual, iterative cycle as you adopt best practices.

Final Thought

In many ways, setting up and operating a YouTube channel is not unlike setting up any other content platform on the web. It’s all about choosing the right content for the right audience, and then using all the powerful tools on the back end of YouTube in order to maximize your overall reach and engagement.

The post Here’s What You Need To Know To Get Your YouTube Channel Up And Running appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

As a result, someone like Selena Gomez can now command a price of $550,000 per Instagram post. Kendall Jenner gets anywhere from $125,000 to $300,000 per post. And Kim Kardashian – the prototypical social media influencer – gets $200,000 per post. Here are 3 reasons why they are winning as a social media influencer.

Key 1: Be authentic

One important lesson, according to Kardashian, is that influencers can’t embrace anything and everything that they are asked to promote. At one point, she concedes, she might have over-extended herself by being willing to promote things that she didn’t really like or care about. That’s forced her to reconsider what it means to be “authentic.”

As a result, her new policy is that she will only promote things that she really uses in her everyday life. She must use it, like it and be loyal to it. Moreover, she now takes a much greater effort to understand the owners of a brand, and what their values are. It’s all part of being authentic, which is a key component in building engagement and loyalty. Your fans have to believe that you are being completely transparent with them.

Key 2: Make people feel special by sharing your world with them

There is a unique psychology of being a social media influencer. Despite influencers having millions of fans, each fan truly believes that you are somehow a “best friend” and someone who “gets them.” As a result, says Kardashian, she actually spends a lot of time debating what to post, and what to show fans. She wants to make them feel special, as if they are part of her world. It’s the difference between “showing off” and inviting your best friend back stage and having them meet all the fabulous people in your life.

Key 3: Understand the key attributes of each social platform

While many might characterize Kardashian as being shallow and superficial, she does display remarkable business acumen. In any interview, she will immediately tell you the pros and cons of every social platform, and why she uses them the way she does. For example, she often uses Twitter as a “focus group” to see what her fans are thinking about. She’ll use Snapchat to provide glimpses into her everyday life. And she’ll use Facebook whenever she needs a click-through or a sell-through.

While it’s possible that a social media agency could be hired to take on all the heavy lifting of updating social media accounts, the really top influencers try to do as much of it themselves as a way of maintaining “authenticity” with fans.

One example that Ms. Kardashian gives is a recent trip to Japan with her husband Kanye. The two were jetlagged and having trouble sleeping, so they left their hotel room in the wee hours of the morning to photograph all the amazing lights in Tokyo. That’s just not something you would be able to coordinate with a social media agency – it has the spontaneity (and, let’s admit it, glamour) that only a top influencer could pull off.

Ultimately, the best way to win as an influencer is to understand that it’s not just about relentless promotion (and making money off that promotion) – it’s also about connecting with fans, having conversations with them, and understanding what they are thinking about. That means posting regularly and across a wide variety of platforms, and doing it all in a way that’s authentic and in-the-moment.

The post Becoming a Social Media Influencer – The 3 Keys To Winning appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Just 20 years ago, it was still perfectly reasonable to read a print newspaper in the morning, tune in to news radio on the commute to the office, watch the evening news when you get home from the office, and maybe tune in to the late night news before going to bed. On weekends, you might pick up a news magazine recapping all the news of the past week. And, if you were feeling particularly ambitious, you might pick up the Sunday New York Times and spend a good chunk of a weekend afternoon reading the type of content that would prepare you for the week ahead.

The end of a news paradigm

Well, those days are long over. Print is dead because the 24/7 nature of the Internet means that news cycles are now measured in hours (if not minutes) instead of days and weeks. Anything you read in print form is already stale. And the rise of the mobile phone means that news and commentary is available instantaneously, on demand, whenever you want. Alerts and updates ping us relentlessly throughout the day. Many people now start and end each day by checking their phone, not by turning on the TV.

The really revolutionary part about all of this, of course, is how news media companies like CNN and the New York Times are no longer the go-to destination for people who want news. Instead, most people are perfectly content to rely on whatever tidbits they pick up via social media to be their “news consumption” of the day.

Social media platforms and the news

In fact, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, two-thirds of the U.S. population now get their news via social media. And the trend is much stronger with younger millennials, who are even more reliant upon social media to deliver the news they need. The Pew numbers are especially eye opening because they suggest that social media has stopped being just a complementary way to get the news (i.e. something “extra” to give you an edge) – it is now often the sole way that people get their news. In short, people now rely on social media to get them the news they need.

That might work well with “big stories” in the news – like news about the latest hurricane headed toward the U.S. mainland – but how well does it work for anything other than the biggest stories and trends? Unless you happen to have hundreds of journalist friends on Facebook, or thousands of media-savvy peers on Twitter, you’re probably getting just a very tiny sliver of what’s happening in the world.

We live in a YouTube world now

Consider that 18% of the people in the Pew Research survey said that they get their news solely via YouTube. What exactly does that mean? People are watching viral clips of late night comedians riffing on the daily news?

From this perspective, it’s easy to see why media outlets like CNN have adopted the “breaking news” and “viral news” mentality to retain viewers. They are trying to replicate the rhythm and feel of social media.

Or, even worse, media outlets like CNN are forced to adopt a strange hybrid of entertainment and news for the masses, who are really dying for a chance to get back to watching viral YouTube clips. From this perspective, sadly, “Saturday Night Live” is now more relevant than CNN in terms of people getting the news. People would rather watch a funny, two-minute comedy skit featuring a well-known celebrity than sit around watching some boring old guy in a suit for two hours.

Survival plans for legacy media

So how can companies like CNN survive in the current era? As long as they are part of major media entertainment conglomerates like Time Warner, they’re probably safe for now. Even if they’re struggling, it’s easy to toss around impressive-sounding Wall Street terms like “synergies” to explain why they should stick around. (Which is what leads to CNN originals like “The History of Comedy” – brilliantly middlebrow content with lots of celebrities designed to be shared on social media!)

Theoretically, the popularity of video on the Internet today means that the biggest TV news networks are also relatively protected from the raging social media storm around them. But that’s not really the case with print media. Already, most of them have become web-centric or web-only. But everyone these days is feeling additional pressure to create the kind of content that people are going to click on.

The big moment of truth will come, of course, when Facebook’s video platform becomes large enough that people are not just watching viral videos on Facebook the social network, they are also tuning in to the scripted TV shows on Facebook the TV network. That’s when the days of CNN may finally be numbered.

The post Social Media And The End Of The News As We Know It appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

AI vs. data analytics

In fact, you can think of AI as just a superior form of data analytics or social media metrics that you already use. Take a data analysis tool that you probably already use in your daily marketing life – Google’s analytics package. Using this tool, you can see which visitors are coming to your website, which pages they are visiting, and which search terms brought them in the first place. You can also see which devices they are using and which browsers they are using. But here’s the thing: Google gives you all the charts and data, but you – the human – needs to figure it all out. The same is true when you start diving into Facebook or Twitter user data.

What’s going to change with AI is that, soon, machines will be able to make the same kinds of inferences that humans can. Moreover, they will be able to find the types of relationships in the data that you (or your marketing team) cannot. For example, an AI-powered application would be able to tell you not only when peak activity on your social media platforms occur, but also what characteristics the best-performing pieces of content have in common, or what the average “buyer personas” on your different social media platforms look like.

How marketing will change as a result of AI

The marketing industry will still be the same – there will be leads, sales funnels and conversions. However, each of these will become a lot easier to analyze using AI-powered applications and software. In some cases, you will actually be able to predict user behavior using insights provided from AI. For example, instead of messing around with a lot of A/B testing to see what the “perfect” marketing message is for a Facebook ad, you will know in advance how well a message will likely perform. You won’t have a magic crystal ball (nobody does), but you’ll eliminate much of the guesswork in crafting the perfect marketing campaign.

Ways to use AI in social media marketing

Putting it all together, there are several ways that AI will likely influence the world of social media:

• AI will enable the creation of hyper-personalized marketing messages
• AI will provide more robust buyer and customer personas
• AI will make it easier to distinguish between qualified leads and unqualified leads
• AI will enable bots to converse with prospects on just about any topic

An example of AI at work in social media

How you choose to embrace the brave new world of AI is up to you. For some brands, it might mean the creation of multiple taglines for multiple customer niches. For example, consider the example of Coca-Cola. What if Coca-Cola could use AI to create personalized marketing messages for different demographic groups that could be used across different social media platforms at different times of the day or night, in multiple different languages and dialects?

For example, if the Coke AI marketing bot knows that a Facebook follower prefers to speak Spanish rather than English, wouldn’t it make more sense to send a marketing message in Spanish? If the Coke AI marketing bot knows that you live in Philadelphia, it might send a very different marketing message than if it knows you live in New England. For example, Coke’s ads appearing in your Facebook feed might show images of your favorite Eagles players enjoying a nice, refreshing Coke after the game and vice versa.

In many ways, then, AI is not just about software and machines getting smarter, it’s also about marketers getting smarter. What once took you hours to analyze and decipher might be possible in just a few seconds – and that will free you up to focus on what really matters for all of your social media marketing clients.

The post Taking Advantage Of AI In Social Media Marketing appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Re-thinking the classic social media influencer strategy

Amtrak has specifically said that social media follower count is not the basis for selection, and that they are not looking for top influencers who do this to make a living. This marks a real departure from the traditional influencer strategy, in which brands specifically search out glamorous A-list and B-list influencers, give them lots of free product samples or the VIP treatment, and expect extensive social media coverage in response. Instead, Amtrak seems much more content to pick out a relatively unknown person from the crowd who happens to love travel and have some solid social media skills.

From a marketing perspective, the #AmtrakTakeMeThere campaign has much more of the feel of one of those essay contests that travel companies love to run – “Tell us why you’d be the perfect person to travel to Cancun for Spring Break, and you could win a free, all-expenses paid trip to sunny Mexico!” As part of those essay promotions, companies aren’t necessarily looking for beautiful supermodels who would look great hanging out on a beach – it’s just as possible that a sweet grandmother looking to enjoy her retirement in style might win the promotion.

Generating a higher ROI with influencer marketing

The big picture here, of course, is that many large brands have gotten burned by throwing money at “the beautiful people” on Instagram, and are looking for a much higher ROI by searching out regular people on social media who aren’t expecting tens of thousands of dollars for a single Instagram photo. The reality is that many of the top social media influencers today are basically mercenaries-for-hire, willing to promote any company or any brand, just as long as they’re getting paid.

So Amtrak is getting back to the original roots of the social media influencer strategy, looking for people who love to travel, and who also have the social media skills to bring their stories to life. Amtrak has specifically said that it is looking for people who can “connect with followers at a deep level.” So Amtrak wants people who aren’t just using photos and tweets to show off a fabulous lifestyle. (Of course, with the extra thousand dollars that Amtrak is using to sweeten the pot, it’s perhaps expected that you will make your trip a little more extravagant than otherwise possible.)

The business case for a scaled-down influencer strategy

And there’s a good business rationale behind the new influencer strategy, too. While taking Amtrak trains up and down the Northeast Corridor might be commonplace for business travelers in cities like Washington, Philadelphia and New York City, many people probably don’t think about Amtrak when considering options for how to travel across the country on long-distance trips. So Amtrak is hoping that people will re-discover the thrill and excitement of train travel, and perhaps snap some great photos along the way. It will be interesting to see how much traction this new Amtrak promotion gets – if it succeeds, it might convince other large companies and brands to re-think their social media influencer strategies.

The post A New Way To Think About Social Media Influencers appeared first on Social Media Explorer.