How to Use Content Calendars to Win the Content Game

I recently attended a great webinar by Melissa Harrison, Allee Creative, LLC that I wanted to share on this blog concerning winning the content game.

If you’re responsible for delivering content for your chamber, you’ll definitely want to access the slide deck for templates and examples of her discussion.

The following comments are based on my notes and I want to focus on three of the five areas of her presentation, creating one sheets, content calendar’s and third-party resources.

One Sheets

Create a calendar for each month to track holidays, etc., speaking engagements, blog posts going live or other campaigns and industry topics for the month.  In addition, source future ideas from staff for future content (think of it as a call for content).

Her slide deck has an example of an actual One Sheet of a fictional entity.  Create One Sheets for all 12 months of the year and add as needed throughout the year.

Content Calendar Templates

This is where you actually plan each action on a schedule.  I’ve always said it’s important to be consistent in your schedules for posting content in your different platforms where you’re posting your content for your members.

Again, the slide deck has templates for content calendars for your blog, email marketing and social media actions.  These templates go into great detail on tracking your content and actions depending on the channel you’re in (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc).  Great examples!

Third-party Resources

While she talked about many resources (which are included on the slide deck), I wanted to focus on three she mentioned, since they’re free.  I love free!

She said Pexel and Pixaby are two sites you can go to for free photos for your website.  She also mentioned Canva as a great tool for creating images to showcase you content.

You can access her slide deck HERE.

Good luck in winning the content game!

Content Marketing

Some say that Joe Pulizzi is the father of content marketing.

Joe is the founder of Content Marketing Institute and for more information on CMI go HERE.

I recently attended a session of his and came away with the following observations.

Where did it begin?

• Website = infinite storage.
• Social Media
• Corporate stuff and customer stuff (circles)
• Content stuff and customer stuff (circles)
• Corporate stuff/content stuff/customer stuff

You must be consistent with your content marketing (i.e., regular posts). Did you know that 85% of blogs have 5 or less posts.

The five elements of building a presence on the web.

1. Sales, Saving, Sunshine (create a why for each social media channel):

• Sales - Copyblogger gives content to get sales
• Saving - en.jyskebank created a TV station
• Sunshine - John Deere created a magazine The Furrow - largest distributor of agricultural content - new customers

2. Create a content marketing mission statement:

• Help X save time, answer questions - you fill in the blank.
• Template - core target audience, what will be delivered, and the outcome for the audience
• Create a mission statement
• Define your audience
• Deliver the goods
• What is the outcome you want?

3. Don't build your content ship on rented land:

• Facebook - pay to play - only 5% see your posts.
• Joe is a big fan of LinkedIn
• Focus on subscribers as a key metric (building an audience)
• What's the difference between those who subscribe to my content and those that don't?

4. Leverage influencers, then build an audience:

• OPC - other peoples content
• 4:1:1 OPC, ebook, sales tweet
• Slideshare owned by LinkedIn

5. Open up your wallet:

• Build vs buy - you can build your own or buy it
• Buy an influencer

Another great book I read on the subject matter is The Laptop Millionaire. The one thing that was repeated over and over is that subscribers are key to your success.  Get peoples emails - emails are the key.

Until next time!

Engaging and Promoting in a Digital Ecosystem

I recently attended a conference session (title of this blog) by Shama Hyder and Eric Kuhn.

Social Media - new definition - people are now the media!

The reach of any event can go viral - the old event that had 10,000 now is reaching millions - think the United airlines story - everyone around the world knows what happened.

In today's age you have the opportunity to get your message out and many will say the Millennials are the ones to get that message out.

By 2020 they will make up the majority of the workforce.

3 Trends in Social Media

1. Identity-Based Ecosystem - showcase their own identity;
2. Content Curation and Community - collaboration, community; and
3. Video Device Agnostic (web + people = TV).

Eric Kuhn - from Hollywood to Silicon Valley.  Where we came from?

3.7 billion global Internet users who are on facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, email, Kickstarter, Tumblr, Podcast, Tinder.

Fight for future - Uber owns no cars, Alibaba has no stock, airbnb owns no properties, wiki-links sells no encyclopedias.

SoMoLo - social, mobile, local - Uber and Lyft - content is important.

Best Practices

• Have a purpose, a point of view on social media;
• Go viral - inform, inspire and insight to action (why you should share); and
• Talk with the audience not at the audience or down to the audience.

How social media now effects every organization?

• Content is currency;
• Live your brand;
• Design matters (what it looks like); and
• Have purpose and value with your product, programs.

Until next time!

Content Strategies for Associations

Let's all recognize that content went online from print.  The days of magazines and newsletters has been dropping for years.

So what should you do?

You need to create a content curation strategy.

That's how inbound/content marketing was born.  Think SEO.

Marketing technology is the next level of the inbound/content marketing model.  You need to track what's going on out there so you can get these folks in your membership prospect funnel.

Outbound marketing, your traditional ways of reaching out to your prospective members and members, is still important as you upgrade your new marketing strategy.

They key is to do both!

Refer to the Horizon Initiative: Chambers 2025 report that talks about how you need to find out what your members really need to know.

So as you curate content, you are playing the role as the filter.  The arbiter is the role you can dominate because you are the facilitators in your communities.  Remember, your members don't have time to wade through all the information.

You can also interpret the content and deliver it to your members.  Remember, we're in the business of solving problems for our members.

The information you curate should be balanced and varied.  It should not only be coming from you or your chamber but from other folks and chambers from around the country.

5 types of curation:

• Aggregation - common, not useful, you're just giving them a list, top 10
• Distillation - context and interpretation of the content (think infographics)
• Elevation - trend spotting, you need the knowledge to spot the trends and tell the story and bring context to the information.  This topic is important.  Think reports and speeches.
• Mashup - putting two or more pieces of content together to create something new that could be useful for your members.
• Chronology - the idea that you create content that has a timeline.  Think the 50 or 100 year anniversary and you create a piece of content around successful programs, maybe based on a decade at a glance.

Three ways you can curate:

• Algorithmic - Google (this is where gaming SEO comes in to play)
• Social - Reddit (crowdsourcing - since it's based on voting it too can be gamed)
• Expert - a person or small group (Master in media is a great source).  Experts can be on your staff, your members, vendors or others in your community.  Don't be afraid to use their expertise.  This responds to the balanced and objective views of content.

Concluding thoughts:

You want to be positioned as the thought leader/expert/deliverer of timely and accurate information.  You need to play the role of filtering through all the stuff that's out there and distill it down to bite size chucks that will help your members succeed in growing their businesses.

3 Tips for Creating an Online Content Plan

If you're like most chamber's you may have had a few sleepiness nights thinking about creating your chamber’s online content plan.

Not a problem!

I suggest if you focus on the following 3 tips you'll be well on your way to creating great content for your members and community.

1.    Strategy

2.    Discipline

3.    Adaptability

Strategy

Ask.  Listen.  Plan.  Don't jump without asking your members what they want, listen to their comments and plan accordingly.

Discipline

Stick to your strategy and don't get caught up in chasing the next big gadget or new platform.  Think members.  You don't want them having to learn a new way of communicating with you (platform) since most people don't like change.

Adaptability

It's imperative that you continue to review your strategy and be able to change as needed.  Let's face it, in the online space it seems like things are changing every other week or month.  Don't chase the beast!

Now once you've thought about the above 3 tips it's now time to spend the next 6-12 months in executing your plan and then take a step back and measure your efforts.

There are many measuring tools out there but many chambers are using Google Analytics and for good reason.

It's free and a very robust tool that will tell you much about your efforts over a period of time you choose to measure.  The new dashboard is very user friendly and you can find more info on the program at this BLOG.

The only mistake you can make in creating an online content plan is to do nothing.

Get started today in creating great content for your members!

3 Elements of an Effective Blog Post

I recently attended a social media breakout session that focused on three key elements of writing an effective blog post.

And boy did I get some great ideas!

While there may be other elements to think about, they suggested that if you focus on these three, you’ll be well on your way to that next great blog post!

So when it's time to write your next blog post think of these three elements to capture your audience:

1. Title
2. Images
3. Content

Title

Title matters and it’s important to focus on its length, is it compelling and does it tell a consistent story?

• Length –Keep it short, no more than 8 words or less.
• Compelling – Know your audience and create a title that makes the audience want to click/read the blog.
• Telling – Article should follow the title and must be relevant.  The title should tell people what they are going to get if they read the article.

Images

Images are a key part of your blog post, and the image needs to be engaging, relevant, and shareable.

• Engaging – Show action.  Charts and graphs are not always good. The image must add to the story.
• Relevant – Don’t mislead readers with your image and title.
• Shareable – Will your friends and colleagues share your post to their networks? That’s where you get your bang for your buck – think viral.

Content

Content is key, I’ve said it before in a blog post HERE.  Focus on your audience, the length and flow of your blog post.

• Audience – Know your audience and content.  Make it targeted.
• Length – 90 seconds is all your audience will spend on a blog post. Keep your message short and tight.
• Readable – Don’t use acronyms, however, mini titles can be effective throughout a blog post and the use of links can be effective too, both internally or external.

I hope some of the tips mentioned above help you write that next great blog post.

At least it gives you something to think about the next time you put pen to paper or should I say fingers to keyboard!

For more information on how to write a great blog visit the folks at problogger HERE.  For a great resource on how to grow your blog go HERE.

Social Media: Content Rules

The book Content Rules is a must read by any chamber who wants to start or raise their game when it comes to social media.

The book has many great suggestions but I wanted to focus on the frequency template that they describe.

The 1, 7, 30, 4, 2, 1 rule:

• 1 – daily tweets
• 7 – weekly blog post
• 30 – monthly blog post on a recent meeting
• 4 – quarterly research paper
• 2 – biannual webinar roundtable
• 1 – annual best practices, book, etc.

And don’t forget the title of the book, Content Rules. That's key!

Your social media should not be used as just another marketing tool. Use it to deliver content and encourage discussion on the important topics facing the business community, like growing their business, complying with regulations and electing pro-business candidates.

It’s been said before you can’t be all things to all people. The same is true with social media. You can’t be on all platforms and be successful!

Find out where your members are hanging out in the social media space and build a reputation in that space. It could be a blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, or some other platform.

It seems to me that every time I turn around a new tool is introduced in social media and is hyped as the next best thing.

Go where your members are and potential members are, don’t wait for them to come to you.

Content Rules!

For the latest articles in content marketing go to the Content Marketing Institute’s blog HERE.