Tag : social media content curation

The Essential Guide to Content Curation

The Essential Guide to Content Curation
12Nov

Managing an effective content marketing strategy is challenging. Between sharing the latest news, monitoring your competitors, and creating your own content, you might feel like you’re not sure where to start.

The good news is that you’re not the first person to need some help, and there are industry best practices to help you avoid the common frustrations. Now, I’m going to walk you through how to handle all your content curation responsibilities!

Gather Information
Before you share or write anything, you need to know what people are saying around your industry. One great source of information is Feedly, which will give you a variety of sources relevant to whatever keywords you search.

Another resource is Google Alerts, and it offers some unique advantages. Like Feedly, it lets you track certain keywords to see what’s new on those topics. Google Alerts, however, will send notifications about new content in these areas, which can be surprisingly helpful.

Say, for example, you sell glasses. You’d probably track phrases like “eyewear” and “optometry.” But why stop there? You could also track a competitor or their CEO. This way, you’ll be able to learn from their successes and mistakes. Similarly, make sure you’re signed up for any newsletters or eAlerts they distribute.

How does that help? Well, once you’re aware of what your competition is doing, you can see how it’s working. What kind of content are they posting? Maybe they’re posting five blogs a week, but is that getting them engagement from their audience? Determine what is and isn’t working for them, then build your content strategy on the back of that information!

Develop a Content Mix
As you might imagine, posting the same type of content every day is going to bore your audience to tears. That’s why you’re going to need to plan out a compelling content mix.

You’ve looked at your competitors, and what did that information show you? Were they sharing news related to your industry that customers would find appealing? Did they offer unique insight in the form of regular tips or advice? Look for alternatives to promotional content, because too many promos are going to make your brand look overly sales-y and less relatable.

How do you find the right promo ratio? You experiment. If your competitor saw a lot of success posting three promotional pieces a week, see how your audience responds to four. Viewer engagement and clicks on your posts will quickly tell you what you’re doing right and what needs to change.

Remember that, ultimately, your viewers are coming to your page to create value for themselves, and your content should reflect that goal. You may want to spend an entire week talking about your new frames, but your audience wants to learn more about how to take care of their contact lenses. If you want to keep their attention, you need to meet them at that point of need.

Work Smart, Not Hard
One piece of advice that content managers often find surprising is that you should recycle your best content. It can sound sacrilegious to people who have been told all their lives to always create completely original work, but if a piece of content does well, why not make the most of that great article or blog you created?

Of course, you don’t want to just post the same story verbatim. Update it a little! Try experimenting with new headlines or images to freshen things up. If you’re feeling like the article could be better-structured, then by all means, move things around. This will all still take less time than writing and posting entirely new content.

As a rule, you want to wait at least two weeks between an initial publication and recycling that post. This way your readers won’t feel like you’re sharing the same thing over and over, but you’ll still get to members of your audience who missed it the first time around.

Know Your Stuff
Above all, the most important part of content curation is that you need to know what you’re talking about. Whether that’s reading and sharing industry news or creating compelling blog content, compiling information is going to make you a much more effective marketer.

Could you use a little more advice on content curation? Reach out and schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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Evergreen Content VS Dated Content: What’s The Big Difference?

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3Sep

Did you know that Apple is going to reveal iPhone 7 soon? That may be news at the time of this article’s publication, but in maybe a month or just a few weeks, that sentence will have dated this whole article. In a year, we’ll be getting ready for iPhone 7S, or whatever version Apple is planning next. (Rumors say it’s a big one since it will be the iPhone’s 10th birthday, but I digress) When that happens, that sentence will look like a relic in the eyes of the internet. This type of situation is something all social media marketers need to be attentive to!

Our sentence above is one of the defining factors of dated, or time-sensitive content.This isn’t to say that news updates are bad for social media. Much like weekends, they may not last forever, but they sure are important to our lives. Yet your social media content cannot entirely consist of these fleeting moments. A company’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other accounts need some non-perishables in the mix. Content that will never expire, or evergreen content, is crucial for high engagement rates and legitimacy to your brand. We’re not just talking about stone-cold facts from textbooks (although those would definitely count as evergreen content). This type of content simply needs to stand the test of time. A mission statement, code of ethics, tried and true details about your industry, promotional materials, etc.

Now, why would a business’ social media page need both? Because that’s how the internet works. It’s a constant flow of fleeting and forever content. We see it every day without even realizing it. Trending items deliver a powerful boost to your social media marketing, while evergreen content is your core. Without one or the other, your content strategy will be incomplete. 

Time-sensitive content will show that your company is updated, adaptable, and aware of contemporary business practices. Evergreen content expresses your industry knowledge, experience, and professionalism. It’s plain to see why you would want to have both, right?

At The Go! Agency, we take extra efforts to strike just the right balance of these two categories of content. Our clients deserve to have every reward social media has to offer, and it’s the marketer’s duty to accomplish that.

How does your business utilize both these types of content? Share your story below!

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Loyal Customers: Your Social Media Secret Weapon

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18Aug

Remember when the only marketing was word of mouth? Neither do we. But testimonials from those who utilize your products or services and trust your brand are one of the most powerful tools you can use. This is still true in the world of social media marketing!

People trust their peers more than they do a business’s promotion. After all, it’s a marketer’s job to put their brand in the best possible light. But people who actually use your company for years have huge credibility because they have nothing else to gain but to spread the truth about a great company.

One of the most powerful ways testimonials work in the cyber world is user-generated content. Whether it’s a review, a post about their experience, or even a simple “Like” on an update, it’s all real people talking about your brand. You can never have too much user-generated content with social media. It’s one of the primary goals!

As you begin your social media marketing, be sure to alert your “regulars” and even new customers about your page on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other platforms. Promote the cyber world in real life asking them to like your page, offer social media exclusive sales, contests, and more content. The people you already have solid relationships are your first fans on the internet and be sure to utilize their brand loyalty.

How do you use testimonials? Comment below!

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Why Your Business May Be Oversharing On Social Media

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24Jul

Geico has a new radio commercial talking about people “oversharing” on social media. They depict a woman that posts on Facebook every 10 minutes with photos, comments, and tags all her friends constantly. As social media marketers, we cringe at the commercial because we know the real implications oversharing can have.

Social media is becoming an established element in our society and as such, there are some unspoken rules. Here are the top 4 ways your followers may be yelling “TMI!” when checking out your updates:

    1. Too many posts- Even if your updates strike the right balance of push and pull messages, flooding the social media channels with a massive amount of content is not recommended. This will surely annoy your followers. For Facebook and Instagram, it is recommended to post varying content twice a day. Twitter should be 3-4 tweets or original content (but don’t forget to utilize retweets and other tools on a daily basis)
    2. Personal opinions- Don’t forget, you are representing your business when managing their social media page. It is not a good idea to push your personal beliefs on your company’s account. Do not talk about controversial, religious, or political subjects. It’s a good way to alienate or infuriate your customers.
    3. Irrelevant sharing- If you manage social media for a law firm, you wouldn’t post a bunch of DIY carpentry videos, would you? Make sure the items you share are professional and somehow connect to your industry.

    4. Inside References-We have all seen those social media posts that mean absolutely nothing to anyone except the people tagged in it. Do not send out those types of posts. Make sure everything is relatable to the general public. Even if you are mentioning an employee in an update, make sure people understand what you are talking about.

 

 

Quality over quantity is the name of the game in social media marketing. Be sure to take time and consider every post you share. After all, people from every walk of life will read it!

How do you feel about oversharing? Comment below!

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5 Ways to be an Insta-Pro on Instagram

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10Jul

In 2010, one of today’s most popular social media platforms, Instagram, debuted and in no time, it began to catch speed. Now, in 2016, there are over 400 million users. That’s an insane amount of users! While it doesn’t compete with its parent company, Facebook’s 1.6 billion users, the powerful picture-centric platform is becoming a time-tested tool for online marketers.

Throughout it’s run, we have seen a few changes in its infrastructure. For one thing, its algorithm now follows similar rules to Facebook and Twitter, which presents posts not in a time-linear fashion, but rather in an order the website thinks you will like. As we posted on our blog yesterday, there are many ways marketers can use algorithms to their advantage. Another major change was an aesthetic shift earlier in the year. Their iconic logo changed to something well, less iconic. Yet their layout did become more sleek and in theory, more user-friendly. Yet regardless of the changes, there have always been some constants to Instagram and helpful tactics in which users can promote their content effectively. Here are the top 5 ways we have found to be the most useful:

  1. Share videos- Yes, Instagram started off as a photo-exclusive website but they have recently become aware of the effectivity of video. Between Vine, Snapchat, Facebook Live, and Periscope, video is starting to rock the house. So, Instagram allows users to create and share 15-second videos. For those unfamiliar with social media video trends, 15 seconds is actually a substantial amount of time. Every second counts in these short quips and you should dazzle them up with apps like Ripl and Pic Play Post.
  2. Picture moderation- Those sepia and black and white filters are very cute, but don’t overuse them. Moderation is key when trying to make them snazzy, but you should also be aware of your subject matter’s balance. Like all social media marketing, there should an even flow of interesting posts and sales-oriented content.
  3. Connect with Facebook- Instagram wasn’t always owned by social media giant Facebook. However, marketers can use their partnership to their advantage by syncing your contacts so all those Facebook followers of yours can see your Instagram content when they follow you!
  4. Optimization- Don’t forget to fill out your profile information! We can’t tell you how many profiles we see that are lacking essential elements such as website addresses and other contact information. When uploading external documents, you will want to ensure they are the right size and the essential elements do not get cropped out when published.
  5. It’s recommended to post a max of 3 times a day. Quality, and high-engaging posts are the most important for Instagram, especially after their new algorithm has been implemented. You will want to be sure your followers “turn on notifications” for your profile and comment on a few things as well. That way you will stay at the forefront of your account.

Instagram is a powerful tool, especially if your business has some form of visual quality to it. We do not mean it is exclusive to artists, but rather any business that can demonstrate their work in a picture and a caption. That’s pretty much most businesses isn’t it?

What are your thoughts on Instagram? Comment below!

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