Webinar review: What No One is Telling You about your Content Marketing Strategy

Awareness Inc. (www.awarenessinc.com) has been a great resource in learning more about Social Media.  Now, it's fair to say that many folks out there are doing seminars, webinars and presentations about the in's and out's of SoMe (that's a new one I learned yesterday).  While many that I've seen have been outstanding in their own way, yesterday's webinar by Jason Falls got to the heart of the issue.  Jason did a great job of making what seems like a "black box" to some just beginning to investigate this new phenomenon, another tool in the overall marketing strategy.  Of course, there are many complications that SoMe brings up that traditional marketing tools can provide, and yet there are basic and simple concepts that everyone should remember.  And this matters for the casual user or the sophisticated marketing professional.

Here are the four keys to approaching content strategy that Jason outlined yesterday:

1. Content is King - Yes, we've all heard this before, but what does it mean in this new world of marketing?  It means that you need to be engaging.  With traditional media we have been used to a one-way conversation.  TV ads blare at us.  Print ads getting in the way of what we are trying to read.  Loud pitches on the radio interrupt our groove in listening to music.  Now we have DVR's, eReaders and MP3 players that help eliminate much of the cacaphony of ads trying to blitz us at every turn.  With the advent of SoMe and other ways of getting our much needed content to support our personal belief structures, we want to have the choice to engage, observe or ignore.  So content needs to be written and produced with the audience in mind.  Period.
2. SoMe can be a conversation and even more important, it inherently is a measurement tool to find out how the interaction is playing out.  And this conversation is all about enhancing your brand, protecting your reputation, building community, driving sales and leads to your door, research & development and customer service.  All of these mean creating a relationship and having a conversation is required to do that.
3. In creating a relationship with the consumers of your content, you have the ability to answer many questions about them, find out what resources or knowledge you have to offer that has perceived value and engage them in a fun way.  With the intent of solving problems, listening to needs and truly being engaging, SoMe offers new methods of creating a connection that does not exist in traditional marketing.  It's all about creating a two-way connection.
4. Just as traditional marketing is used in trying to reach a market strategically, the use of SoMe must be considered strategically alongside traditional marketing techniques.  Not only do certain SoMe alternatives have different orientations, you communicate differently depending on the types of engagement users are seeking.

So, a big thank you to @JasonFalls for his outstanding presentation.  If you want to learn more about Jason and what he has to offer, check out his website (www.exploringsocialmedia.com), connect with him on Twitter and kick your knowledge of social media into the stratosphere!