Page 15 - SM Aug-Sep-2014

Content marketing: Social media Why content strategy Tplaces to do so. They frequent reputation; promoting a new product, and memorable, the better – mixed in hOSe whO lOve TO drInK etc). After goals are defned, managers coffee often have favourite with white papers and research articles. should defne what kind of content would These can link to other created media is king in social media a chosen venue because it’s a great best ft the goals being pursued. that has serious research related to a place to hang out. perhaps they know SingTel, the Singaporean company’s product or a service. the owners or the other customers who, designed a strategy aimed at making like them, regularly drop in to socialise. telecommunications giant, recently Creative content But without the rich aromas and great the brand more relevant to customers The second question social managers Building true social media engagement means creating a tasting coffee that they serve, would and to showcase how it relates face is: how do I create content? having content strategy to hook the audience, not simply ‘being on’ people still go there? to consumers’ everyday lives. To a timely response is very important, particularly to those people who ‘live demonstrate its proximity to customers, For the most successful companies social media. By Prof. David Dubois and Thomas Crampton. operating in the realms of social media, the company partnered with food their lives’ through social media and they’ve got the fresh content, they’ve celebrity Gordon ramsay to celebrate where images on the likes of Instagram, brought the crowd and, as long as they Singapore’s cuisine and created a pinterest or Tumblr have become the keep serving up this gourmet content, set of videos covering an event that ‘new print advertising’. Consider biscuit they’ve got a winning virtual hangout. featured several local chefs competing brand Oreos’ response to a sports But more often than not, businesses with ramsay. stadium power outage during the 2013 merely tend to focus on securing their SuperBowl in the uS: in less than four social media presence in the race to minutes, the social media team had catch up with competitors. They ensure Content is created a unique execution ready to be the coffee shop has a Facebook, Twitter what makes the tweeted: “power Out? no problem. You or YouTube presence, but forget what can still dunk in the dark”. It resulted they’re serving. perhaps if they were medium social in 15 000 retweets, 20 000 Facebook serving a particular brand of favoured ‘likes’ and extensive media coverage. drink, they would bring in a few die-hard The competitive edge of those with believers, but those who wanted real SingTel also partnered with a real-time content is having senior aromas and coffee favours would prominent local comedian and Twitter management’s buy-in on something stroll on by. to get consumers talking about its new that happens quickly. The content is what makes the telecom services, producing short, But content doesn’t always have to medium social, not the other way improvised comedy sketches which be created in-house. One brand at the around. An empty coffee shop is not were then published on YouTube. Ogilvy-organised round table hired a a good strategy – and neither is an For B2B companies, however, local performer and invited people to ‘empty’ social media presence. content marketing strategies are tweet suggestions for his performance; A recent international roundtable, different. here, content takes the form comedy videos were posted on YouTube called ‘Social Media Matters Insiders’, of white papers or videos that are soon after, and the fnal result was brought leading academic and more research-focused, or that aim to successful engagement. That’s no professional social media experts from educate customers about particular surprise to Google, which has suggested different industries together and gave services. In B2B interactions, bringing that brands in the social space are a good sense of the trends and best human stories or sharing videos talking to Generation C consumers, a practices that can defne successful of executives to better explain the group who “care deeply about creation, social media content strategies. corporate perspective can be used to curation, connection, and community”. create a sense of proximity and trust deciding to outsource content Content: more than the room with clients. creation requires educating and motivating customers and employees to Keeping your brand front of mind Social media managers typically face PHOTOS: ISTOCK, SupplIed content strategy. First, what type of is regularly entertained and also growing number of companies, such as means ensuring the target audience two key questions when designing their create content. To meet this new goal, a informed, especially for businesses content should be created? This choice technology brand Intel, train employees who wish to engage on social media for dealing with governments or in requires defning the goals that should be met beforehand (for example: educating a week and help them curate content to regulated industries. That means video is a common approach – the more viral customers; improving the brand improve consistency and reliability. >> 12 12 strategicmarketing August–September 2014 August–September strategicmarketing 13 strategicmarketing August–September 2014