Like Laurel and Hardy or Batman and Robin, content and social media are a dynamic duo. Many bloggers and other experts have been saying that 2013 is the year of content, and I’m not disagreeing at all. But what IS content? Lots of things are considered content — blog posts, case studies, white papers, infographics, perspectives … the list goes on and on. Think of content as the way your company can position itself as an expert or thought leader. It can definitely help you differentiate yourself from your competition. So how, then, does content work with social media? Here are four key tips to help you integrate your content and social media efforts.
1. Social signals correlate strongly with good rankings on Google. Translation? If you don’t have a social media presence for your company where you are driving traffic back to your website (which should serve as your content repository), you are missing out on important SEO benefits. So use your social media profiles for more than just posting open jobs you are trying to fill. Promote your company blog or the slides from your latest speaking engagement, for example.
2. And building on point No. 1, company status updates are not enough when it comes to your company’s social media presence. This is where the benefit of creating your own content comes in. Think about it – if you promote someone else’s content on your social media profiles you are sending people to someone else’s website. Why not promote your own content and send people to your website?
PREMIUM CONTENT: Marketing/Creative Staffing Growth Update
3. But it can’t be just any content. Do your homework and determine what types of content your audience would benefit from and what keywords you should include. Chances are people don’t want to read your company brochure via a link on social media. But your audience may be interested in viewing videos about resume best practices or interviewing techniques. Or maybe a series of how-to guides or ebooks would be beneficial. You are a subject matter expert in the staffing industry – put that knowledge to work!
4. Create a schedule for content production and promotion. A systematic approach to what content you produce and where and when you promote it will ensure a steady stream of updates to your website and your social channels. Just because you have 3 blog posts ready to go doesn’t mean you have to tweet about all three of them this week. And just because you tweet about each one once doesn’t mean you can’t tweet about them again. Be creative in how you promote your content, and do it more than once.
As with a lot of things, what seems easy on the surface is actually more detailed and strategic below it. So your company is active on social media? Great! Are you getting the results you’re looking for, whether that is job candidates, sales leads or a bump in website traffic? If not, take a close look at the content you’re creating as well as how you’re promoting it.
MORE: Embracing Brand-Driven Content Strategy
