Brewing the Value Stream or How To Generate Twitter Content?

You’re either on Twitter or you know you need to be .

Let’s assume that you have a Twitter account, that you’ve created some reflection of your brand identity and you understand how to follow. If not, read this.

Now, really. What do you SAY?

Whenever you’ve lost your way in the marketing maze you can always find true north with;

a)    A business objective
b)    An understanding of your market position
c)    An understanding of your audience segments

So when facing the grey haze of Twitter, start with an objective such as: (but not limited to..)

1. Increasing market share
   
2. Increasing customer retention
   
3. Growing customer relationships
   
4. Establishing a leadership position

As you well know, these in turn lead to strategy recommendations…something like'

1. Transform customers into evangelists
2. Recognize and reward your customers
   
3. Become the ‘knowledge’ provider 
   
4. Attain and promote 3rd party endorsements

These are just some starters to get your brain going, but this type of approach should look hauntingly and reassuringly familiar.

Just stick to your map and attach your strategy to the desires and preferences of your audience(s) - customers, suppliers, media, bloggers, competition, industry leaders, etc.

10 Basic Content Categories

How do you brighten their day, solve their pain and execute your strategy? What categories of content are meaningful to them, Are they:

1.     Key Insights and unique perspectives
2.     Industry research, trends, opinion polls and surveys
3.     Blogger posts and pics 
4.     Everything they wanted to know about your product but were afraid to ask…

5.     How-to’s and Self-helps

6.     Event notices and key dates
7.     Behind the scenes info
8.     Industry or Category News
9.     Reviews and referrals
10.  Personal profiles about others like them

These are broad categories and your strategist can tighten the focus depending on your audience, event or marketing objectives.  But the key is to have categories of content that are meaningful to your customer and delivered on a regular basis. You need a stream of content that reflects your brand while it meets their needs and desires.

"O.K but where does all this content come from?"

• Well you can hire this… but just in case it’s not in the budget,
  
• Once you know your categories, there are great Internet scraping tools. Start with Google Alerts on key words. Try tools like Zoomerang, Twitter Search, Addictomatic that make it easy to tune in to what’s being said in a particular category.
  
• Have departments heads provide you with relevant information in their area.
  
• Repeat the wisdom of bloggers or others on Twitter. You will be appreciated for taking the time to sort through the noise for the good kernel of information.
  
• Personal insights – make it real. Be truly reflective. Be human It will resonate. 
  
• Don't cheat, be selfish or greedy. This is a transparent medium and you will not only be busted but punished. Be open, confident and generous. It's much more attractive. 
  

How often do you “tweet”?

The jury is still out, but some stats say you should tweet at least 10 times a day. That’s once an hour 8 – 5. The posting is fast. The sourcing of content is the work. The USArmy posts less often but their content is good. Find your balance.

Tip:Use modifiers like bit.ly that reduce your links down to save character space and also allow you to track them.

RT (Retweet) posts that mention you or key members of your audience.

Engage your audience. Reply when someone mentions you or when you can provide good information.  That demonstrates that you are listening and appreciative. People love to be listened to.

Respond even when something negative happens……ok….you need a response strategy. But that’s another post.

 

Content Marketing

I got excited listening to a teleseminar with Joe Pulizzi, Newt Barrett, Chris Brogan and Paul Gillin on content marketing for two reasons.
1. It’s smart marketing
2. It works in both the online and offline environment

The funny thing was it’s really not new. The challenge of being unique and relevant has always been at the core of effective marketing. 

What is new are the tools to guide the customer through the online environment.

In my experience marketing financial services, the challenge was that products themselves were really at parity and there was no way to differentiate with the competition as everyone sells checking, loans and investments – unless you could become the “knowledge provider”.

Example: Bank One Business Banking developed branded, relevant informational brochures on topics like:
- Keys to A Sucessful Business Plan
- The 5 Cs of Credit
- Cash Flow Fundamentals

- Making the Most of the SBA
A series of informational pieces with interactive elements (worksheets, questionnaires, agency links) were developed and delivered to other respected sources like accountants, lawyers or brokers to pass along to the end-user. It made the influencer look smart, provided the customer with relevant information and positioned the bank as a trusted source that really understood the needs of the business owner.

They were highly successful because:
1. They understood the information needs of the customer
2. The information helped the customer advance their business and although it never mentioned a product, it gave them the information they needed to make an informed, confident purchase decision.
3. It gave customers value through their social network allowing them to respond when they were ready.

Fast forward 10 years and you’ve got an online example almost verbatim at MasterCard. 

Marketers now have tools like never before but many still haven't grown into them:
With tools like Zoomerang, Twitter Search, Addictomatic there’s no excuse for any marketer not to tune in to what customers are thinking.

Customers have access to the same Internet you do, so if you’re not revealing brand new data, your job is to be the filter – to comb through all the stuff that’s out there, edit it and serve it up in a way that suits your customer.

A favorite example of mine is Magellan's Travel site that has sorted through all the health, security, weather and electrical data to help guide the customer toward the most appropriate purchase based on their travel destination.

With SEO, Twitter, Blogs and other social media good content can be found and distributed again and again – if it’s really valuable it will be.

Other good examples listed on the call include:
HomeMadeSimple.com 

BeingGirl.com
RoyalCanin 

Ironically, I don’t have an example of an advertising agency or a marketing firm demonstrating content in this way. They all toss out what they’ve done, who they are and how many awards make them great.

If you’ve seen an example, let me know.
Otherwise it's shoes for the shoemaker? 

Call Me.