Content Strategy: Takeaways from Social Media Marketing World 2016

Content Strategy: Takeaways From Social Media Marketing World 2016

Content Strategy is Episode 70 of This Old New Business weekly business podcast with Jeff Korhan.

Frank Kenny has twice been a guest on the show. This week he graciously interviews me to discover and share the top takeaways from Social Media Marketing World 2016 hosted in San Diego, CA last week.

The key was having a strategy and following it, and that is also my top takeaway from the event.

Content strategy isn’t sexy, but it is indeed what everyone was talking about.

Here are a couple of examples from sessions presenters.

Stephanie Sammons talked about tilting your LinkedIn profile to the audience you are trying to reach today. In her own profile, she uses phrases like Texas gal and yogi to show some personality that makes her stand out on what many consider the least interesting social media channel.

And she gave examples of business she has landed with this strategy to back it up. So, don’t be afraid to test new profile strategies.

Shaun McBride (Shonduras on SnapChat) is exactly what you would expect from a SnapChat expert. He’s a snowboarding, surfer dude kind of guy that knows how to tell stories with short videos that will make you laugh out loud. His simple video strategy follows a theme: Will This Work?

He has built a massive SnapChat audience that wants to find out if his next crazy project will work.

If you are curious, the hot social channels nowadays are SnapChat, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, podcasting, and live video such as Blab and Facebook Live. A valid strategy with any of these channels should ideally provide a shift (or tilt) that gets you noticed when others are playing it safe.

And that brings us to a proven strategy that anyone can use.

Take The 3% Challenge

Mark Schaefer, the author of The Tao of Twitter and The Content Code, gave the closing keynote at Social Media Marketing World. He delivered an entertaining and informative presentation that challenged the audience to take the 3% content strategy challenge.

Most of us have a core group that loves us. They are the ones that engage with and share our content because we’ve earned their trust. Our challenge is to focus on this segment that is probably 2% of our subscribers and followers and grow it to 3%.

If you get there, refocus and go for 4%. That’s been my commitment with my weekly newsletter from day one, and it’s why I consider it my primary channel. Feel free to steal my strategy. Here it is.

Choose one channel to be your proving ground, the place where you push the limits to make new discoveries for that small segment of your audience that truly loves and appreciates your work.

In addition to being a source of valuable content, this is the channel that always gets 100% of your heart and soul, regardless of other commitments, and fuels the larger body of work that defines your brand.

Good luck with yours.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on content strategy. Meet me over on Twitter to take the conversation further.

Key Take-Aways

  • Thanks to Frank Kenny for helping to put this podcast together. You can learn more about his work with local Chambers of Commerce at FrankJKenny.com
  • While SnapChat was the darling of the event, you may be surprised to learn that all four of the LinkedIn sessions I attended with Stephanie SammonsViveka von Rosen, Melonie Dodaro, Jason Miller and Alex Rynne were completely full. This is a reminder that for many businesses LinkedIn is considered an essential social media channel.
  • Peg Fitzpatrick offered a couple of resources for upgrading your images. They are DesignFeed.io for resizing images for the social media channels and RelayThat.com for quickly and easily creating cool graphics.
  • Syed Balkhi shared AnswerThePublic.com for learning what people want to learn more about so that you can create content that addresses relevant issues. Note: When using it you’ll want to change the country from UK to US, or whatever is most relevant for your search.
  • You can still buy a virtual pass to access to 140+ Social Media Marketing World session recordings and slides by going here.

How to subscribe to This Old New Business podcast

Click here to subscribe via iTunes.
You can also subscribe via Stitcher.

Help us Spread the Word

If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to iTunes or Stitcher to leave a rating, write a review, or subscribe.

About the Author:  Jeff Korhan, MBA, is the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business and host of This Old New Business podcast.

He helps organizations use media to create exceptional customer experiences that drive business growth in a digital, social and global world. Connect with Jeff on LinkedInTwitterFacebook, and Google+

LinkedIn Publishing: Build Your Influence with Customer Facing Media

LinkedIn Publishing: Build Your Influence with Customer-Facing Media

This is Episode 43 of This Old New Business weekly business podcast with Jeff Korhan.

In this fast-paced episode you will learn that LinkedIn is making a strong push to be a source of valuable media for business professionals. So, if you want to stand out on LinkedIn, you want to learn how to use the platform to create and publish customer-facing media that lives on your LinkedIn profile – and Viveka von Rosen will show you how.

Our Featured Guest: Viveka von Rosen

LinkedIn Publishing: Build Your Influence with Customer Facing Media Viveka von Rosen is the author of LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day, and known internationally as the “LinkedIn Expert”. Her seminars, workshops and programs have trained over 100,000 people, including executives at several Fortune 500 Companies. Forbes listed her as a top social media influencer for 3 years running, and she has been cited and featured in Money Magazine, CNN, Fortune, Mashable, Social Media Examiner and many other leading publications and events.

Focus on the Benefits of What You Do

LinkedIn wants to be a valuable resource for business professionals, and they reward those contributing to the platform with greater visibility for connecting with new opportunities.

LinkedIn initially became a publishing platform for a limited group of influencers that already had a large fan base. Now everyone in the North America and parts of Europe has access to the LinkedIn Publisher platform, and there are enormous advantages for taking advantage of it.

In fact, Viveka speculates that the time may come when reaching an extended audience with your content on LinkedIn becomes a pay-to-play game, as it is now on Facebook. So, the smart money says take advantage of this free opportunity today to build your influence with LinkedIn publishing.

Why Use LinkedIn Publishing?

#1 – LinkedIn Publisher content significantly enhances your profile by featuring your expertise with text, images, video and Slideshare presentations.

#2 – LinkedIn is searchable, and your long-form content can be rich with keywords to make your profile more discoverable

#3 – LinkedIn is a ready-made community ripe for attracting a larger audience. Think of it as a blogging platform for connecting with like-minded professionals.

10 LinkedIn Publisher Best Practices

#1 – Long-form, in-depth and relevant content that is 900-1500 words is recommended by LinkedIn.

#2 – Create an interesting headline with a question or numbered tips or steps that suggests the value of your informative content.

#3 – Follow appropriate LinkedIn Pulse Channels to learn what type of content is most desired by your audience.

#4 – Choose an attractive header image for your article, with 698 x 400 pixels being optimal.

#5 – Include hyperlinks to related content that further adds value.

#6 – Embed YouTube or Vimeo videos or links to them.

#7 – Choose from up to 3 of the available tags to optimize your content for search and ensure it lands in the appropriate LinkedIn Pulse channel.

#8 – If you have a premium account, study the analytics to learn more about the demographics of those consuming your content and be certain you are attracting the right audience.

#9 – Reach out and engage further with those liking, commenting and sharing your content.

#10 – Always include a signature and a call-to-action with your content to build your network.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on LinkedIn Publishing? Meet me over on Twitter to take the conversation further.

Lighting Round Tips and Advice

Viveka’s Top Sales or Marketing Advice – Really know your audience. Write your LinkedIn profile and create helpful media for them.

Her Favorite Productivity Tip – Viveka recommends 17Hats – a new app for automating workflow for entrepreneurs, and she is also fond of Evernote because it plays well with LinkedIn.

A Quote that has Inspired Viveka’s Success – “All things being equal, people do business with, and refer people to, those they know, like and trust.” Bob Burg

Key Take-Aways

  • Use LinkedIn to describe what you bring to the table to help your clients. Also, be mindful that LinkedIn frowns on and downgrades profiles that blatantly stuff keywords, especially to promote products and services.
  • If you have a premium account, LinkedIn will suggest keywords for your summary. Include them there and throughout your profile and published content.
  • Check out Viveka’s LinkedIn course on Lynda.com. Try it free for 10 days.
  • You can learn more about Viveka at LinkedIntoBusiness.com and on Twitter @LinkedInExpert
  • And check out the weekly LinkedIn chat to connect with other LinkedIn enthusiasts every Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM Eastern US time.

How to subscribe to This Old New Business podcast

Click here to subscribe via iTunes.
You can also subscribe via Stitcher.

Help us Spread the Word

If you enjoyed this episode of This Old New Marketing podcast, please head over to iTunes or Stitcher to leave a rating, write a review, or subscribe.

About the Author:  Jeff Korhan, MBA, is the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business and host of This Old New Business podcast.

He helps mainstream businesses adapt their traditional growth practices to a digital world. Connect with Jeff on LinkedInTwitterFacebook, and Google+