On Monday, March 4th, Social Media newbies and pros alike gathered around the virtual campfire to discuss content strategies that get the social share with guest expert, Lisa Grimm (@lulugrimm). Lisa is the Senior Social Media Strategist at Imagination Publishing. She has been embedded at General Mills as the leading social presence, and has provided social strategy development and brand/product integration for Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Eat Better America, and Tablespoon.
Here is what Lisa had to say about killer content that gets shared.
Q1 @lulugrimm Before we really dig into content, how important are social sharing buttons to success?
Lisa: The ability to interact with content is one of the elements that defines social media. Much like social sharing works within social networks; strategically placing social sharing buttons within your content will impact its success. Place them at the top or side navigation. Share buttons that scroll with content are great as well. Also, make sure social sharing buttons prepopulate the right content and links.
Q2 @lulugrimm How important is story over stuff when it comes to killer share-able content?
Lisa: Your story, your essence – the why, how and what of your brand (see @simonsinek’s TED Talk on this) is vital to success in and with content. Relying on stuff rather than story is like building a house on a faulty foundation. Eventually, it will crack and fall. With branding and social, you must establish a strong foundation (brand identity) in order to build a sustainable narrative and wicked content. If you’re doing social and don’t have a buttoned up narrative, create content themes for consistency. Consistent content will likely produce results necessary to focus more efforts on the overall brand narrative
Q3 @lulugrimm With Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram…. Is the visual becoming more and more important?
Lisa: Instagram and Pinterest proved quickly that a rich image that complements strong copy will outperform copy alone. I’m pretty hot on Vine right now (6-second looping video app). Brings visual and editing in real-time to a new level. Audience is everything with content. What visual content you have is dictated by the medium and who’s hanging out there.
Q4 @lulugrimm What about video content, when does it play a supporting roll and when is it the content star?
Lisa: Video is tricky. Some audiences only engage with really well-produced video and some dig homemade. I think behind-the-scenes and 1:30 or less videos are best for most brands, but pics typically do better. Most brands underutilize interactive video. Expensive, but you can do basic interaction in YouTube. I also prefer YouTube to Vimeo for search purposes. Title and tag content for search!
Q5 @lulugrimm How often does a title make or break a really great article when it comes to getting shared?
Lisa: Copy is a major creative component. You should always ask yourself, “Would I click on this?” I look at titles for two things: Make title irresistible to my target audience and optimize it for a new audience.
Q6 @lulugrimm Do you have any real world examples of social sharing success to share?
Lisa: @Oreo was my fave marketer of 2012 and so far in 2013. Oreo’s ability to co-create with their community is truly incredible. They have an amazing content foundation and use each channel to build relationships and create loyalty and particpate in conversations with fans – all rooted in their brand story and voice. @oreo‘s real-time response the the #superbowl blackout garnered 15k retweets, 21k likes and 7k FB shares. Blending content and conversation in real-time always wins. Jeep’s response to Burger King hack was also great. I also happen to be a Jeep owner, so I especially loved their response to BK:-)
This coming Monday at 9PM Eastern, #SocialChat will be discussing Pinterest Marketing with Daniel Maloney (@DanielPMaloney), CEO of PinLeague.
If you want to learn more from the hosts of #SocialChat, Alan K’necht and Michelle Stinson Ross, they will be presenting on several panel sessions at SMX Toronto on March 20 & 21st.
