Content Strategy for Social Media

      As the semester winds down, I've been thinking about what I learned most this semester regarding content and my future profession. We all have social media for personal use but in recent years, social media has become necessary for companies who wish to stay relevant. Therefore an understanding of social media is more than necessary, it is VITAL for today's PR practitioners. 


Let's face it... 
     Whether you're using Twitter, which makes content short and simple, to Facebook posts (a little longer but still simple) or blog posts, which are undoubtedly more complex and involved but not rocket surgery...content can be confusing.


      Click here to download this basic "Content Rationale Worksheet", a great first step to defining the type of content you want to create and giving you a nice direction for your content once you know the answers.

created by: Jay Baer

When you're developing a broad social media content strategy for larger organizations, you have to ask yourself many more questions, of course. Tune-in next week (cliffhanger, alert!) as I discuss some of these organizational, audience and content-related questions that may be helpful as you craft content in the future. 


Love in content,
Austin and Zach

Austin Wildmann

Avoid the Plague of Bad Content

Warning: this week's post topic is bad ... very, very bad.

A few weeks ago, Zach and I wrote about good content and how to create it. This week, we are compelled to discuss bad content - and how you can avoid it.

“Content is king” is a familiar saying for those of us in the communications field.  It's nothing we haven't heard before and yet it is truer than ever before. Good content is not only engaging and interesting but it is also intelligent.

After 10 years of upheaval, the public relations industry is still smack dab in the middle of re-inventing itself. It is no longer enough to tell people that your product is best. Consumers are so much smarter these days. They are through with advertising and PR campaigns that they find insulting. Today's publics demand reality. They want the real story.

Next Stop? Snoozeville

3 Quick Tips to Help Your Avoid Bad Content

•  Do not place search engine optimization above quality: Make sure you aren’t just stuffing a bunch of keywords in a blog or website and calling it content. Don't be boring, be engaging!

•  Follow the 4-second rule: People should know the purpose of your site/blog within four seconds of visiting it. If not, why would they stay there??

•  Keep it simple: Your status, tweet, web copy or blog post must have a clearly defined objective and be easy to navigate. Use fewer words and more powerful imagery.  It's that simple.

We look forward to discussing all the awesome stuff we’re learning this semester. Let's "engage" next week when Mr. Peacock plans to tickle your mind with some grammatical stylings!

Love in content,

-Austin and Zach 

Austin Wildmann

Zach Peacock