Forget creating “original content.” We have become obsessed with creating “viral content,” growing our followers and proving ROI. By creating bite-sized content on social first, you can determine if a blog post or video is worth the time to produce. Before investing the time and resources to create long-form content, test out the topics on social. Let’s face it, 90% of the time, your content isn’t original. Start with an MVP for each one of your social media channels. Waiting to have the perfect product can cause you to miss an opportunity. If your audience is interested and engaged, then work on creating polished, evergreen content. Start with the basics, and if you get an engaged response, then expand to create a more polished final product. Social media isn’t about perfect posts or immaculate content. You can create engagement with a picture of a baby or a cat fairly easily, but it takes a true pro to create conversation around their brand that is authentic to them and their audience.
As social media professionals, our jobs are hard enough. The 2016 CMO Survey revealed that 40% of companies aren’t happy with the performance of their social strategies. Despite the difficulty to prove ROI and the general dissatisfaction that can be felt throughout our organizations, social media will make up almost 21% of the average business’s marketing spend in five years. As budgets and responsibilities grow, how can we continue to adapt and change with the times?
Forget creating “original content.”
We have become obsessed with creating “viral content,” growing our followers and proving ROI. Original content is an overused phrase that usually describes blog posts. The process usually goes something like this. We have very good intentions and want to help solve a problem for our audience. “Great! We will write a blog post/ebook/guide/video then share it on social.” When in reality, the roles should be reversed. By creating bite-sized content on social first, you can determine if a blog post or video is worth the time to produce.
Before investing the time and resources to create long-form content, test out the topics on social. Blogs should really be written for search engines — to help you attract an audience that is actively searching for the information that you have to offer — while social media posts are for the audience who you engage with every day. While you’re testing, rethink what you consider to be original content altogether. Let’s face it, 90% of the time, your content isn’t original. It’s your own rendition of an already existing idea.
Social media needs a little more respect than being treated like a bulletin board for your latest blog posts. Doesn’t it deserve it’s own content? Think about it. When was the last time that you read a full blog post? All of the words? When was the last time that blog post led you to take action? While content marketing is necessary, it cannot replace the creation of unique platform-specific content. While you can drive traffic between channels, you should understand the role that each plays in your strategy.
Instead, create platform-specific MVPs.
In many cases, your social media audience can be greater than the daily views that you get on your site or blog. Don’t waste all the eyes you can get in real-time each and every day waiting on your blog-posting schedule. Start with an MVP for each one…
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