Are your communications sociable?

By Chris LaFrombois and Jada Cash

Amidst the buzz and confusion surrounding the search for the perfect social media marketing strategy, you may be missing a simple and obvious way to use services such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter: repurposing communications, content and other information your company typically distributes via e-mail and mail.

Social media is simply another channel through which to reach your audience. While bombarding contacts with the same information through several channels isn’t the way to go, strategically repurposing company communications such as newsletter articles, e-mail announcements, press releases, white papers and other content on social media sites can be an excellent way to cut your teeth with Web 2.0.

Imagine this scenario:

You mail your company newsletter to customers and prospects once per quarter. It contains several longer articles as well as shorter company announcements. This has, thus far, been a good way to keep your audience informed and stay top of mind with them. So why use social media to augment this strategy? Here are just some of the reasons why social media might add value to this hypothetical situation:

1. It’s right on time
   Some announcements and news may be less than fresh by the time your newsletter arrives in recipients’ hands. Online news today, on the other hand, moves at the speed of technology. Posting relevant news items and updates closer to when they develop shows your audience that you’re up to date with industry happenings. If you want to inform your audience about government legislation affecting your industry, for example, use a newsletter article to offer opinions, quotes from experts in your organization and deeper analysis of the legislation’s implications. Use your company’s Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages to post real-time updates/links to online news before and after the newsletter prints. Once the newsletter has been mailed, you can also post links to the online version of your article in these forums.
2. It starts a conversation
   While you may receive occasional feedback on your newsletters through e-mails and conversations, social media lends itself to audience participation far more than mail and e-blasts. Taking a less formal tone, directly asking questions and soliciting feedback are all ways to help encourage conversation even more. This can give you more insight into your audience and engage them more.
3. It gives them options
   By giving your audience additional options for consuming your content (some shorter and less formal than others) you can increase the likelihood that your message will get through. A post or tweet with an abstract or small excerpt from your newsletter article and a link to the full version may help catch prospects’ attention as they browse their LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts, even if they missed the actual newsletter. Even if they don’t read the full article, they’ll note your presence and your contribution regarding a relevant topic – which can help reinforce branding, reputation and thought-leadership positioning.
4. It will be brief
   As mentioned, social media communications must be kept brief, which can be a plus in today’s fast-paced world. Nothing can replace the substance, insight and quality of well-written and researched articles; however, time-strapped audiences will appreciate the option of receiving briefer communications via social media updates.
5. It reaches wider
   With mailed newsletters, your reach is only as far as the mailing list you’ve accumulated. By posting your communications online, you greatly increase the number of people that may potentially see them.
6. It supplements SEO
   Social media can fit into your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy in numerous ways. By posting links to content from your website on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, you create inbound links, which give your site a search-engine ranking boost. If others pass your links along to their “friends,” “connections” and “followers,” the results are even better. Featuring a live feed of your tweets, Facebook wall posts or LinkedIn updates on your website can also positively affect SEO because search engine crawlers favor dynamic sites that frequently update content. With Google and Bing now featuring real-time search functions, making sure your tweets, wall posts and updates are search-engine-optimized may also pay off, as real-time searches allow people to see up-to-the-minute content from Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the Web.

By leaving social media out of the equation, you may not be getting the most out of your printed and online communications. Fortunately, implementing a social media plan is a cost-efficient and manageable endeavor.

For more information on other social media initiatives, such as blogs, additional social media information and more, visit the links on our blog and website below.

For information on how The Simons Group can help your company with all of its social media needs, contact Lee Zoldan at lzoldan@thesimonsgroup.com.

Related Links

How social media can work for b-to-b marketers
All about business blogging
Twitter tips
LinkedIn resources
General SEO information

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