<p>Time was, you generated a piece of thought leadership content, stuck it on your website and eNewsletter, then sat back counting the hits.&nbsp;</p> <p>The problem with that is that you're only speaking to people you already know (and only if they take the trouble to seek you out).</p> <p>Today, whenever we produce a new piece of content for a client &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s a video, an eBook, white paper, blog post or podcast &mdash; we immediately start engaging with the relevant communities to spread the word.&nbsp;</p> <p>This is the basic stuff of social media engagement. It's not particularly sophisticated or complex and it doesn't take any kind of expertise.</p> <p>Yes, it helps to be able to use some simple tools like Google Alerts (to find the most relevant bloggers); TwiLert (to build a relevant following on Twitter); or Backtype (to see where your favorite blog commenters are commenting). But none of these are important.</p> <p>The important thing is to find the communities that will care about your content, and engage with them.</p> <p>Here&rsquo;s our a 7-step action list to drive the new content into the market via social media.</p> <p><strong>1) We blog about our own new content.</strong><br />Sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how many companies fail to do this.</p> <p><strong>2) We tweet about the new content to our followers</strong> &mdash; and they re-tweet if they find it useful. A good, targeted follower list is a great tool for content distribution.</p> <p><strong>3) We post comments on the right blogs,</strong> linking to the content (avoiding overt spam - keeping it relevant). Do this as a service to the blog's readers and be transparent about it, not sneaky.</p> <p><strong>4) We bookmark the download page </strong>on the key social bookmarking sites.&nbsp; No need to scam these -- just make sure you're bookmarked with the appropriate tags.</p> <p><strong>5) We engage with dozens of groups </strong>on LinkedIn and Facebook posting links to the new content and trying to start discussions.&nbsp; Again, this is a service to the group members (and can really generate traffic and debate).</p> <p><strong>6) We issue press releases</strong> through the distribution services.&nbsp; To simple not to do and they at least create backlinks if not traffic.</p> <p><strong>7) We put the content out there on its own </strong>&ndash; on video sharing and slide-sharing sites; as an article on BizNik; as excerpts to favourite bloggers&hellip; The content doesn't have to live on your site to work for you.</p> <p>The first flush of excitement about social marketing in B2B has settled down. Now digital marketers are starting to figure out the real benefits.</p> <p>At Velocity, we&rsquo;re using social media as part of pretty much every campaign.&nbsp; For us, it&rsquo;s all about discovering the communities of interest that are spontaneously evolving all over the web, and engaging with them for our clients.</p> <p>This isn't rocket science. It's just helping the right people find your content.&nbsp; Of course, it really helps your reputation (and the future effectiveness of the 7 steps) if the content really is relevant and worth consuming.</p> <p>If the content is bad, social engagement will just accelerate its rejection (and tarnish your reputation).&nbsp; If it's good, social media can really help it snowball.&nbsp; Give it a go.</p> 2009-02-18T17:25:11Z 2009-02-20T19:46:37Z -11.3327 400 3219 true 15 22642 velocitys-7-step-social-marketing-action-plan 6 2009-02-20T19:46:32Z 2009-02-20T19:46:32Z

Seven things you should do every time you publish a new piece of thought leadership content. The basics of social media engagement. Hope you find it helpful!

0 2009-02-24T09:49:27Z