In my last blog post, I referenced the content strategy that the marketing team at Matrix Group has developed to keep our Web site and social networking pages fresh and interesting. Several folks asked for more details on our content strategy, so here you go.
Our communication/conversation strategy has several elements:
- Communication vehicles. We created an inventory of all the ways that we use to communicate with clients and prospects. Our inventory includes: the Web site, e-mail newsletter list, blog, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and e-mail discussion lists.
- Communication schedule. We have mapped out a schedule that delineates what we will post or send out every day, week, month, and quarter. For example, we strive to tweet every day, update our Facebook page twice a week, and post new blog entries twice a week.
- Content strategy. We believe that it’s important to NOT post the same stuff across all channels. For example, on the Matrix Group Twitter account, we tweet about association/non-profit news, how companies and organizations are using the Web and social networking in interesting ways, cool sites, Web standards, site and application launches, job openings, Matrix Group events, and fun stuff going on around the office. My personal Twitter account (@jmpineda) is different; I will post personal updates, sites I love, business news and trends, cool gadgets, blog posts and Matrix Group events. You’ll notice that there is overlap in what we tweet when it comes to Matrix Group; otherwise, what we tweet between the two accounts is very different. That’s intentional; we want our followers to have a different experience on each Twitter account.
- Tone and voice. Our Creative Director, Alex, says tone and voice are very important, no matter what the vehicle, so we have guidelines for the writing across our sites and pages. Our updates are always professional, not formal but not too casual either, friendly and warm.
- Engagement and response. Since we seek engagement across the different channels, we strive to respond to every single e-mail, blog comment, direct tweet, etc. We may not get back to folks instantly, but inquiries and comments get responded to within a day or two. For example, when someone asks a question on my blog, I post a comment AND I send a direct e-mail.
You’ll notice that we don’t have a separate social networking strategy. Instead, we have integrated the social network sites into our overall communications plan. All of this is working for us. Leads from the Web site have increased by several hundred percent, the quality of the leads is amazing, we are getting good candidates for our jobs, and clients are interacting with us in new and different ways.
How about you? What content and communication strategies are working for your organization?
22 replies on “Creating a Content Strategy for your Web Site, Blog, Social Networks”
Hi, Joanna–
Great post as always. I find particularly useful the fact that your team has created a communication schedule. That’s a great idea and helps make sure that all of the communication platforms you use are updated regularly, which fits well with your content strategy and not posting the same information across the board.
Lots of good tips to think about…
Hi Joanna! I always admire your ability to pass along useful, on-point, accessible information, and have particularly enjoyed the last two posts: this on content management and the other on social networking. Thanks for the great info, and glad to hear the time is paying off on the client side. Hello to your boys.
Hi Katie and Cindy. Thanks so much for your messages. It’s always good to know there are people out there reading and finding value in my posts! I’d love to hear more about your organizations and what you are doing with regard to your content strategy, schedule and content. Thanks again for commenting!
Great advice and clear way to collectively approach the multitude of social media tasks. I often find it overwhelming but this is a great way to look at building an integrated plan.
This brings me to an idea:…
Very nice and useful post, thanks.This post is not helpful for newbies also for experts, because it is true everyone is not aware of everything.
its nice to read a useful article for beginner like me.Some of points from this article are very helpful for me as I haven’t considered them yet.I would like to say thank you for sharing this cool article.
Great article, very informative!
Can I ask a cheeky question? Would it be possible to include this article in my blog?
I will leave a link back to this page 🙂
I agree that it is important to respond in a timely manner when it comes to your blog, social media sites, email, etc. People who are actively seeking your help want to build a professional relationship with you, and who knows, that very person may one day be in a position of great influence; and be a huge asset to your company!
Having a communication schedule or an editorial calendar could be very useful to stay consistent and engage the visitors.
Excellent post but you are missing two vital components –
Use the appropriate keywords that reflect what you what to be ranked in. Use the keywords in your titles tag, and body text.
Don’t create content about anything. Focus on content that meets a market need or is current and popular. That way you are end up with content that people are interested in and will consume, rather just what you are interest in which will invariable be ignored.
The key to success is KEYWORDS KEYWORDS KEYWORDS! Of coarse, content is important too because useless content will not win anyone over! Good luck to everyone.
-Bob
Great post. I like the idea about the communication schedule and will use that in my efforts.
These are really great tips. I like the last one the most. Only responding to the blog comment is good but then sending the email is great! They are definitely going to go back to your blog this way. Now, I have to go read the blog post before this.
“We believe that it’s important to NOT post the same stuff across all channels.”
Absolutely! Originality always generates more content than a copy-paste approach. The only people that can get away with spamming the same content all over the web are news media outlets.
Excellent strategy and approach to content. Everyone has to come at it from their own individual perspective. There’s so much ‘copy and paste’ and I believe we can all tell from reading it. There’s no short cut to good content.
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Johanna, fantastic advice. Another thing we do at our website is find jokes, cartoons, etc. related to our niche and create galleries, posts, etc. using those. Making people smile is always a good thing, even when the content isn’t that “helpful” or “valuable” in a practical sense.
Nice post, I definatly agree that planning your content is vitally important to success in this industry alot of people should heed this post.
Great Article!
Keep posting and spreading knowledge !
Hi Joanna, I love the strategy of communication vehicles, having a communication program gives advertising and lets you follow actualizandote. Excellent advice. Greetings.
informative post but broad explanation. the beginners cannot fully grasp all the contents that you want to share the viewers. maybe you need to explain it in more detailed on your succeeding post relative to that topic.
thanks and God Bless…
nice content but why there’s no keyword present in it?