Comments As Content
03/09/2011
Tis a fact well known, that if you want to develop a presence in the social web you must join in on the conversations. Drop a comment on a blog post or Facebook stat, respond to a tweet or perhaps add your opinion to a LinkedIn discussion.
The conversations that take place below the fold can be as interesting and informative as the original content. In fact, sometimes comments can even be pulled into a blog post. Call it repurposed content. Here are two examples.
LInkedIn Discussion
Judy Mod, Social Gastromony, asked a question on a LinkedIn group that haunts many a marketer. - "Why are we treating social so differently than the market disruptions that we’ve lived through before?'"
My Comment
So many people (read: social media 'experts') are focused on mystifying social media. It's really quite simple for most successful business people. Keep doing what you're doing but bring it into the digital world.
I was talking with a B2B client just last week who was overwhelmed with just one more thing on his over flowing plate. I asked him these question: "How do you conduct business now?" "How do you nurture business relationships now?"
He made it a point to know more than just how his product could help customers/prospects. He made it a point to know The People, their interests, their passions. When he came across articles he mails links. When he meets clients/prospects in person or speaks to them on the phone he beings conversations asking about them, not about him or his brand,but about how they are. In Atlanta we offer people a "Coke" *(which could be coffee or Pepsi lol!) before we even start any conversation.
His ah ha light bulb moment came when he realized he could take similar information and build it into a blog post, a tweet, a Facebook update. He was already "social" now all he had to do was synergize online and offline. He agreed .. it would be an easy and exciting adventure.
Blog Post
Bob Garfield, Ad Age, in his typical snarky, humorous and smart fashion Bob dishes (do guys dish?) about a "hijacked" Cap'n Crunch social media campaign by a young agency that wanted to prove they could make a splash.
My Comment
"I have to sigh, or maybe I should just laugh, when someone tries to add some reality to the "marketing" social kool-aid and tribe cries not fair. Points well taken Bob:
1. Anyone can hijack a brand - Lucky for Quaker this was a positive spin.
2. Anyone can build followers w/ bribes - But are they fair weather "likes?"
3. Successful content/conversation is selfless not brand water torture (take a breath Steven sometimes this is not about the brand/client but about the customer; maybe weather was what they wanted to chat about)
4."This is relationship building, by its nature a painstaking, piece meal process." - How you do that is by "engaging" .. if you don't like the word come up w/ another but in a nano second it will be another buzz word so you'll begin the rant again.
5. Thinking outside the box gets you noticed by Bob Garfield and a column dedicated to your efforts - What's the GRP of that? Now I'm off to add more social media Kool Aid to my coffee!
Next time you drop a comment think .. How can you repurpose your own content.
