When it comes to building meaningful presence on social
media platforms, most marketers would agree that you’ll never make any kind of
impact unless you go ahead and get started – that is, you’ve got to show up to
the party even if you have no idea what you’re doing yet. But beyond simply
establishing a corporate Facebook page or Twitter account, what is the most
impactful method of accumulating customers?
The debate over content vs. conversation is in full swing.
On one side of the debate is the idea that you will pull in
more regular customers by putting together a content calendar, much like an
editorial publication, then posting planned content on a consistent basis. The
thought process behind this point of view is that without content, there isn’t
a whole lot to talk about. By posting to social media channels consistently,
you will establish a readership base much like any news site. (Greenberg, 2009)
The opposite side of the debate asserts that social media
marketers who simply schedule and push content are not getting the big picture.
Proponents of the social media conversation method acknowledge the need for
consistent content, but take it to a different level, asserting that that
content must be engaging – a conversation starter. Also, another idea behind
the conversation theory is that social media exists because people like having a
platform where their voices can be heard, so marketers who do not acknowledge
their customers’ voices are missing the whole point of this vehicle. On this
side of the debate, marketers feel that you must post engaging content
consistently and constantly listen to your customers’ voices when speaking on
social media platforms. (Novak, 2010)
I generally tend to side with conversation strategists on
this debate topic because I think we miss out on a lot of goodwill feelings
from our customers by failing to acknowledge them. This applies to in-person
interactions just as much as it does social media interactions. Of course, when
it comes to the method of this interaction, a lot of variables come into play.
Any good marketer knows not to blindly subscribe to one strategy without first
considering his/her business objectives. Ask yourself: What do you hope to achieve with social media? Do you want to be an
idea base resource for customers who have never heard of you? Do you want to be
a source of entertainment for an already established customer base? Do you want
to simply be a news source on a particular subject area? Certainly these
scenarios will dictate different levels of conversation-based vs. content-based
strategy in the social media arena. Inevitably, your social media solution will
be some combination of the two.
Marketing firm Sprout Content provided some tips to create a
“Social Media Conversation Calendar,” a tool that unifies content and
conversation. In this calendar, marketers plan a date/day of the week, content
bucket (including the specific target and intention for the post) as well as writing
out possible posts for each of several social platforms. An example is
illustrated below. (Williams, n.d.)
This method acknowledges the importance of developing a set
schedule (content theory) but also pushing conversation starters and allowing
marketers to be organized in advance, freeing up their resources to allow time
to respond to the conversations happening on their platforms. I personally love
this method and am considering implementing it in my own organization. I’ll
probably also add columns to measure the success of each content/conversation
item, recording metrics such as “likes,” re-posts, re-tweets, and comments.
References:
Greenberg, M. (2009, October 20).
Content is king of social marketing. MultichannelMerchant.com.
Retrieved from
http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/1020-content-social-marketing/
Novak, C. (2010, July 27). Why
conversation, not content, is king. SocialMediaToday.com.
Retrieved from
http://socialmediatoday.com/wordspring/152636/why-conversation-not-content-king
Williams, D. (n.d.). Creating a social media conversation
calendar. Content Marketing Blog. Retrieved from http://www.sproutcontent.com/blog/bid/131492/Creating-a-Social-Media-Conversation-Calendar
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