Tag Archives: twitter

How To: Build a Content Strategy

28th January 2011

As a community manager at Engauge, I spend much of my time building strategy, writing and best of all learning for my clients. As we enter into a new year, it seems this is the best time to take a look back and revisit how we present information to our fans.

As quoted in the 2011 Engauge Digital Outlook, “Brands aren’t celebrities, they’re not people and they’re not peers, but they can be very useful friends – driving the use of social.”

Taking this to the core of some of my responsibilities as a community manager, here are some of my favorite tips to keep in mind when managing a brand’s social presence:

1. Build a calendar: Each month, I plot out our posts within a calendar using either Keynote or PowerPoint. However, if you are looking to share a calendar among several team members, Google Calendars make an easy way to see at a glance what should be posted each day and quickly rearrange when necessary.

2. Add variety: One of the largest mistakes brands make in social is to focus strictly on the bottom line. While product is still important, be sure to clearly define “buckets” for types of content. For instance, if your brand frequently holds events or has a strong philanthropy arm, set content aside for those areas and define an amount of posts per week to be devoted.

Likes and comments and re-tweets = stream impressions = new fans and followers.

3. Create engagement: Going along with #2, try asking your fans questions or to share a recent experience. You will be surprised how eager they are to speak with you. However, do keep in mind, that you cannot offer fans anything in return in the form of a prize, as this is illegal within the wall on Facebook.

4. Test and learn: Experiment with posting at different times of the day, different days of the week and posts of varying length. Not every brand audience will respond the same way, so this is key to learning more about your fans, not Facebook users in general.

5. Create a voice and tone: Defining a voice and tone for how a brand will speak, act and engage with fans will help fans to more easily identify with who you are and what you will say. For instance, what works for an energy drink may not be as well received by fans of a non-profit.

6. Take advantage of analytics tools: Track everything. Time of day, length of post, number of comments, fan growth week-to-week, impressions per post. The information is there and if used correctly, will be the key to proving not only do your fans love you, but here’s why and here’s how.

What would you add to this list? Do you have a go-to form of communication strategy when it comes to your pages?

The Perks of a High Klout Score

22nd January 2011

Klout has called itself the standard of influence for measuring individual influence across Facebook and Twitter. With 500 Million and 175 Million users respectively, the tool has certainly defined a way to navigate the chatter and overload we all face in social. However, up to this point, the biggest concern for an influence score as an individual is so what? My score is a 45 (a drop from a 51 only a month ago, but who’s counting right?), but what does in earn me?

In a sea of millions of members across networks, searching for the perfect candidate to spread your businesses’ next big thing feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Klout is working to change that.

Earlier this month, Klout announced Perks, a platform allowing Klout users with high scores in targeted area, demographics, etc. to be rewarded  with, you guessed it, perks. For example, the company is currently running a campaign in San Francisco along with Audi allowing selected users to take the new Audi A8 for a test drive at an upcoming event as well as a chance to win a luxury weekend getaway.

It’s pretty clear that is is win-win for both sides. Exclusivity for users, perks for being the highly socially engaged. The brand finds not only a highly defined test market, but a market inherently inclined to spread the message to peers that are ready to listen.

As outbound communication becomes more and more defined by the actions of users rather than the advertisements of brands, these platform enhancement will help to finally uncover the ever elusive ROI we were all searching for in social in 2010.

Tweets for Tacos

27th October 2010

New York and L.A. may be resident food truck fanatics, but to us here in the south, they are pretty new. I’ve been waiting for a while for the perfect moment to come along and experience a delicious restaurant on wheels for myself.

Today that moment arrived.

If you’ve heard of the ever popular Kogi BBQ taco truck in California, Yumbii is the hip Atlanta version. So why is food in a truck so appealing when I could just walk across the street to some of Midtown’s best places to eat?

1. Exclusivity: With street eateries on the go, you’ve got to catch it at the right place and time. Some may post their schedule on their website, but for most, you’ve got to be following them on Twitter to find out where they are heading next. It keeps things fun, interesting and leaves you wishing you worked a few blocks away on that day.

2. Sharability: Check-in on Foursquare and share on Twitter. It’s the main way to spread the word. Had it not been for my good friend Rene re-tweeting a message, I would have never known.

3. Availability: Sure I could get in my car and drive a mile to my favorite taco place, but  what makes it so great is it comes to you. As this model catches on, hopefully we will find something new and exciting just outside our office doors on a regular basis.

Interested in learning more about the food truck phenomenon? Follow @AtlantaStreetFood on Twitter for updates on various vendors around town, or join me during Social Media Atlanta for an Eat Up at the Hub…and yes, we hear the trucks will be there.

Kathlene and Rene show their excitement...even in the rain