The art of creating engaging content is much like the art of good conversation. Start interacting with your customers as individuals and be the life and soul of the party!

1. Be the life and soul of
the party with content
Part 3 of “The 3rd Age of Social” eBook
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2. Brands understand the importance of content
CEOs and Executives have already begun to seriously recognise the potential
power of content marketing and they are setting aside substantial budgets.
B2C Content Marketing Spend
(next 12 Months)
3%
rketing
of Ma erica
alf
Over h North Am t
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en
Execs rease cont
will inc ting spend!
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11%
55%
Decrease
31%
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No Change
Increase
Source http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/
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3. The process of producing engaging content is like the art of
good conversation!
Done?
1. Be informed and up to date
2. Be where the action is
3. Don’t hog the conversation
4. Be aware of people’s responses
5. Ask about them
Be the likeable socialite
people love talking to and
whose opinion they trust. Don’t
be the bore they try to ignore.
6. Be genuine
7. Be interesting!
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4. 1. Be Informed and Up-to-Date
You can’t have a good conversation if you don’t know what people are talking
about. You need to keep your finger on the pulse.
An easy thing to do right now
It could be a hilarious new
perspective or a story not yet
broken into mainstream news
channels but, like any news
reporter, community managers
have to be fully in the know.
Set up Google Alerts for relevant topics to
keep on top of the latest news
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5. 2. Be Where the Action is
People are more likely to want to hear what you think
about something if you were actually there.
Top tip
If you can’t be in all places
at once – make use of
your team!
Introducing short punchy
editorial meetings with
social media managers,
CMOs and execs can
really elevate the quality
of your content.
Like journalists, getting out there to industry events,
conferences and undertaking interviews will ensure
content is up-to-the minute and insightful.
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6. 3. Don’t Hog the Conversation
No one likes the loudmouth who won’t shut up,
no matter how intelligent or interesting they might be.
Tools such as BufferApp allow tweets to be
pre-uploaded and then staggers the release
of these tweets throughout the day.
It’s best used, however, for content which is
not time-sensitive. (remember
Tesco’s horsemeat hay tweet fiasco?)
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7. 4. Be Aware of People’s Responses
You need to be aware of the effect of your conversations. This requires good data.
Asking the right questions
Measuring the right metrics
• Is this not an appropriate
topic for the company?
• Is a group gathering round
to hear more?
• Do we want the content to
generate awareness or
direct sales?
Each audience will be
different and choosing the
right metrics to assess the
success of content and
measure progress is key.
Prioritise those metrics which
will be the best measure of
the type of success you
want. It will also affect which
analytics program you use
The question will impact
which metrics to use, and will
frame the activity in your
mind.
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8. 5. Ask About Them
The oldest and best rule for any conversationalist!
Case in point
Lays did fantastically with its “Do us a flavour”
competition, launched on Facebook and Twitter
to gather suggestions for a new flavour.
8 Million Entries
#SaveGarlicBread!
#SaveChickenWaffles!
On a smaller scale, simple actions you can initiate are polls, questions,
suggestions, reviews, experience reports, vlogs and Vines.
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9. 6. Be Genuine
People won’t want to talk to you if they don’t feel they can trust you or if they
suspect your motives.
Case in point
Social media users are generally a
savvy bunch; they don’t like being taken
for a ride or being patronised.
Microsoft and American Apparel forgot
about this cornerstone of social and
flopped embarrassingly.
This doesn’t mean you can’t sell your
products on social, but be transparent
about your business and know when
you’d be inappropriately doing so.
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10. 7. Be Interesting – an ‘OOOOlympic’ primer
riginality: It’s fine to take inspiration from good ideas but make sure you are
not just copying what other (especially competitor) companies are doing.
pinion: Don’t just tweet out a news story with the headline - add your own
thoughts about the issue and invite people to offer their views as well.
rganisation: Your own team are your best resource! Ask for input and
inspiration from the people around you.
n-target: Content needs to cater for the specific audience and you should
definitely consider different audience segments in your community.
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11. Contact us
www.peerindex.com | @peerindex | +44 (0) 333 577 7337
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