Last Wednesday’s train ride to DC was bumpier than usual, it breezed through the Philadelphia 30th Street Station when I decided to call my friend and journalist/writer/managing editor of TheDefendersonline.com and all around gal TaRess Stoval. We chatted about my morning status update on facebook to which she replied, and then she asked me about my trip to the Capital. I told her I was basically heading there in search of business. I told her that I will also to talk to anyone who will listen to me yap about how build their social networking strategy through content distribution (as part of a larger marketing communications plan of course). “Yeah, content is the new currency,” TaRessa hollered into my ear piece. “You know what, that’s the title of my next blog, I’m stealing that..yeah, that’s right content is the new currency,” I replied. So, now that I’ve given proper props, I’m taking it a step further, content and content distribution is the new currency. Here are three simple, but key thoughts…
Websites Are About As Obsolete Typewriters
Businesses put up websites, people engage in social networking. The Huffington Post, NPR, and some writers like Nick Kristof (who at the time of the writing of this piece has 118,937 fans) of the New York Times, deliver content on their websites, but engage readers on other sites by distributing the same content that’s on their website to other sites like facebook to reach readers, and listeners that would have otherwise would have never visited their website proper. So clearly, creating content isn’t good enough, strategic distribution is vital.
Relevant Content Engages, And Invites
Businesses of all sizes must recognize that the social networking sites have done the work of aggregation, and now it is their responsibility to work with the golden opportunity in front of them. Frankly, no one cares that you have a website, people care about what they care about, so your business’ relevancy is about them, not you. Why should they join your group or fan your business? What will they get? Prestige? Coupons? Offers? Special content that no one else gets? Insider scoops? Invitations to special events? Whatever it is, it must be relevant and frequent. The frequency is important because it shows your network that YOU are engaged with them as well, which adds significantly to your online reputation.
Content Comes in Many Forms
Let’s not forget that Youtube is the world’s largest search engine, so utilizing video can be highly accretive to SEO and SEM. So integrating video, blogs, news articles and other forms of content, as long as it’s relevant, is the way to go. Again, we’re vying to keep our network engaged through content.
Now, I am going to publish this piece, email it to my network, and share it with my facebook friends…because, content is the new currency!
