Comments on: Make Media Work for You- Elements of Good Online Content

By: Ten Social Media Watch-outs for Pharma and Healthcare Marketers | AdvanceMarketWoRx

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:58:19 +0000

[...] Social Media by itself does not guarantee huge brand success, WOM or BUZZ…fresh, insightful content does. Again, it’s important to apply the same principles of understanding what your target customers care about and talk about. As Social Media gets more crowded, breaking out in SM will be as important as it is in traditional marketing and communications-Now more than ever, customers are looking for value, and not just repetition or more “push”/ sell communications. What is the plan to have a steady flow of interesting content and ideas? (Read Chris Brogan’s blog “Elements of Good Online Content” ) [...]

By: Can Targeting Enterprise 2.0 Improve ROI Measurement?

Can Targeting Enterprise 2.0 Improve ROI Measurement? — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:17:58 +0000

[...] Brogan is out today with a new post touting the importance of keeping blog posts short. Why do I feel like he’s looking at me when he says [...]

By: Content Is Still King « Ideationsconsulting’s Blog

Content Is Still King « Ideationsconsulting’s Blog — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:40:04 +0000

[...] Chris Brogan on the Elements of Good Online Content [...]

By: Louis Vuitton speedy 30

Louis Vuitton speedy 30 — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:56:00 +0000

Social media is so oversaturated with zealous peddlers that you have to sift through the superfluity of repetitive touting in order to find the networker who is sincere about building an authentic community.

By: ed hardy

ed hardy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:59:44 +0000

By: coach outlet

coach outlet — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:56:39 +0000

By: GetResults

GetResults — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:08:05 +0000

Friends asked me to comment on this piece (comments in brackets or parens). I thought it only fair to share them with you, as well.

Make Media Work for You- Elements of Good Online Content
<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/chrisbrogandot...>

via chrisbrogan.com <http://www.chrisbrogan.com> by chrisbrogan on 4/15/09

If I’m going to tell companies that content marketing is important, I should probably give my thoughts on how to make it useful. I’m thinking about blogging, podcasting, shooting photos, making video, and all the other tools social media allows us to use to tell stories (not market). In my ideas, I give you nuggets of what matters to me in media making, and what I believe will matter to your prospective audience. Not your customers, per se. Maybe this is for internal audiences. Instead of thinking B2B vs B2C, just think “human.” These are elements I feel humans want. [Chris is mostly right, but w/o substantiation/research support, he inevitably gets discounted. Our choice, should we decide to make it, is to take such opinions - ones that make sense to us - find out how to put metrics on them and go from there. If we are really kind, we'll tell Chris how he inspired us, how we supported the ideas with research and how that proved the point. He works hard at novel insighting, his readers should be thankful and supportive.

Elements of Good Online Content

* Be Brief - No matter how short the video or blog piece or podcast is, make it shorter. No matter how many pictures you took, choose only the few that make your point.[today's adult tends to learn only what s/he wants to learn and only when s/he needs to learn it / today's adult wants learning in smaller bites (research from Forrester and Ziff-Davis) and "the medium is the message," that is, it controls the message's form and content composition. (McLuhan)]
* Make it Portable - If you’re going to bother making media, make it easy for people to share it, use it, shift it around. Think embeds in YouTube. Think RSS and email delivery, etc.[we all learn in different ways, re-purposing and re-positioning contenet to fit a variety of media is both good sense and mor likely to get the content seen, savored and (hopefully) selected. Position it from WIIFM perspective.]
* Make it Useful - No one wants to read about your product. They want to read something that empowers them. That’s why books sell. We read them to improve ourselves. We buy cars to feel better or to move our families around.[Chris makes a powerful point here, strengthing the WIIFM perspective but also noting that books allow us to linger, take notes, highlight, and take something away. The depth of information contained in most books often means there's something useful in it for every reader.]
* Make it Personal - Repurposing your TV commercial for YouTube isn’t enough. That’s okay to do, as well, but why stop there? Video is free and cheap. So is blog content. So are photos. Do something memorable by making stories about your customers, your employees, whoever matters.[this point, too, makes sense, when possible. Video and other production costs, though, while cheaper than in the past, are not typically free. On the cascade that goes from No presence, to poor presence, to good presence, to great presence, to great personalized presence, there are many stops. Making memorable content requires in-depth knowledge of the customer. Some things can ge re-purposed, some can't.]
* Make it Fresh - Wow, there is a lot of redundant content out there. I’m going to say it before you do: some of mine is redundant. One reason you don’t often ding me for that is because I try to find a fresh angle. It doesn’t always work. But if you don’t try…[Give Chris credit here. He does keep trying and he has some great insights - and, as he says, he keeps trying. There is still a good bit of feeling your way in Social Media and exploring the possibilities is a good thing.
* Make it Relate to Your Business - Let’s not be too noble here. If you’re looking to sell blenders, You can’t do better than BlendTec <http://www.willitblend.com> . If you’re looking to sell computers, you might be the next Digital Nomads <http://www.digitalnomads.com> . It doesn’t have to be pure and noble. Just be clear when you’re helping versus when you’re selling. [Amen. Social Media, like every forum, is a place where sales and buying can happen. The notion that "I want you to get to know me, and like me, before you thiink about buying is where our conventional "Push" marketing started out a long time ago. Many think it got lost. A lot of it still works, but the process has come under fire for a great many good reasons. We, all of us, must never forget that it's about them, those who want to buy or are in pain, or who want to sustain, and not about us. If we are there for them with goods and services, when they are ready and motivated to buy, we will prosper. I have always thought Chris understands this.]

By: GetResults

GetResults — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:08:05 +0000

By: tojosan

tojosan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:11:36 +0000

Good and easy to understand tips. Good share.

By: yinka olaito

yinka olaito — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:39:18 +0000

I find your advice very conscise.Being fresh always and useful will make the content a reference material for many. Keep the good work up.