This is the good of social media. The bad has been out there for all of us to see as well. The internet has allowed for the private individual to be outspoken and hate without putting their name or neck on the line. Freedom of speech in all its glory and riches…and foolishness.

Which is why I am still amazed that large corporations assume that people will do what they want them to do when given a platform to speak. Mc Donalds recently did that through their now infamously failed twitter campaign. You can read about it hear. Why they assumed people would only tell good stories about them amazes me. Not only was some media executive looking through rose colored glasses but he or she had blinders on to boot.

The Internet has shown when people have unlimited freedom to comment about you its mostly going to be negative. IF you don”t want that kind of transparency you need to shape it in such a way to limit that type of exposure that is negative. IF you want full complete transparency then you need to be prepared to handle it as Mc Donalds surely wasn’t. They had no plan other then an assumed rosy concept that people would play nice with them. People do not play nice..not when your that large of a company and have had documentaries made about you that are primarily negative and have been promoted as one of the main causes of Child hood obesity.

But they are not the only ones. I was amazed at the way major brands are seeking customers feedback and comments without a structured system.  This was apparent at this years Consumer electronic show and its a dangerous road to go down if your not prepared for it.

SO HAVE A PLAN do not assume especially when your dealing with customers and social media interaction. You may end up with a number 5 supersized on your face just like McDonalds.

They are also REALLY REALLY annoyed when they do not lead to a call to action.

But I recently came across this article here about how Content marketing is becoming Key and KING in social media. You can see the full article here MIKAL E. BELICOVE Is the creator of this article and does a good job of laying out the key facts. I do want to pull out a few of those to highlight them.

“HiveFire’s B2B Marketing Trends Survey Report, twice as many B2B marketers now employ content marketing as they do print, TV and radio advertising, according to the survey.”

This is a great statement. I agree with it 100%.  Now that Google is dumping 100 million dollars into YouTube to make it more of a destination site similar to cable TV with quality shows its even more important to look at each PR, Marketing , and Event or Show you do and see how you can capture that on video to maximize your exposure and spread your costs out over each marketing channel. You control the content here and putting that content out to all those channels through video is very very cost effective.

“Part of the popularity of content marketing is its ability to generate qualified leads while engaging prospects in a branded environment without busting the budget.”

And in today’s world this is very necessary to do.  Not only do you want to maximize your exposure through content marketing but give the customers a direct call to action once you have convinced them of their need for you or your product. Don’t make them go to another site or go to another department in charge of leads get them now!

“Nearly 70 percent of content curators say lack of time hinders their efforts, with 66 percent saying a lack of original and quality content is a major drawback. Another 38 percent say difficulty in measuring results is the stumbling block and 37 percent say lack of staff to do the work is the hindrance.”

True good content takes time but in your weekly or monthly meetings see what your staff or departments are creating and see if other departments can take that same creation and re utilize it . Lack of time usually means lack of time management but if it truly is a small staff then focus on quality content not tons of content.

Content marketing can also come through your customers and fans. Look to them also to see if you can save time and energy by employing a small group of them as evangelists for you. Content marketing will only be growing more and more so the time to start is now.

They are wrong.

Content is still king but quality content is the EMPORER! yes its true people want to stay in the know and want to hear new and exciting things but if you really don’t have anything to say then don’t. September wasn’t that big of a month except for the rare user generated content that popped up on CNN and other news networks. For example the lady who went on youtube to rage against Bank of America and struck a chord with the American people. Or the young kid in New York who did a video blog on Apple products at their flagship store in New York that was quite cute and sincere.

Unfortunately though no great breakthroughs in integrating social media outlets into one big super page that we can call home. NO great new trinkets or widgets to add on and no real marketing blitz out there integrating traditional marketing into all the media outlets…in short nothing really to praise. I am optimistic though that this upcoming Christmas season, which looks to be a flat one for retailers, will have some unique marketing angles to dissect on this blog. Until then remember quality will always trump quantity.