Google_ for Business_ How Google's Social Network Changes Everything - Chris Brogan [38]
The coolest (and by “coolest,” I mean the way that bosses will twitch, but it goes a long way in showing how human your company can be) way to share is to occasionally share the other company’s information. For instance, if you’re a publisher at Marvel Comics, it’d be nice to give DC a nod for winning an award for some Batman story or the like. For whatever reason, that Macy’s vs Gimbels trick really goes a long way in showing people that you’re not just in it to pitch your product.
This is covered more in the next chapter, but realize that sharing ranks almost as important as posting, and that it’s part of your content creation and curation strategies. Now move onto that next, which will be an interesting way to make the most of what you covered here.
7. A Simple Content Strategy
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No matter what your primary business is, you are a publishing company in the new world of social media and social networks. You might be the owner of a small (but growing) restaurant chain in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but if you aren’t posting pictures of your delicious custom burgers to your Facebook group, your Twitter feed, and your Google+ stream, you’re spending far too much money on advertising—or you have plenty of empty tables.
From the largest companies to the smallest, people realize the importance of creating interesting content that engages specific audiences via these social channels. Attend BlogHer even once, and you can see that the “mommy blogger” universe is being courted by the biggest companies out there. Companies such as Disney do spectacular work integrating bloggers and podcasters into their events as press. (I attended the inaugural voyage of the Disney Dream cruise ship.)
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But creating compelling content is difficult, takes time, and requires some consideration for this new world. Simply blasting the same message to Facebook, LinkedIn, your email list, and everywhere else won’t cut it. Furthermore, if all you do is post about your business, people will tune out quickly, especially if that sharing comes from the individual accounts. Finally, if you are going to invest all this time in creating and also sharing content, it better be with the intent to build some kind of lasting business result. So, what should you do? This chapter helps you answer this question.
How Others Approach Content Sharing
Before going into how to create content, check out some samplings of how business people use Google+. This illustrates a few important points, suggests a few reasons why you might emulate something these people do, and shows you more than one way to look at it. None of the commentary provided here has been vetted by these people. These are my opinions and insights into their choices and postings.
Jennifer Cisney (Kodak)
I visited the stream of Jennifer Cisney, Kodak’s Chief Blogger. On the day that I took a peek, she had created four posts:
• She shared another person’s post about giving away dog books and cookies.
• She shared an article about a genetic portrait series.
• She shared an article about a photo project showing different living situations for children.
• She shared a poster she designed for an event she planned to attend.
Jennifer’s posts ask nothing of the person reading them. She’s not asking people to rush to Kodak and buy a Playsport camera. Several days of posts reveal that she rarely mentions Kodak projects or products directly on Google+. However, she shares lots of great posts about photography, interesting photography projects, and other things she’s passionate about. Her work made me want to grab my own camera to try some of these projects.
That’s the magic. Jennifer isn’t paid to sell directly. She’s paid to inspire the community, to keep a warm brand sentiment