OPINION: I’m having that “lost at sea” sensation again

Being one of the early digital explorers I remember back to the early 1990’s using a website called URLroulette to find what was out there in cyberspace. In those days finding anything online was just that – a game of chance. 

Then Google took on its mission to organise the world’s online information – thanks guys – and the digital landscape took on a sharper focus. With the advent of social media, where everyone wants to add their bucket of content, the waters have stirred making us lost at sea once again.

It almost feels like we are back to the pre-Google age with the content explosion making the Internet an overwhelming cobweb of information. However this presents an unprecedented opportunity. Those with truly outstanding content will see an exponential return on their investment as new media and technology allows them to reach beyond geographic boundaries and to build a loyal following.  The key to success is creating relevant, valuable and engaging content in a consistent and open fashion.

However it has to be acknowledged that mastery of content creation is no easy feat. Here are some basic steps:

Draw inspiration from your daily dealings with customers. What questions have been asked most frequently? Do you have interesting customer stories to share or great projects that can be presented as case studies to address clients’ specific concerns? Make this a team effort and engage your frontline crew to channel the customer’s voice into the content creation process so that it remains fresh, relevant and dynamic.

You can conduct polls and surveys to find out areas for improvement as well as researching content customers are eager to see. Besides providing input for social media engagement, this also demonstrates that you listen to and act upon customers’ suggestions, and there is no better way to gain customer appreciation and build credibility than through such customer consultation initiatives. 

Keep current and keep checking customer behaviour. Utilise Google Analytics to track the most significant key words in real-time; dig into twitter to find the current topics;  and subscribe to trade newsletters to keep in touch with recent events and developments. If you are willing to go the extra mile to find what your customers really want to see, it will pay back.

Be genuine. Social media has opened up your brand experience to everyone and people will talk about you for better or for worse, and it’s important to maintain social integrity. Practices such as ‘sock puppeting' (defined as the act of creating fake identity online to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company) which companies use to get their voice heard across social streams, when discovered cause a severe backlash and you should steer clear of these.

Instead, use a more solid and honest social media approach in order to establish long-lasting relationships with your customers.

Put a face to the brand (literally). Feature your employees at times! Remember, your customers can respond to more than a cold, transactional relationship – it’s the people behind the brand that make the connection real and authentic. So why not give the audience out there a peek behind the scenes? Team videos, office party pictures, or blog posts on how you conduct complex projects – these are all powerful ways to bring your brand to life and show the human side of the business. 

Be flexible and evolve your content. Your social media strategy should be a co-ordinated effort:  consciously deploying the creative content, fully capitalising on the synergy between channels and driving traffic from all sources. For instance, if you have brilliant infographics then tweet them, turn them into videos, write blog posts, or combine them with other relevant findings into white papers. As consumers have different content consumption patterns, these channels serve to complement each other, together communicating the message to more people in a more meaningful way.

Follow these guidelines and consistently hone your content-creation skills because great content delivers great value, and that’s ultimately what will attract and retain your customers.

Yes, we may feel lost at sea again, but we also know in this age that true north is authenticity, transparency and accountability. If you consistently think in the shoes of your customers and craft valuable content to connect to them, you will be able to wield the power of today’s new media and reap real benefits.