It’s been said that “content is king.” While this is often true, many have just started to understand the importance of relevance. When you add that crucial factor into the equation (whether it’s advertising or editorial), we quickly learn that context is queen.

Enter social media.

For some time, I’ve stood by my premise that social media is about information and relationships more than anything else. When these are done well, it opens new doors and opportunities in the social media sandbox … regardless of which one you’re playing in (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Quora, Focus and the countless others that seem to emerge each day).

Some people in the space have leveraged their tremendous reputations or popularity to drive social media success. While this is possible and happens in various circles (some pun intended, Google), many of the social media evangelists and proponents do embed a solid content strategy into the mix. Look at all of the links, pictures, videos and references within the ecosystem.

Remember: content also means “satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.”

Whether it’s breaking news, how-to articles or opinion pieces on blogs, content and relationships are driving the adoption and proliferation of social media to new levels across the globe. As this continues to thrive with the incredible surge of mobile, the line between social media strategies and content strategies will continue to blur.

The (r)evolution of the Internet continues!

Feel free to connect with feedback or thoughts on Twitter: @IanGertler

No. I think people *think* they have a social media strategy if they don’t have a content strategy, but I think what they really have is a goal. I don’t think you can be successfully engaged with your community without a strategy. And now I’m going to go fill in my editorial calendar for our Facebook page for the rest of the year (as one of my tactics to help me reach my goals to support my overall strategy…which has both a social media component and content component). Or perhaps people really do have a content strategy and just haven’t labeled it as such, or haven’t broken it out from the overall social media strategy. So…yes?

I’ve been discovering that while we thought we had a social media strategy, we never really had one until we thought long and hard about our content strategy. At first, our social media strategy was to build relationships. That’s not really a strategy as much as it’s stating the obvious. Until we stepped back and really thought about what our goals were (ending chronic homelessness) and what it would take to get us there (an engaged base of supporters & money), we were just shooting out content as it landed in our laps. That content often had nothing to do with our goals, and hence was working against our social media strategy. Now, we test that content against our goals and try a lot harder to go out and find the content that will get us closer to ending chronic homelessness. That said, we still don’t do it as well as we could and we often struggle to get the really compelling content that our supporters are asking for–but we finally have a content and social media strategy. A first step that took us a few years to make

Isn’t social media made of content? Unless one is simply lurking, one is posting links, thoughts, announcements, promotions, offers, questions, answers. Maybe your strategy isn’t documented on MS Project and scheduled on Google Calendar, but making a decision to embrace social media and deciding what to broadcast is a strategy in itself, for both the content and the vehicle.

Yes! (and No)
As marketers, it’s easy to convince ourselves that we have both a social media strategy and a content strategy. Most of us are stretching to make that claim. We all have exercise routines. But for some that means running four miles a day, and for others it means walking the dog when you get home.

Great content strategy is hard. Really hard. It means really getting inside the heads of your buyers and mapping their needs at every point in the decision process. It’s a complex and time consuming initiative.

Without a good content strategy, a social media strategy is opportunistic at best. Yes, it still counts as a strategy, but just barely.

With a well thought out content strategy, you can begin to look strategically at channels. Only one of which is social media.

Connect with me on Twitter: @hoyt

For me, I think one really drives the other. As I become better networked through social media I learn things that I never thought about including in my content before. If I read a tweet about something travel related I might share it or explore it further and cover it with a blog post. Thanks for the opportunity to enter!

First, not to butter up the judges but I totally agree with the opening line of Kami’s post, “Have you ever read a blog post that drew you in with its raw talent to draw a picture and tell a story.” Ann Handley’s gift of writing is turning the mundane into magic and she is brilliant at it. I’m waiting for her ‘slice of life book!’ Perhaps Geoff can do the photography.

Now on to social media content strategy. My vote: absolutely need a content strategy that supports (and integrates into) the master marketing (or business plan). Especially if you’re new to this game, it’s tempting to take the easy route and turn social media into another traditional messaging channel. Identifying a “selfless” content direction is one way to safeguard against that.

A strategy not only helps set bumpers/guidelines but should serve to structure the back-end logistics of building the content ecosystem. How extensive depends on the organization.

Although it’s an additional step in developing your social media plan, looking at content as a unique functional area makes sense .. at least it does to me.

Is it possible to have a social media strategy without a content strategy? Sure it is! But is it smart or effective? Absolutely not. It’s easy to tell business “you need to be on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn” but if you don’t carefully examine what you targeted audience will really find useful and engaging you are just barking into the wind.

Content strategy doesn’t have to be too hard but like anything the more effort you put towards crafting it correctly the more you’ll be rewarded. The reward is engagement. I’ve seen too many companies do nothing but post press releases on social media platform and they get nothing in return from it. Those who create meaningful, valuable content AND watch for feedback, measure it and use it to adjust future content reap great rewards. Content strategy should be a living organism, adapting to its audience.

Here from Julie’s blog. You can’t have a SM strategy without a content strategy because both are intrinsic and interrelated part of a communication and engagement strategy. Content is the “what” of the “who-what-where-when-how” that guides your communication strategy across the spectrum from business development to crisis mitigation. People tend to be so enamored with the “how” and specifically the SM how platforms that they forget to interrelate all of the other parts.Good questions to be asking!

Hey all,

The contest is closed. We will be looking at entries and getting back to you all sometime today.

Thanks for your great ideas.

Kami Huyse, cofounder, Zoetica