As I look at my Twitter stream I see a variety of conversations and announcements going all day and night.  Most are from individuals but some are from Brands.

(You can apply this to Facebook, but I’m going to talk in Twitter terms.)

What’s a Brand?

For this discussion, let’s say a Brand is a company account that is not identifiable as an individual.  @CBSNews would be an example. As would @CirrusABS.

The challenge for a Brand is to become someone or something that people want to follow.

MarketingProfs has some ideas to share:

 

Is Your Content Too Focused?

Any SEO strategy hinges on offering relevant, valuable information. But that might not mean what you think it does.

According to the Todaymade blog, we content marketers gravitate toward discussions of our core businesses. “But the challenge that we all have in marketing is moving past those spheres of immediate influence to some of the more expanded topics that our customers really care about,” they note.

To illustrate their point, Todaymade uses the example of Joe, an independent retailer who sells shoes and athletic goods. He has a competent website that lists his products and includes friendly touches like photos of his employees.

Customers rarely use the site to make purchases, however, and Joe only keeps it going because businesses in 2011 are supposed to have websites. He has a Facebook page for the same reason, and receives only a smattering of likes when he posts new content every week or so. As far as Joe can tell, his online presence has a negligible impact on sales.

“But what would happen if Joe started expanding his core?” Todaymade asks. The key to increased response for Joe, they say, is to stop talking exclusively about his products, and start talking about how his products are used. He could, for instance, blog about:

• Favorite running spots
• Current running and training techniques
• Options for monitoring heart rates and measuring distances

And his social media strategy could include:

• Mapping out jogging paths
• Organizing group runs
• Supporting athletic events

By expanding beyond his content core, Joe could create a thriving online presence that generates trust and—importantly—ranks well.

The Po!nt: Put yourself in their shoes. When you produce content, instead of just talking about your products, expand your message to express how your readers are using them in the real world.

Source: Todaymade.