Content management and content marketing are big buzzwords these days--at least in the circles where we travel! The demand for quality content is arguably greater than it has ever been before--and growing exponentially.

 

Why? Because with the proliferation of content now available online in both print and visual forms, consumers have options. These days, to attract and engage your audience, content must be not only high quality, but highly customized. Generic just doesn't cut it anymore.

 

In addition to discerning consumers, search engines like Google are also becoming more selective in terms of the criteria used to identify high quality content that allows organizations to rank well--a key to getting in front of 21st century consumers.

 

So where will content come from? 

 

Traditional journalists and professional writers may be big winners in this new, more discerning era. We've seen a significant uptick in the requests we receive to create customized content for a wide range of clients--everything from social media posts, to web content, white papers and contributed articles. 

 

Importantly, the value of this content can be readily demonstrated through analytics that demonstrate an increase in social media and web traffic and engagement--and, most importantly leads and sales. 

Our clients can tell whether their content is producing the results they're looking for--and so can we!

 

If you're not maximizing the impact of your content across various channels--online and off--you may be missing out on opportunities to engage with your current, and build new, audience. 

 

Learn more here: Where Will Content Come From in 2014?

 

Financial institutions are on social media. Hospitals and healthcare systems are on social media. Even law enforcement agencies are becoming engaged. While some groups have, for very good reason, been slow to adopt social media as a means of communicating with various audiences, it's fair to say that most organizations that have an audience of some sort have found social media to be a "must do" rather than a "we need to think about it."

 

But not all.

 

Why? For many social media is still somewhat "frightening." Security issues are certainly a concern. Other concerns center around the fear of receiving negative feedback. There are also, of course, practical issues related to who will manage the communications and conversations and how high quality content will be created on a regular basis.

 

All valid concerns, of course. But, although I still believe that not all social media communication tools are right for all organizations, I have come to believe that, chances, are there is at least one social media tool that is likely right for you! That tool may be a blog, it may be a proprietary chat group or forum or it may be one of the popular sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

 

Not adopting some form of social media in the 21st century is like not using the telephone in the 20th century (and like  not using a smart phone is likely to be in the relatively near future).

 

Yes, communicating with the masses can be scary and does involve some risk. But as organizations as concerned about security, privacy and public opinion as the U.S. Military have found, social media can be a very cost-effective and measurable way to engage with various audiences to achieve desired objectives.

 

Not yet on social media? What are you waiting for?