Social media &
How to Build a Social Media Bomb
Filed under: Business, Ideas, Social Media, Tools
Creating remarkable content is hard work and takes a lot of time. This means that every time you create something worthwhile you should make sure that the word travels far and wide. When I was thinking about how to get most out of a single piece of content I came up with this model.
Social Media Bomb (click to for larger image)
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First, the “great content” should be a bit more substantial than a single blog post or short essay. Good examples of great content would be survey reports, e-books, extensive white papers and so forth. Publish the main piece of your content on your own domain to maximize value from incoming links.
Now, the key of this model is that you can reformat and republish your information it different format, medium, and length. Presenting material in different form gives it more reach and makes it more shareable in various channels. Next I’ll give you a short explanation what each of the points on the graph mean and how to get most out of it.
Video
Create a video version of your content and load it to most important video sites. You can use TubeMogul to upload your videos in bulk to all sites. Avoid talking heads use graphics and animation. Send the video to your email list and publish to social media sites (explained below).
Slides
Create a slides of your content and load them to SlideShare and Scribd. Create colorful slides one point per slide, no more than 10 words. You can add explanatory paragraphs but make sure that the text is readable in SlideShare default view (remove when presenting). Send information about your slides to your email list and publish to social media sites.
Press Release
Write a press release and distribute it through online PR websites. Write engaging press release that talks about what’s important and how this is new. Do not send your press release to your email list and social media sites, but be sure to post it somewhere in your website.
Executive Summary
This is a very short and concentrated teaser of your main content to generate initial interest. You can use this if you plan to sell the main material of your great content. Similarly to slides load this to SlideShare and Scribd. Let people know throught newsletter and social media channels.
Graphics
Make graphs, infographics and other colorful material from your content. Images are easy to consume and spread. Upload your images to Flickr and other image sites. Use highest resolution possible. You can also create PDF versions of the images and distribute them through SildeShare and Scribd. Share the content in your social channels and mailinglists.
Snippets
Extract important facts and data from your content and go in-depth. Ask for feedback and opinions on specific issues. Format the snippets as blog posts and distribute trough social media channels. You can send an overview or digest of the snippets to your mailing list.
Events
Organize events to announce great content. Explain and teach great content in seminars and conferences. Ask people to attend webinars. Send information about events to your mailing lists and social media channels. Create videos of the events and make available online.
Audio
Record a podcast about the content. Explain the key concepts, give a general overview and discuss selected specific points about the content. Audio is not the most popular form of content so you might want to check your audience if it’s worth the effort. If you decide to do it distribute trough iTunes and social media channels.
Social Media Channels
The social media channels mentioned throughout this post is your selection of social networking, news, and bookmarking sites. Depending on your niche and target group these might include Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, LinkedIn and others. This also includes your blog.
Time Line
Do not send out all the content at once. Working through the formats and media channels may take weeks and you should plan what goes out first so that the interest stays up and every new piece will add and expand on previous information.
List Building
Whenever you send out information in different format ask people to sign up for more.
Selling Content
If you plan to sell the main bulk of great content then use this model to spread snippets and executive summary. You need to find the balance between what is in the paid product and what can you give out for free.
License
For best results you should license the content with Creative Commons license so people know that they can spread the word and don’t have to worry about copyright issues. Of course, the part that you are selling should have appropriate license and copyright.
Posted on: April 5, 2011
Great article with a lot of useful information. Another small point to add. After all this work getting your content out there you need to measure your marketing roi to ensure your strategy is working for you.