Mappting Your Position on the Digital Spectrum
01 - Sharing Your Story 02 - Starting the Dialog 03 - Engaging in Conversation
Keyword: Socializing
04 - Understanding the Dialog 05 - Refining the Dialog 06 - Mass One-on-One Dialog 07 - Become a Digital Business
assets

You have now built a good digital asset base. If you are at this step, you have found that merchandising your digital assets is fluid and interacting with your customers digitally is critical. To continue the asset build, consider:

Corporate Blog/Vlog

Use a Corporate Blog/Vlog to expand your digital content base. The content should convey your product and industry expertise and provide more fodder for SEO. Blogs can house written, audio and video (Vlog) content. When sculpted for SEO, the content will attract qualified prospects organically and act as a destination for the longer form of your social network activity.

Social Account(s)

Deploying Social Accounts – aka "social media" or "social marketing" – is the hot tactic right now. Deploying your social marketing correctly is a vital digital tactic. The correct accounts. The correct content. The correct engagement. It can be a bit overwhelming if not deployed with discipline and proper understanding of the results an organization can expect. 

Mobile or Web-based App(s)

Mobile Apps and/or Web-Based Apps are critical assets to maintain digital customer retention. While most prospects may be hesitant to engage with an app, customers are seeking ways to make doing busy with you easier. There are many functions in your organization that may be candidates to become apps.

Key question: Are you using your blog for link-building benefit as well as for marketing? Are your social accounts building your brand story? Are you treating your social accounts as an extension of customer service? Is your mobile or web-based app tied to your position and creating loyal customers?

marketing & sales

Social media is where it's at, right? If you are at this step, socializing can mean many things, and it's important to consider what content you need and where that content will be created. Social marketing is content marketing. Consider these digital tactics as a way to begin socializing with your customers and prospects:

Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of oldest forms of content marketing. It has its root in Public Relations and is designed to win and retain mindshare by keeping your differentiated idea in front of your audiences. The key? Differentiated content...not what everyone is serving up. Distribution of your articles can take various forms but usually lands on third-party platforms versus your own (see blogging/vlogging).

Case Studies/White Papers

Case Studies/White Papers are simply an extended form of article marketing. Case studies focus on success in implementing your product or service with a specific client, industry or application. White Papers are like college research papers but applicable to the real world of business. Both can build your differentiated brand by sharing your unique expertise.

Pinterest

Pinterest isn't right for every business or organization. When is it right? When your content (images with short copy) is uniquely inspirational. Pinterest is used as an idea-generator and/or as a project how-to. Can your content fit into this end use?

Email Distribution/eNewsletters

Despite all the hype around social media, email marketing and eNewsletters continue to reap the most engagement and ultimate transactions. If you feel you are ready for article marketing, chances are the email distribution will be an easy add-on.

YouTube/Vimeo

If you have the chops and capacity to do video, do it! YouTube/Vimeo are the most common video-sharing platforms and they do it really well. But video is coming on in all areas such as Facebook Live, Vine and others. If you aren't doing Video now, start thinking how you might start.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best way to grow your talent pool. It's the ultimate job networking area, but few people "buy" goods and services thru it. Consider LinkedIn a personal brand-building tool your business can connect with for new talent.

Blogging/Vlogging

Blogging/Vlogging is not too different from article marketing, with the exception that blogs/vlogs are typically hosted locally rather than distributed digitally thru other platforms. It also acts as a great way to expand your SEO reach.

News Releases/Online PR

Did you know News Releases can now be distributed without the editor as the gatekeeper? While the fee isn't free, circulating your news online (e.g., via Yahoo! and Google) doesn't require editors who choose what prints. It all publishes as you write it when you distribute your news on line. This applies to Investor Relations as well.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Key question: Does your content build your position in the mind of your customers? Is your content proprietary and highly differentiated? Are all copy and graphics optimized for search engines? Have you chosen the best method of distributing that content? What mechanisms have you provided to gauge customer consumption of your content? What feedback platforms have you provided for your customers? And finally, how do you plan to respond to feedback - positive or negative?