Of course, it’s easy for Hollywood to tell great stories — it has a “secret storytelling sauce.” But Hollywood doesn’t have to be the only one with the formula for telling great stories.

Your marketing videos can have some of that secret sauce too

And here’s the best part: Using Hollywood’s secret sauce is simple.

I’ve used this formula successfully many times in my former career as a marketing and branding filmmaker.

I’m going to show you how you can use it too.

It’s your story that differentiates you from the competition

Story is what differentiates you from your competition. After all, it’s your story — not anyone else’s.

In their book, Managing Content Marketing, authors Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose talk about how important it is for a business to develop and share its story. Specifically, chapter 3, Create the Journey: Developing Your Pillars of Content, shares how businesses can use a classic storytelling model, The Hero’s Journey, to execute on a story-based content marketing strategy.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

Mythologist Joseph Campbell popularized The Hero’s Journey in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell’s insight told us that powerful stories and narratives share a common structure. At the heart of this structure, there is a hero who goes through several stages. Here’s an overly simplified version:

1. The Journey

The hero experiences a calling — a call to leave the world of comfort behind and discover something greater.

2. The Transformation

Along his quest of discovery, the hero is challenged by many tests and obstacles yet eventually overcomes them.

3. The Return

Having triumphed over the obstacles, the hero returns to share the new-found knowledge with others.

So, back to reality. If you feel this Hero’s Journey stuff is pie-in-the-sky, I hear you. That’s what I thought years ago. Then I started using it in projects. I noticed that using The Hero’s Journey structure:

• simplifies the interviewing process
• provides structure in delivering a message
• deepens the engagement process

Let’s take a look at how can you use this structure in your own video (and audio) projects.

Video is the perfect medium to tell your stories and to differentiate yourself; it captures music, voice, scenic footage, and graphics in one format. (Feel free to use this template to energize your podcasts, as well.)

A simple Hero’s Journey template for marketing videos

Tweaking The Hero’s Journey for video is quite simple. Here’s a structure to get you started.

Let’s say a hospital is announcing a new treatment center. (This could apply to a new program, a new initiative, etc.) We’ll keep this example simple so you can see how it easy it is to customize.

These questions are a starting point; they are not meant to be a complete list.

1. Where are we now? (Problem)

• Share with us how most treatment centers operate today.
• Why is this a problem?
• How did we get here in the first place? Weren’t things fine as they were?
• How did you get the idea to change the model?

2. Where do we want to be? (Solution)

• Talk a bit about how the opportunity to change things came about.
• What are the biggest challenges you are facing?
• How are customers (internal teams, etc.) reacting to this challenge?

3. What have we learned? (Results)

• Now that you’ve been through the process, how do you feel?
• How have your customers (patients, doctors, employees, etc.) responded?
• Do you have any encouraging words to those watching this video?

4.  What should we do next?

• What specific action should the viewers of this video do next?

This template can easily be tweaked for ongoing programs or services. You don’t have to wait until products or announcements are final.

Customizing The Hero’s Journey

One of the three key play points for video mentioned in the free eBook, CMI’s Content Marketing Playbook 2011: 42 Ways to Connect with Customers, is this:

Instead of taking a one-shot approach, consider a video series that builds interest, and an audience, over time.

This fits beautifully within The Hero’s Journey structure. Here’s one way to use this idea.

Create one video focusing on one act. Instead of producing one three- or five-minute video, consider breaking the project down into three one-minute videos, four videos, or even five videos.

For an audience with shorter attention spans, breaking one longer video down into several shorter videos can improve the odds your audience will view the videos. For some viewers, seeing a 90-second video is more inviting than seeing the time indicator showing five minutes.

Rinse and repeat for each product, service, or training you offer.

Summary

You may not produce the next Hollywood blockbuster, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add a little of Hollywood’s secret sauce to your marketing videos.

Have an interview coming up? Try sneaking in a few questions using The Hero’s Journey framework. If you like the results, try it again. It’s easy to adjust for many projects.

Over to you

Have you used The Hero’s Journey in any of your projects? If so, we’d love to hear about it.

If not, have you used something similar to The Hero’s Journey?

Do you have a structure (or formula) that works well for capturing content?

Planning template
Do you have so many ideas but aren’t sure what you should tackle first? Here’s a spreadsheet you can use to prioritize.

Content questionnaire
What do you need to cover at a content marketing kickoff? To make sure all of your bases are covered, check out this template from Debbie Williams that sets the foundation for an editorial strategy.

Buyer persona
This straightforward buyer persona template from Barbara Gago is a great way to help you document your buyer needs.

Content mapping template
Marketers talk about mapping content, but how do you do this?  Here are a  few templates from Barbara Gago that walk you through the process.

Editorial calendar
If there is one tool I can’t live without, it’s my editorial calendar. Here’s a template to help you get started.

Template for tracking keywords
Elise Redlin-Cook shows you how to research the right keywords to use in your content and SEO efforts and then provides a template to help you stay organized.

Web page template
You want your web pages to drive action, but how do you do that? Brody Dorland shares the template he uses to create effective web content.

Social media conversation calendar
Debbie Williams shares the social media conversation calendar she uses to develop content strategy for social media while making the process efficient and consistent.

Facebook engagement spreadsheet
In this popular posts, Nate Riggs outlines five ways to interpret the free data provided by Facebook Insights, and he shares the spreadsheet he uses to keep track of the data.

Sales communication template
As a content marketer, you’re producing useful content and trying to get the word out to your prospects, but does sales know what you are doing? Here’s an easy-to-use template from Dianna Huff for a monthly email that provides sales with details about the company’s marketing initiatives.

What other types of templates would help you do your job better? Let us know in the comments below!

Of course, there are companies out there that have great web writers internally, but most don’t. And the thought of a company turning a great website strategy (that we slaved over) into an ineffective “brochure site” gives me heartburn. But sometimes you have to pick your battles.

In cases where we give in and let the client take the content reins, we at least want to make sure they are equipped with a template that gives them a fighting chance to produce effective webpage content that drives action. Here is a template we like to use, and an explanation of what’s included.

 Download the Template

Website content template components

Pre-writing questions: Before starting any given page, you really need to wrap your heads around the primary goal of the page and to whom this page is targeted. What’s their pain? What’s in it for them? Where are they in their buying process? And what keywords or phrases would they most likely use to search for your solution? The best writers are those who can put themselves in the buyer’s shoes and write as if they are having a one-on-one conversation with that buyer.

Typical web page structure and formatting guidelines

After years of experimenting, most of us web folks have the best practices of website content nailed down, and we feel like this template covers the bases. Here are a few key elements:

• Headlines: As with most media, a great headline or page title can make or break a page. But specific to web content, it’s important to remember the SEO aspects. Integrating a major keyword/phrase into a headline and programming the page title with a relevant <h1> tag can add some nice Google juice.
• Sub-headlines: Visitors scan before they read, so creating enticing, benefits-focused sub-headlines can really boost the odds that your page will be read. I like to run a “scan test” on every page  to see if I can get the gist of page by just scanning the page title, subheads, and call to action.
• Images:  I’ve always had an interest in neuropsychology, and I couldn’t help but devour Susan Weinschenk’s book, Neuro Web Design back in 2009. Throughout the book she talks about how we subconsciously process everything we see on a website, but she summarizes that “stories and pictures are the most powerful ways to get and hold our attention and persuade us to take action.”Let’s not forget about Google. Optimizing your image’s file name and alt tag with a keyword/phrase provides the context Google needs and validates the relevance of your page.
• Bulleted and numbered lists: I love bulleted lists, and evidently you do too since you’re still reading this! Lists make content much easier to digest. Even the slightest indention and bullet will draw the reader’s eye. Oh, and Google likes these too.
• Calls to action: Despite the intelligence level of your site visitors, people don’t want to have to think when they are browsing websites. Obvious command-oriented calls to action are key in moving visitors through your website. And don’t be scared to make the call to action a BIG BUTTON. Bigger is better, but don’t make it look like a banner.

Post-writing checklist

Finally, the template includes a checklist of items and reminders you can use to ensure your page is good to go. Of these items, I think the most important one is to just get another set of eyeballs on it. If you’re writing the page, you’re now too close to it and  no longer qualified to edit it.

If you start using this template, realize that not every page on your site has to follow this exact format. Modify your content structure and formatting so that it accomplishes the goals of the page. When in doubt, test.

If we’ve missed anything that you feel needs to be included in this template, please tell me in the comments.

In her article, Jennifer cites data from the American Marketing Association that says sales people spend 30 hours a month creating their own sales materials and that 90% of marketing deliverables aren’t used by sales.

When I worked corporate in a previous lifetime before the Internet, I saw this first hand. Sales reps were forever creating their own marketing collateral even when it already existed. Talk about frustrating!

Pushing content to the website isn’t enough

In addition to the reasons Jennifer cites for the dismal lack of uptake by sales for marketing’s efforts, it’s been my experience that sales people and distributors have no clue what collateral is available  especially the collateral that’s available on the corporate website.

Why? Because they have no reason to visit a B2B website (which is a whole other article).

This is especially true if the company has had a lack of content available for sales and has suddenly ramped it up. The company’s marketers may believe that adding all kinds of new content to a website is all they have to do to communicate with sales people and distributors. But if these groups have learned that “nothing new” exists on the site, they have little reason for repeat visits.

Such was the case with CMI client, MacroAir Technologies. The company, which designs and manufactures High Volume, Low Speed (HVLS) commercial ceiling fans, decided to ramp up its marketing in a big way in November 2010.

Phase One of its strategy began with a complete overhaul of the website, which included new messaging, updated and new content, and website optimization  for search engines. Once this phase was complete, the company  began implementing Phase Two, a content marketing and social media strategy.

Like many small and mid-size B2B manufacturing companies, MacroAir relies on a combination of internal salespeople and distributors to sell its HVLS fans. Jaylin Krell, MacroAir’s vice president of marketing, wanted to get the word out to these people about the changes that were taking place with regard to marketing.

Send out “newsy” emails

To keep things simple and easy for Jaylin and her small team, I recommended she send out monthly emails that give details about the company’s marketing initiatives. Designed to be breezy and conversational in order to keep people’s interest, these emails include newsy items such as:

1. Campaign strategy and messaging

Each monthly email explains the strategy behind a specific campaign, and the messaging being used in associated ads, tradeshows, collateral, etc. This helps keep everyone “on the same page” when talking to prospects and customers.

Most importantly, it shows sales reps and distributors that MacroAir is supporting them in their effort to sell more fans.

2. Links to collateral

The emails include links to all new collateral, including white papers, case studies, datasheets and blog posts as well as suggestions for how to use it with customers and prospects.

3. Links to any press mentions

Often sales reps have no clue that their company and its products have appeared in trade journals, blog posts, etc. By letting sales and distributors know where MacroAir is appearing, it helps them with their sales process and improves brand awareness  and toots marketing’s horn, too.

Plus, everyone enjoys the associated fame and recognition of being featured in a trade journal’s print magazine or blog.

4. Calls to action

Sales people have the best information when it comes to knowing which customers to feature for case studies as well as what collateral they need to better sell products.

In each email, MacroAir asks for this information as well as feedback on what it can do better. Happily, reps and distributors are responding and this feedback has helped the company further refine its marketing.

Keeping in touch with sales reps and distributors need not always involve a complicated strategy or expensive deliverables. Sometimes a simple approach is best, especially if it’s quick and easy to implement, cost-effective and produces results.

Identify your buyer personas

Check out the template I provided last week for your buyer personas.

Determine what questions your personas have at each stage of the process

Once you identify who your personas are, identify the questions they have for each stage of the buying process. While the buying process may vary for different buyers, I’ve broken it down into six basic stages:

• Early
• Early (mid)
• Early (late)
• Mid
• Mid (late)
• Late

To figure out what questions your personas have, ask questions or analyze user/professional groups and do plenty of research (find studies and reports that have been conducted on your target market, or conduct them yourself).  Here are seven ways to research your buyer for content marketing.

It’s important to note that not all personas will be involved in all stages of the buying process.

Answer the questions

Once you have identified the questions your persona has, track the answers to the questions and a suggested format for providing this information.

I use this persona content map matrix to fill in the questions, answers, content and content format  for the entire buying process. This can then be leveraged for nurture, drip or promotional marketing. This matrix will help define your overall content strategy and how it supports your website, social media, sales enablement and other marketing or demand generation efforts.

Different format types can be more appropriate for various stages of the sales cycle. Take a look at this post from Tom Pisello that outlines the various types of content that users like to consume. Also, SiriusDecisions recently did a study around the weight of various content types (and how the importance changes).

Conduct a content audit

Next you want to determine if you have the content you need to answer those questions and support various concerns your buyers will have. This will help you visualize what you are trying to do with the content mapping and storing of content that’s easily accessible by anyone (sales people, for example) to support individual sales processes.

Map the content

Now you need to map the content you will use for each persona at various stages of the buying cycle. When you map your content this way, you will probably find that you have a lot of content for a certain stage or certain persona. This is good; it gives you a very clear place to start filling in gaps.

Identify content gaps and create content

The gaps are the holes you have left that need to be filled. Knowing the gaps will help you prioritize the work, but it will also help you be better informed if a partner or media opportunity arises. You’ll know if you should spend the time and resources on it or not.

Also, when you develop the content, be sure to address your buyer persona’s information consumption needs, and desired content formats at different stages. This process isn’t just about knowing what to send out next, it’s about understanding what your buyers want, and being relevant, helpful and valuable to them.

Let me know what questions you have about content mapping in the comments below.

Other posts in this series:

• 7 Ways to Research Your Buyer for Content Marketing
• How Do Buyers Consume Content? Ask These 20 Questions
• 4 Questions Answered About Buyer Personas

What information should be included in a persona?

Here is the template of the persona I use that includes the following information:

• Title
• Time in the job
• Works directly with
• Daily tasks
• Responsibilities
• Likes/dislikes about job
• Frustrations
• Pressures
• Concerns
• Needs
• Role in buying process
• Buying stage
• Drivers

To help people relate to your personas, add images and give names to your buyer profiles.  Assigning a name to the persona helps everyone on the team think of this buyer as a real person, not just a piece of business.

How many personas do I need?

In B2B, most decisions are made by committee, so you need to develop a persona for each member of the decision making process. For many organizations, this means there will be several distinct personas:

• Initiator
• Influencer
• Decision-maker
• Buyer
• User
• Gatekeeper

If you sell multiple products or services with different audiences, you’ll need personas for each of these.

Specific personas are needed for each of these groups because you want to engage with them differently. Different personas enter the buying process at different times, and they care about different things.

For example, a VP or C-level executive who may be the ultimate decision-maker, may not enter into the “buying process” until the very last stage. This person is likely interested in product comparisons, case studies and cost justifications. Compare this to the “initiator” who is the first person your company is likely to engage with.  This person is likely interested in non-product-specific information that explains the overall problem/solution, such as market research and eBooks.

Here are some ideas from Tom Pisello on what types of content make sense for various stages of social media.

I don’t have time to create all of these personas. What do I do?

While it’s ideal to have specific personas for every person involved in the buying process, if you have limited time or are getting started, take baby steps.

Start with two or three key personas, and work through the process. For example, if you are selling  technology, consider focusing on your end users, their managers and the IT liaison between that user group and the corporate IT group. This way, you cover “the user,” the “influencer” and the “buyer.”

Then, once you’ve nailed those core personas, move onto the peripherals such as the “gate keeper” or “influencer.” Ultimately it depends on your goals, but the important step to go through is the exercise to really get to know your buyers.

Which departments in my company should be aware of my personas?

While developing personas is primarily a marketing exercise, it’s critical you document this information for your entire company.

• In the age of social media, anyone in your organization could engage with prospects, so you want everyone to be using the same information.
• Personas are a great educational tool for new hires.

As a suggestion, you can host “lunch and learns” to train different groups within your organization on the buyer personas and how what you’ve learned about your buyers specifically relates to them and what they do.

Again, making your personas as personal as possible with images and names will help others in your organization relate to these people.

These are some of the questions about buyer personas I hear most frequently. What other questions do you have? Let me know in the comments below!

Other posts in this series:

• 7 Ways to Research Your Buyer for Content Marketing
• How Do Buyers Consume Content? Ask These 20 Questions

Although Forrester Research predicts 2011 will be the year when marketers will begin to “think outside the Facebox,” C-suite business leaders and content marketers alike can’t deny the attractiveness of establishing a presence inside the social behemoth that is now an online home to more than a half-billion people.

The reasons for building out your company’s Facebook page will depend on your unique business objectives. However, I believe a more universal standard can be found in terms of measuring the success of your efforts on Facebook.

This post outlines five ways to interpret the free data provided by Facebook Insights. We’ll also explain how to establish an engagement dashboard that displays increases or decreases in activity against established baselines.

What tool do we use to compile the data?  You may be surprised to learn that in a lot of cases a simple and cost-effective Google or Excel spreadsheet built with the right basic formulas will do the trick.

1.  Week-over-week percentage of change

For Incept’s Facebook Page (a client), we’ve found that using Insights data to track the percentage of change has provided a good lens into the results that specific types of content generate.

Because of how quickly real-time conversations occur, we found that month-over-month analysis created challenges to adjust the content strategy quickly when fan feedback indicated that change was needed.  Tracking Insights data as a percentage of week-over-week change, however, gives our content creators the agility to sustain long-term growth in all areas.

2.  Percentage of fan base growth or decline

As the saying goes, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one  hears it, did it really make a sound?”  Unfortunately, this is a situation that content marketers often find themselves in.

The most creative and community-relevant content will not be heard if there are not enough people in your target audience who “like” or follow your fan page. Today, Facebook Insights provides the following data:

• New likes
• Lifetime likes

By simply tracking the percentage of new likes against lifetime likes, it becomes much easier to determine your fan base’s average rate of increase or decrease over time.  You can also track the growth of your fan base building efforts during the course of your campaign by measuring the number of fans at the start of your efforts compared to the most recent weekly number of fans.

3.  Percentage of active fans against percentage of hidden fans

Moving back to the trees in the forest analogy, adding fans to your Facebook page who simply never return, or in the worst case, hide your page activity from their wall, will not help you reach your objectives. For this reason, it’s important to consider the baseline percentage approach in this metric as well.

To develop your own tracking dashboard, simply look at the following comparisons:

• Percentage of increase or decrease of active fans against the previous week
• Percentage of increase or decrease of hidden fans against the previous week
• The number of active fans against the number of total fans, and
• The numberof hidden fans against the number of total fans.

By establishing these baselines, you can begin to track the average percentage of activity versus hidden content among your fan base.  Ideally, you will want to maintain a higher percentage of fans who are participating on your page over those fans who choose to hide your page content.

4.  Fan base geo-location

More companies are targeting their Facebook page efforts locally or even regionally.  However, for content marketers focused on recruiting new talent or attracting retail shoppers, building a base of fans who do not live near their business will not yield a positive return for the time and work invested.

Facebook Insights provides a breakdown of the raw number of fans added based on the top 10 countries and cities they come from and the language they speak. These numbers can be positioned as weekly percentage increases or decreases as well.  This provides your content marketing team with actionable data to target your content to specific areas of importance.

5. Likes, comments and wall posts scorecards

Another approach worth testing is the amount of time it takes a fan to produce one of the various forms of activity on your Facebook fan page. By assigning a numeric value where the lowest number is applied to the activity that takes the least time, you can develop a scorecard total that will give you an apples-to-apples comparison.

Here are some examples:

• Likes on wall posts  (least amount of time committed by a fan) = 1 point
• Comments on wall posts (moderate amount of time committed by a fan) = 3 points
• Fan posts on your wall (greatest amount of time committed by a fan) = 5 points

Every week, you can count the total number of occurrences of each content type and tabulate the total score.  This enables  you to track the increases or decreases of the scores over time.

Your homework

As a short homework assignment, I challenge you to develop your own Facebook engagement spreadsheet and  fill it with your data. Spend the rest of January and February plugging in your weekly numbers from Insights and answer these questions:

1. Is the activity on your page increasing parallel to the growth of your fan base?
2. Are you maintaining more page activity than content hides on a consistent basis?
3. Where is the strongest concentration of your fan base geographically,  and is it where it should be?

Lately, I have been awash in spreadsheets trying to organize everything I need to do. I live by my editorial calendar. I work with numerous spreadsheets tracking our recent CMI redesign projects and the status of each one.

I know there are other “spreadsheet junkies” out there. So if you’re someone who can relate, here’s something you may like:  some spreadsheet ideas to help you prioritize your long (and growing) to-do list. Prioritizing activities helps me decide what tasks can wait and what tasks I need to focus on now.

So how do I use spreadsheets to prioritize?

First, I lay out all of the activities the team has brainstormed — everything from big-picture items to tactical ideas.  After that, I track the following information for each.

UPDATE: Some readers asked for the template. You can see a sample below or download the blank Excel spreadsheet. I can’t always complete all cells initially, but this helps me figure out what I need. I also find it helpful to sort on columns such as goal, priority and budget.

What goal does it support?

Seems basic that every activity should support a business goal, but I bet you’ll be surprised at how many “nice to have” or “seems cool to do” activities may be on your list. By focusing first on the activities that directly relate to your business goals, priorities emerge.

Anything we need to do first?

Here’s a good example.  You may have a goal to convert visitors when they get to your website, however if you don’t have the content in place to entice someone, you need to start there.

What is the estimated time?

If something is quick and simple to do, I’m more likely to tackle it early to get it off the list.

What is the ongoing time commitment?

A lot of things these days are easy to set up (say a Twitter account or an email program), but they take ongoing feed and care if you want to do them well. Be realistic about how much time the maintenance of any activity you start will take each week or month.

Who is responsible for this?

Of course, it’s always good to assign a lead person to each task so you’re not asking, “Who is doing this again?”

Do we need to get help?

If stretched for time, consider where you can get help. Some things, like strategy, may be best to keep in-house. But there are a lot of activities that you can outsource (I’ll leave this for another post!).

What will this cost?

In addition to people, think of any tools and costs associated with this project. Of course, cost is a very important factor when making priorities.

Assign each priority

After all is said and done, I then assign a priority to something. It can be as simple as high-medium-low or a numerical system. Ideally, I tackle three to five things at a time and do them well. Once they’re up and running, I’ll move on to new tasks. Of course, this isn’t always feasible, but having a visual reminder helps me keep my priorities in order. I can then add new ideas and tasks as they come up to make sure that everything is in one spot.

One final thought: Don’t forget to put  the spreadsheet into Dropbox or another file-sharing system, so the whole team has access to it. This makes the spreadsheet more than a static planning document.

I’d love to get your thoughts: How do you plan and prioritize your marketing?

Social media Conversation Calendars are a great way to not only develop your content strategy for social media, but also make the process more efficient and keep your posts updated regularly. Here are few guidelines that will help you get started.

Determine who and why

First, you need to develop a social media content strategy. You have to know who you’re trying to reach and why. Identifying your target audience and the kind of information they’re looking for is essential.

For example, if you’re an organic snack food company trying to reach moms, think about what moms would want to know about your product or hear from your brand.  Then, create three to four “buckets” of information that each post should connect back to, such as healthy ingredient information, health topics for kids, brand news, and conversation starters with moms. Once you start developing your calendar, create a column for each content bucket to keep you on track. (More on that shortly.)

Develop your voice and tone

Many brands and companies make the mistake of posting inconsistently from a different voice or perspective. Decide upfront if you are going to post and respond from the first person “I” or from a personal, yet collective brand/business perspective “We.” You can also use a more neutral third person without the use of a pronoun.

Choosing the tone of your content is also important. Is your brand’s social media personality light and friendly or serious and informative? Be consistent when writing posts and responding to fan feedback or questions.

Start your conversation calendar

Conversation Calendars usually include two to three of your planned posts per week for an entire month. Keep in mind that topics and posts can, and will likely, change depending on current news or last-minute promotions. No matter what, the calendar will set the foundation for your social media engagement and ensure you are posting regularly.

After your audience is established (e.g., moms), and your content strategy is determined (topic buckets), it’s time to decide what to write about. Need ideas? Look at the news, industry trends and blogs for inspiration, as well as any relevant company information such as new products or services and special offers. Also, think about the questions that your customers ask most often.

Here’s a simple set up for a social media conversation calendar:

1. Set up a spreadsheet with monthly worksheets, and create columns for the post date, day of the week, content bucket, anc actual Facebook and Twitter posts.
2. Upload the conversation calendar to your daily calendar or shared calendar/Intranet, etc. if there will be more than one person posting.

Own your social media content

Whether you are a business of one or 1,000, someone must be in charge of your company’s content strategy, creation, approval and governance. Establishing your social media content process and designating responsibilities for managing it are essential steps.

• Who is responsible for developing, writing and posting according to schedule?
• Who is responsible for monitoring and responding to comments in relative real time?

Measuring success

Finally, you have to determine how you will deem your social media content a success. Social media is only valuable for businesses if you use it to meet specific objectives.  These may include an increase in the number of fans or followers, an increase in feedback, “likes”, or “shares,” or a boost in website traffic. Here are a few easy tools that can help you get started.

• Hootsuite lets you monitor most of your social networks in one place.
• Facebook Insights offers numbers on engagement, “likes” and users.
• Social mention is a free tool for real-time social media search results. Sign up to receive free daily email alerts for your company, product, a news topic or even a competitor.

Is your company, big or small, using a conversation calendar for social media?