SOCIAL NETWORKING: WHAT’S NEXT?
by Maribeth Kusmeski
You’ve spent the time and effort to develop your social media sites –-now what? The premise of social media is to present something of value to others in your social network. “Valuable content” is something that clients and prospects:
- Find interesting or informative
- Deem worthy to take the time to read or view
- Want more of and thus will follow you to see what’s next
- Will pass along for others to see
So where does all of this great, valuable content come from? Do you have to be a prolific writer or hire someone that is? How difficult will it be to get content through compliance? The good news is that there are solutions to the continual release of valuable content.
If you’re an insurance agent or financial advisor, the easiest way to add new content to your social media presence consistently is to consider using compliance-approved content available to you through your firm. Often there are various materials that you can literally take “off the shelf” and use. Such items might include pre-written articles, white papers, seminar presentations (from which you can extract content), and pre-written newsletters. You can also find libraries of financial services content through such services like Forefield.com.
However, probably the most powerful content comes when you write it because it has your voice and tells something about you –clients and prospect want to know what you think! If you write three or four paragraphs a month (not an incredibly difficult task), you’ll have content that you can share between social media sites, your blog, video, etc. The key isn’t to become a perfect writer – it’s to get your voice and knowledge out there. Share stories about client situations you’ve seen (keeping their identities confidential of course), mistakes you’ve witnessed made, and knowledge you have gained through your reading or at meetings you have attended.
Content is everywhere. Whether you use preapproved content or write your own, blocking out just one hour per month could make a big difference in helping your social media presence gain traction and followers, becoming a powerful referral conversion tool for you.
Maribeth Kusmeski is president of Red Zone Marketing, LLC; 1509 N. Milwaukee Avenue; Libertyville, IL 60048; phone: (847) 367-4066; fax: (847)-367-5226; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.redzonemarketing.com.