The Content Revolution Tour - Ann Handley and Becki Dilworth

I attended the Irvine tour stop on April 12th, where I got to hear Ann Handley and Becki Dilworth present their "Content Revolution" insights, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Another recommendation from another colleague – Ron Ploof, so thanks very much to Ron. The content revolution is all about social media, which is not a fad, or a trend, but the best way for companies to reach out and engage current and potential customers.

Companies need to embrace the fact that they are now publishers,tasked with creating and distributing their own content. The added bonus that social media brings is the ability to have a dialogue with customers.

It is compelling content that is the heart and soul of social media. It’s also a long-term commitment that requires the development and execution of a relevant strategy that communicates your brand personality and message. Content creation is a challenge for most organizations. In a recent study by MarketingProfs and Junta 42, “producing engaging content” and “producing enough content” are the first and second “biggest content marketing challenges” companies face.

However challenging this may prove to be, figuring it out is definitely worth the time and effort. According to Hubspot, there are 55% more visitors to websites that have a company blog, 97% more inbound links for sites containing a company blog, and 434% more indexed pages for companies that blog. Pretty impressive.

Ann and Becki presented their recommendations for getting a handle on what social media is, and how best to get started, gain momentum, and enjoy the benefits of being a publisher of your own content, with your own network with multiple channels, to broadcast your content. Another benefit unique to social media is that it allows followers of your network to spread the word to their networks, continuing to extend your reach, expand your influence, and introduce you to new audiences.

I found it interesting that the creation of compelling content is actually part of the process in developing and executing your social media program. In addition to setting goals, determining metrics, setting schedules and putting processes in place, each organization must figure out the best way to meaningfully connect with their customers. How do you tell your company’s stories in a way that engages people and lets them know how you can help them? Different customers have different motivations for buying your product or service, and so for each of those categories, a persona is created who speaks to those needs.

I especially appreciate presentations that give me new insights into subjects I have some familiarity with, which is one of the many reasons I enjoyed this event. I was very pleased to get to meet Ann, and get a copy of her book, written with C.C.Chapman, called “Content Rules.” I of course, am in process of reading the book, and will be blogging about that here soon.