In the past, a business could increase per post reach on Facebook simply by creating unique and engaging quality content. That has now changed and, for the most part, ads are the only real posts creating any significant reach. Organic posts on Facebook pages have seen reach drop into the 1-2 percent range, down from 12+ just 2 short years ago.  Since Facebook’s IPO, and the subsequent emphasis on Facebook ads and Sponsored Posts, businesses and brands have been forced to look at Facebook as part of their ad budget, not simply employee time to create and post quality content.

Facebook has taken the stance that decreasing reach for pages is the compromise for monetization. It believes that allowing all of the brand/business content into a user’s newsfeed crowds out the content that users want to see – namely posts from family and friends. Decreasing reach of organic content from businesses allows Facebook to substitute that content with Sponsored Posts, while keeping the business to personal content ratio in a user’s newsfeed relatively the same.

There have been some users, however, that have rallied around the movement that Facebook should allow them to control what (and who) they see content from. They do not wish to have Facebook do the censoring for them through a secret algorithm. Facebook did integrate a way for consumers to ensure they can see a Page’s content. However, it was a relatively intricate process that normal Facebook users didn’t embrace, despite many Facebook page’s efforts to get them to do so.

Facebook is reportedly now taking the next step towards allowing users to dictate what content they see. A recent Advertising Age article, shared Facebook’s plans to add a feature they’ve named their “news feed monitor and control tool.” This tool apparently allows a user to view who they are seeing the most content from. They can then dial down the number of posts they see from a given friend or brand, as opposed to completely hiding them. Facebook pages that fail to produce engaging quality content may see their reach decline even more because of this.

No matter what your page is seeing in regards to reach and engagement on Facebook right now, expect to see a further decline as consumers become aware of this tool and start to exercise control of what they allow into their newsfeeds. Business participation on Facebook will most likely become more challenging.  It would seem that we will be forced to either join the “pay to play” environment that Facebook has become, or be happy with the crumbs that Facebook allows us.

The marketing purpose of social media is brand exposure. Content and engagement marketing rely upon two core ideas: businesses talking to consumers and consumers talking back. This real-time communication allows businesses to continuously poll their audience through content. They can then change marketing strategies in real-time, shifting the needle as quickly as customers’ interests change.

The only solid strategy left to produce increased reach, regardless of how many fans you have, is to create unique, relevant and interesting content that audiences want to see. At the same time decrease the continuous promotional activities many businesses practice.   While this will not get you as much exposure as in the past on Facebook, it will at least stop your audience from tuning you out altogether!

While I love to be active myself, I certainly could not call myself a big fan of watching and keeping up with sports. It seems, however, that you cannot turn on a television, read a newspaper or use any social media recently without hearing about continuous misdeeds and wrongdoings of NFL players. I’m sure that you’ve seen them as well. So this is not designed to rehash, recap or discuss any of these controversies. Much of the attention and negative PR has been directed towards those players involved, as well as the NFL itself, as can be expected. Due to the ongoing controversy, sponsors have distanced themselves and some have even disassociated themselves with the league. One sponsor, however, seems to be taking a slightly different approach to the controversy… Verizon.

Let’s face it. Regardless of any controversy, football is not only uber-popular in America, but also big business. It brings massive exposure to its partners and sponsors. Just as in the real world, however, in times of crisis, there is always the risk of “guilt by association” that comes with staying the course when partners are involved. Verizon has not only chosen to stay the course, but has gone a step further by proactively taking steps to preserve its image.

In a recent article on Forbes.com, a blogger recounted his experience with Verizon after writing a blog critical of the NFL. According to the author, a couple of days after publishing his blog, he received an unexpected email from Verizon. The email detailed Verizon’s firm stance against domestic violence and referenced their CEO’s statement that “the real issue at hand is not the image of Verizon or the NFL, but ‘the scourge of domestic violence itself.’” It went on to detail how Verizon had launched a public awareness campaign designed to help put a stop to this through a newly created social media platform called Voices Have Power. They have also pledged to “donate $3 to domestic violence prevention organizations” for “every message sent through the service.” It went on to ask the author, whose obvious stance was against domestic violence, to spread the word about the campaign.

In business, companies always have to carefully guard their image, along with the image of any companies they choose to support or are closely associated with. There have been many times in the past when corporate sponsors and partners of organizations in crisis become collateral damage by failing to pull their partnerships. While some organizations choose the safe course of disassociation rather than risk consumer backlash, others choose different paths. Typically, companies who stay the course will issue statements of regret and some type of response to the event detailing their stance, but then remain quiet on the matter, allowing the outcome to reveal itself over time. Verizon, on the other hand, has chosen to monitor and reach out to the most vocal critics and educate them on a massive public awareness campaign. This essentially preserves their partnership while, at the same time, shows support aligned with public sentiment.

Whether this is a good strategy remains to be seen. There is an argument to be made that Verizon’s failure to pull its sponsorship implies support regardless of the campaign. Some may even accuse Verizon of piggybacking on the events for exposure. Regardless of the motives, from a public relations perspective, Verizon has chosen to take action to preserve its own image through a parallel and rather clever PR campaign. The company is seeing as taking positive action, rather than remaining a passive observer.

How this plays out remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that public relations is vital to companies in crisis, especially when the crisis involves a close partner. Make no mistake that consumers will project accountability upon any companies associated - whether directly or indirectly. Especially in this instance, domestic violence is an issue that affects so many and is naturally very emotionally charged. Verizon’s PR efforts seem to have sated the author of this particular blog. He was so impressed that he wrote the article recounting this experience and told his audience that it was a message that needed to be passed on. That’s a win for Verizon. Will this work every time and with every outspoken fan? Probably not. The bottom line is that you don’t have to win all of the time, just enough of the time to make a difference.

While I love to be active myself, I certainly could not call myself a big fan of watching and keeping up with sports. It seems, however, that you cannot turn on a television, read a newspaper or use any social media recently without hearing about continuous misdeeds and wrongdoings of NFL players. I’m sure that you’ve seen them as well. So this is not designed to rehash, recap or discuss any of these controversies. Much of the attention and negative PR has been directed towards those players involved, as well as the NFL itself, as can be expected. Due to the ongoing controversy, sponsors have distanced themselves and some have even disassociated themselves with the league. One sponsor, however, seems to be taking a slightly different approach to the controversy… Verizon.

Let’s face it. Regardless of any controversy, football is not only uber-popular in America, but also big business. It brings massive exposure to its partners and sponsors. Just as in the real world, however, in times of crisis, there is always the risk of “guilt by association” that comes with staying the course when partners are involved. Verizon has not only chosen to stay the course, but has gone a step further by proactively taking steps to preserve its image.

In a recent article on Forbes.com, a blogger recounted his experience with Verizon after writing a blog critical of the NFL. According to the author, a couple of days after publishing his blog, he received an unexpected email from Verizon. The email detailed Verizon’s firm stance against domestic violence and referenced their CEO’s statement that “the real issue at hand is not the image of Verizon or the NFL, but ‘the scourge of domestic violence itself.’” It went on to detail how Verizon had launched a public awareness campaign designed to help put a stop to this through a newly created social media platform called Voices Have Power. They have also pledged to “donate $3 to domestic violence prevention organizations” for “every message sent through the service.” It went on to ask the author, whose obvious stance was against domestic violence, to spread the word about the campaign.

In business, companies always have to carefully guard their image, along with the image of any companies they choose to support or are closely associated with. There have been many times in the past when corporate sponsors and partners of organizations in crisis become collateral damage by failing to pull their partnerships. While some organizations choose the safe course of disassociation rather than risk consumer backlash, others choose different paths. Typically, companies who stay the course will issue statements of regret and some type of response to the event detailing their stance, but then remain quiet on the matter, allowing the outcome to reveal itself over time. Verizon, on the other hand, has chosen to monitor and reach out to the most vocal critics and educate them on a massive public awareness campaign. This essentially preserves their partnership while, at the same time, shows support aligned with public sentiment.

Whether this is a good strategy remains to be seen. There is an argument to be made that Verizon’s failure to pull its sponsorship implies support regardless of the campaign. Some may even accuse Verizon of piggybacking on the events for exposure. Regardless of the motives, from a public relations perspective, Verizon has chosen to take action to preserve its own image through a parallel and rather clever PR campaign. The company is seeing as taking positive action, rather than remaining a passive observer.

How this plays out remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that public relations is vital to companies in crisis, especially when the crisis involves a close partner. Make no mistake that consumers will project accountability upon any companies associated - whether directly or indirectly. Especially in this instance, domestic violence is an issue that affects so many and is naturally very emotionally charged. Verizon’s PR efforts seem to have sated the author of this particular blog. He was so impressed that he wrote the article recounting this experience and told his audience that it was a message that needed to be passed on. That’s a win for Verizon. Will this work every time and with every outspoken fan? Probably not. The bottom line is that you don’t have to win all of the time, just enough of the time to make a difference.

It’s widely accepted that content created by third parties in general holds more value for businesses than content they create themselves. Many have felt that consumers better trusted product information and reviews written by neutral persons. According to new research by Vibrant Media, however, that thought process may no longer be the case, if it ever was.

The Vibrant study included 1,000 Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 and revealed some interesting data that should serve as a wake up call for brands. Some of the study’s key finding includes:

• “…one in three consumers rate the advertiser’s own website as the most useful source of information after seeing a product.”
• “Sixty-four percent stated they were receptive to brand images, and 57 percent were receptive to video.”
• “Forty-six percent stated they were receptive to articles written by brands.”

According to an article about the study, published on the Content Standard, “the majority of US consumers want content from their favorite brands, and 46 percent read their favorite brands’ blogs.”

Many companies question the value blog articles and content bring to their brand. As public relations agencies increasingly take on the responsibility of managing social media and content marketing, it has become apparent that producing content offers a myriad of benefits for companies. This includes opportunities to connect with their potential and existing customers via comments, the ability to position themselves as thought leaders in their industries, search engine optimization benefits and, most importantly, the ability to keep their companies top-of-mind.

The key to successful content production is cemented in the strategy that content produced must provide value to an audience. All companies want to spread the news about their latest product and service. There is nothing wrong with that. It just has to be done right. A company needs to strike a balance between product info and best practices tips and information of value to their audience. PR professionals can strategically identify key industry sites and news sources that are appropriate for each message.

According to this study, customers – both existing and potential – want to learn from you and better utilize the products and services you offer. Many of you, however, aren’t providing the content their audience is seeking. If almost half of consumers trust your content, ensuring that the content is relevant, educational and informative, is of utmost importance to maintaining and building an audience.

Consistently creating and publishing content can also lead to increased requests for interviews and speaking engagements. Companies who employ successful content marketing strategies oftentimes find media sources and events seeking them out as a result of their increased profile.

This Vibrant Media study data suggests that companies should increase their focus and efforts in creating successful content marketing strategies.  The data shows that apparently your customers are not simply paying attention, but are craving this content. If you fail to produce any, you are missing golden opportunities to connect with your audience, and losing the side benefits that consistent quality content can produce.

It’s widely accepted that content created by third parties in general holds more value for businesses than content they create themselves. Many have felt that consumers better trusted product information and reviews written by neutral persons. According to new research by Vibrant Media, however, that thought process may no longer be the case, if it ever was.

The Vibrant study included 1,000 Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 and revealed some interesting data that should serve as a wake up call for brands. Some of the study’s key finding includes:

• “…one in three consumers rate the advertiser’s own website as the most useful source of information after seeing a product.”
• “Sixty-four percent stated they were receptive to brand images, and 57 percent were receptive to video.”
• “Forty-six percent stated they were receptive to articles written by brands.”

According to an article about the study, published on the Content Standard, “the majority of US consumers want content from their favorite brands, and 46 percent read their favorite brands’ blogs.”

Many companies question the value blog articles and content bring to their brand. As public relations agencies increasingly take on the responsibility of managing social media and content marketing, it has become apparent that producing content offers a myriad of benefits for companies. This includes opportunities to connect with their potential and existing customers via comments, the ability to position themselves as thought leaders in their industries, search engine optimization benefits and, most importantly, the ability to keep their companies top-of-mind.

The key to successful content production is cemented in the strategy that content produced must provide value to an audience. All companies want to spread the news about their latest product and service. There is nothing wrong with that. It just has to be done right. A company needs to strike a balance between product info and best practices tips and information of value to their audience. PR professionals can strategically identify key industry sites and news sources that are appropriate for each message.

According to this study, customers – both existing and potential – want to learn from you and better utilize the products and services you offer. Many of you, however, aren’t providing the content their audience is seeking. If almost half of consumers trust your content, ensuring that the content is relevant, educational and informative, is of utmost importance to maintaining and building an audience.

Consistently creating and publishing content can also lead to increased requests for interviews and speaking engagements. Companies who employ successful content marketing strategies oftentimes find media sources and events seeking them out as a result of their increased profile.

This Vibrant Media study data suggests that companies should increase their focus and efforts in creating successful content marketing strategies.  The data shows that apparently your customers are not simply paying attention, but are craving this content. If you fail to produce any, you are missing golden opportunities to connect with your audience, and losing the side benefits that consistent quality content can produce.

Throughout history, public relations professionals have assisted companies in gaining exposure and getting the right message to the right audience at the right time. In the past, PR agencies relied on connections with journalists, media contacts and industry publications to relay relevant company news. With the arrival of social media, and digital marketing, PR agencies have had to evolve with the times. It has become a content-driven world, with a whole lot more opportunities to place content.

While it is now easier for PR agencies to spread a company’s message, the amount of information news outlets and other publishing platforms receive is quite overwhelming. As such, it is now more important than ever to get your messaging right, so it does not get lost in the noise, or, even worse, turn the audience away.  A good public relations agency knows which types of messages are appropriate and most effective for each type of content. Public relations firms are now frequently retained in order to keep a company’s message consistent throughout all forms of content.

Here are a few tips on how to best maximize your exposure to your audience:

1. Press Releases - Publishers, editors and journalists are forced to sift through hundreds, if not thousands, of press releases on a daily basis and decide whether the news is really news, or rather advertising in disguise. Due to the sheer volume of material sent, the media has less time to spend on each release. The trick to getting your press release noticed is ensuring that the headline and first few sentences are compelling and well written. It is important to capture the reader’s attention quickly.  It is also important to ensure that for the most part, your press releases are news and something a reporter would be interested in. Don’t get a reputation for sending bad marketing messages disguised as “news.” Otherwise your content will be ignored by your core journalists.
2. Content marketing - Blog articles are an excellent way for companies to establish themselves as thought leaders within their industry. When company executives choose to share their knowledge in a way that helps their audience and/or delivers relevant insights into current events, their audience grows and they gain more attention. However, if a company chooses to use their content marketing solely as a thinly veiled form of advertising, they could actually achieve quite the opposite. Blogs should not be used solely to release news or advertising. Use them as a forum to provide good, useful content for the reader. Readers can smell blog articles that are actually pitches a mile away. And, with limited time in their day, they must choose who and what to read. If a company gains a reputation among readers for producing advertorial content, chances are they will gloss over that author whenever his or her content is published. Yes, the content is out there and may have SEO benefits, but the power great content gains in attracting attention, is then lost.
3. Social media - In the past, Facebook rewarded companies that posted relevant and engaging content by increasing exposure to that company’s target audience. Now Facebook is increasingly limiting a company’s ability to reach their audience, regardless of whether the content is engaging or advertising. While, to date, Twitter has not filtered the content on its platform, it has hinted at introducing algorithms into its platform designed to assist users in reading what they feel is most relevant.

Twitter users have always had a choice to either filter content themselves through the use of lists, or to simply unfollow a company. As Facebook, Twitter, etc., further develop, there is an increasing “pay to play” model emerging. Has that decreased the potential reach of social media with consumers? No. What it has done, however, is force companies to choose whether to include social media in their marketing/advertising budgets, whereas in the past it only took a little time and effort to post content.

Social media is still an excellent way to market to your audience, if the content is compelling, has intriguing calls-to-action and delivers a relevant message. However, advertising/marketing via social media shouldn’t be your sole activity, as the audience will tire of continuous advertising messages. The key is a good balance. Social media is an excellent tool to engage customers, monitor for sentiment and respond to customer complaints or praises.

It is vital to know how to achieve maximum exposure to the correct audience. Whether that be through press releases, blogs, articles in trade magazines or social media – realize that in most content marketing efforts, you’ll achieve more success and position yourself for optimum results by not trying to sell, but rather by providing valuable news and useful content. Pay attention to the type of content appropriate for the venue on which it’s published. This will help you create and implement a more effective overall marketing communications strategy.

Throughout history, public relations professionals have assisted companies in gaining exposure and getting the right message to the right audience at the right time. In the past, PR agencies relied on connections with journalists, media contacts and industry publications to relay relevant company news. With the arrival of social media, and digital marketing, PR agencies have had to evolve with the times. It has become a content-driven world, with a whole lot more opportunities to place content.

While it is now easier for PR agencies to spread a company’s message, the amount of information news outlets and other publishing platforms receive is quite overwhelming. As such, it is now more important than ever to get your messaging right, so it does not get lost in the noise, or, even worse, turn the audience away.  A good public relations agency knows which types of messages are appropriate and most effective for each type of content. Public relations firms are now frequently retained in order to keep a company’s message consistent throughout all forms of content.

Here are a few tips on how to best maximize your exposure to your audience:

1. Press Releases - Publishers, editors and journalists are forced to sift through hundreds, if not thousands, of press releases on a daily basis and decide whether the news is really news, or rather advertising in disguise. Due to the sheer volume of material sent, the media has less time to spend on each release. The trick to getting your press release noticed is ensuring that the headline and first few sentences are compelling and well written. It is important to capture the reader’s attention quickly.  It is also important to ensure that for the most part, your press releases are news and something a reporter would be interested in. Don’t get a reputation for sending bad marketing messages disguised as “news.” Otherwise your content will be ignored by your core journalists.
2. Content marketing - Blog articles are an excellent way for companies to establish themselves as thought leaders within their industry. When company executives choose to share their knowledge in a way that helps their audience and/or delivers relevant insights into current events, their audience grows and they gain more attention. However, if a company chooses to use their content marketing solely as a thinly veiled form of advertising, they could actually achieve quite the opposite. Blogs should not be used solely to release news or advertising. Use them as a forum to provide good, useful content for the reader. Readers can smell blog articles that are actually pitches a mile away. And, with limited time in their day, they must choose who and what to read. If a company gains a reputation among readers for producing advertorial content, chances are they will gloss over that author whenever his or her content is published. Yes, the content is out there and may have SEO benefits, but the power great content gains in attracting attention, is then lost.
3. Social media - In the past, Facebook rewarded companies that posted relevant and engaging content by increasing exposure to that company’s target audience. Now Facebook is increasingly limiting a company’s ability to reach their audience, regardless of whether the content is engaging or advertising. While, to date, Twitter has not filtered the content on its platform, it has hinted at introducing algorithms into its platform designed to assist users in reading what they feel is most relevant.

Twitter users have always had a choice to either filter content themselves through the use of lists, or to simply unfollow a company. As Facebook, Twitter, etc., further develop, there is an increasing “pay to play” model emerging. Has that decreased the potential reach of social media with consumers? No. What it has done, however, is force companies to choose whether to include social media in their marketing/advertising budgets, whereas in the past it only took a little time and effort to post content.

Social media is still an excellent way to market to your audience, if the content is compelling, has intriguing calls-to-action and delivers a relevant message. However, advertising/marketing via social media shouldn’t be your sole activity, as the audience will tire of continuous advertising messages. The key is a good balance. Social media is an excellent tool to engage customers, monitor for sentiment and respond to customer complaints or praises.

It is vital to know how to achieve maximum exposure to the correct audience. Whether that be through press releases, blogs, articles in trade magazines or social media – realize that in most content marketing efforts, you’ll achieve more success and position yourself for optimum results by not trying to sell, but rather by providing valuable news and useful content. Pay attention to the type of content appropriate for the venue on which it’s published. This will help you create and implement a more effective overall marketing communications strategy.

Social media can be a tricky thing. Finding and publishing content that a business’s audience will both enjoy and interact with can be challenging. And as Facebook exposure for business pages is increasingly diminishing, businesses are more dependent on audience engagement than ever for those elusive likes, shares and comments. The type of content posted is highly important as there is a line that can be crossed and turn public perception against you. Sometimes, what may have been a sincere piece of content can be perceived as simply self-promotional.
 

The reality is that behind every piece of content produced by a business there is a person. Whether that’s one person or a team, ultimately, it can be difficult for marketers to separate personal feelings from their social media content. Take for example the viral campaign to raise awareness and money for the ALS Association named “The Ice Bucket Challenge.” It’s fantastic that individuals are raising money for the ALS Association and are spreading awareness for this awful disease. Everyone from the average man on the street, to celebrities, to business executives and their staff have filmed themselves dumping ice water on their heads in the name of a good cause. As a result donations to the ALS Association have hit record numbers. One company, however, may have crossed the line in its participation.

Samsung Mobile UK posted a YouTube video with the Galaxy S5 getting dunked in icy water and challenged the iPhone 5S, and other phones, to the same treatment. The video does not mention if Samsung also supported the charity campaign with a donation.
 

The Galaxy S5 is waterproof and that feature is highlighted in the video which has the phone getting splashed with icy water and challenging its rivals.
 

The public’s comments about the video show anger as some consumers were left with the impression that the company was cashing in on a charity campaign that has so far raised $88.5 million.
 

The first comment on the video sums up many people’s reaction:
 

“Did you seriously just (expletive) use a way of supporting charity to market your (expletive) phone?”
 

“The whole point of the ALS ice bucket challenge is to spread awareness and raise support for the research of a cure and you just used that support and awareness as a way to make money? It’s like some guy going to a funeral to market his coffins. Wow Samsung. Just wow.”
 

Some people are already skeptical of the legitimacy of the ice bucket challenge. I’ve seen comments on Facebook from people claiming that they feel that people are participating simply to publicize themselves and that it is not being done in the true spirit of the challenge. Opponents to this view would disprove this based on the record donations and awareness this campaign has generated.

Perhaps it was not the best idea for Samsung to choose to create a message that is very clearly marketing and then piggyback it on a viral awareness campaign for a horrible disease. What may have been intended as cute sure did backfire. While Samsung did indeed make a donation to a charity which researches ALS along with other motor neuron diseases, this did not placate all consumers. Sentiment on social media regarding Samsung’s gimmick has been decidedly negative.

As a business it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of the public when attempting to piggyback marketing on trending topics. While this tactic can pay huge dividends, (a la Oreo and its now famous “Dunk In the Dark” tweet when the lights went out in the Super Bowl), it is important to ensure that you aren’t crossing a line that can turn your marketing into mocketing.

Social media can be a tricky thing. Finding and publishing content that a business’s audience will both enjoy and interact with can be challenging. And as Facebook exposure for business pages is increasingly diminishing, businesses are more dependent on audience engagement than ever for those elusive likes, shares and comments. The type of content posted is highly important as there is a line that can be crossed and turn public perception against you. Sometimes, what may have been a sincere piece of content can be perceived as simply self-promotional.
 

The reality is that behind every piece of content produced by a business there is a person. Whether that’s one person or a team, ultimately, it can be difficult for marketers to separate personal feelings from their social media content. Take for example the viral campaign to raise awareness and money for the ALS Association named “The Ice Bucket Challenge.” It’s fantastic that individuals are raising money for the ALS Association and are spreading awareness for this awful disease. Everyone from the average man on the street, to celebrities, to business executives and their staff have filmed themselves dumping ice water on their heads in the name of a good cause. As a result donations to the ALS Association have hit record numbers. One company, however, may have crossed the line in its participation.

Samsung Mobile UK posted a YouTube video with the Galaxy S5 getting dunked in icy water and challenged the iPhone 5S, and other phones, to the same treatment. The video does not mention if Samsung also supported the charity campaign with a donation.
 

The Galaxy S5 is waterproof and that feature is highlighted in the video which has the phone getting splashed with icy water and challenging its rivals.
 

The public’s comments about the video show anger as some consumers were left with the impression that the company was cashing in on a charity campaign that has so far raised $88.5 million.
 

The first comment on the video sums up many people’s reaction:
 

“Did you seriously just (expletive) use a way of supporting charity to market your (expletive) phone?”
 

“The whole point of the ALS ice bucket challenge is to spread awareness and raise support for the research of a cure and you just used that support and awareness as a way to make money? It’s like some guy going to a funeral to market his coffins. Wow Samsung. Just wow.”
 

Some people are already skeptical of the legitimacy of the ice bucket challenge. I’ve seen comments on Facebook from people claiming that they feel that people are participating simply to publicize themselves and that it is not being done in the true spirit of the challenge. Opponents to this view would disprove this based on the record donations and awareness this campaign has generated.

Perhaps it was not the best idea for Samsung to choose to create a message that is very clearly marketing and then piggyback it on a viral awareness campaign for a horrible disease. What may have been intended as cute sure did backfire. While Samsung did indeed make a donation to a charity which researches ALS along with other motor neuron diseases, this did not placate all consumers. Sentiment on social media regarding Samsung’s gimmick has been decidedly negative.

As a business it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of the public when attempting to piggyback marketing on trending topics. While this tactic can pay huge dividends, (a la Oreo and its now famous “Dunk In the Dark” tweet when the lights went out in the Super Bowl), it is important to ensure that you aren’t crossing a line that can turn your marketing into mocketing.

Things change. There’s no getting around that. The most effective marketing strategy in the world can be rendered ineffective in a day by an algorithm change. Or your thriving Facebook page could become a ghost town due to the monetization of Facebook. The only constant in the world is people’s desire for content. Content comes in many forms. In fact, everything you put out into the world as a business is your content – from advertisements, to press releases, blog articles and webinars – all of these are meant to be consumed and shape who you are as a business.

Google recognizes this. That is why it has begun to place more value on relevant content than anything else. Most businesses recognize that they need content and every day more are jumping onto the content marketing bandwagon. The problem is that many marketers don’t understand why they are producing content and what the end game really is. The easy answer to that question is: to increase sales through exposure. While at its very basic level that has a bit of truth to it, unless there’s an understanding of how to do it, this content production is doomed.

An effective content marketing strategy should not be tailored towards the instant sale. Content marketing is designed to increase exposure over time. It’s a soft sell approach to engaging your audience and building relationships. The largest benefactor of content marketing is your business. Rich, fresh and relevant content builds value in your website. It increases your digital footprint through SEO. If your content is well written and relevant, people will read it. Other sources may even begin to syndicate it and share it with their audience. Great content can transform your business’s executives into thought leaders. Producing that content consistently can achieve anticipation and familiarity. All of this increases the chances that the prospect you wish to attract, who may not yet be ready for your solution, remembers you when the time is right.

While there are many types of content you can produce, here are some ideas to get you started:

1)    First, ensure that you have foundational content. This type of content serves to identify your businesses core values and beliefs. It defines who you are and assists in creating your business identity. An easy way to understand what this content would be is to decide what you want every customer who visits your blog to see when they visit.

2)    The next type of content to consider is topical and/or industry-related articles. With the death of Google reader, it has become more difficult for people to find and keep up with information. This type of content serves to provide a valuable source of information for your audience and the opportunity to provide related insight.

3)    Last, but certainly not least, thought-provoking content can engage audiences and start conversations. Any content that makes your audience think about what you wrote also serves to further connect them to you and solidify that connection.

While this is certainly not a list of all of the types of content you could be producing, it should certainly help get you well on your way to developing a solid content marketing strategy. A good mixture of these types of articles will help your audience get to know you as a business, position you as a source of relevant information and build relationships by making your audience think.