Everyone struggles with generating content. We know it’s a constant process and unless you’re invested enough, you’ll have a hard time maintaining quality and consistent frequency in your posts. So what’s the best way to scale up your content creation? We, at @MadalynSklar #TwitterSmarter, decided to ask Ted Rubin, CMO of Photofy (the content creation app), Speaker, Author, and self described… Provocateur.
Here’s a summary of our chat:
Topic: Tips and Ideas to Scale Your Content Creation
Guest: Ted Rubin
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share ideas.
Q1: What do you mean by scaling content creation?
Ted feels that Christine said it well and summarizes in his words… bluntly put, scaling content creation means creating more content with less effort. It means you’re getting other stakeholders in your brand, like employees, partners, and customers to create quality content to complement yours.
Q1: What do you mean by scaling content creation? #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/zo6iPRP5rW
— Madalyn Sklar – Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) September 5, 2019
To do this, you’ll need to first establish an organized system for content creation, and divide tasks and responsibilities based on each content creator involved. The system should help them maintain your brand’s voice and tone while scaling the amount and quality of content created.
You can also start thinking about repurposing a piece of content. For instance, making a series of blog posts from a webinar or cutting a lengthy webinar into smaller chunks for easy distribution.
Ted advocates for using employee-created content, #ECC, to connect with customers on a personal level. Consider sharing stories like everyday office events, neighborhood gatherings, and discussions that your audience can relate to. Employees’ content also elevates your social credibility—people love to see happy employees vouching for their employer.
Employee-created content (ECC) can overwhelm corporate or agency created content by connecting with shoppers as close to the point of purchase as possible. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
All these efforts collectively help scale your content creation. As our guest Ted said, you need large volume of quality content to positively impact your search engine rankings.
So by "scaling" I mean making is so you can create enough content for it to be your marketing and so you can have a real effect on SEO. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Q2: What are some ways to scale content creation on Twitter?
Here’re a few ideas that Ted and our community members shared:
- Re-post blogs as tweets and vice versa.
- Identify high-traction tweets and write blog posts about each.
- Repurpose content you posted elsewhere as tweets.
- Share relevant Instagram posts to Twitter automatically.
- Cross-promote from Facebook, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and other RSS feeds when relevant.
- Tweet and retweet other people’s content.
- Use polls and ask questions, tweet your ideas, and gather feedback from your audience.
- Use threads to connect a series of Tweets and pin them on your profile.
- Connect with your audience using Twitter audio and video.
- Participate in Twitter chats and share relevant and helpful content.
Beth suggested talking about your customers. Feature their experiences and how you feel about working with them. Stories like these help build rapport with your community.
A2 Highlight your customers – Ex: we donate to animal orgs in your name – this is our customer with his pups – we create shout outs and give the love #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/uyShgAahYq
— Beth Staub (@AdventureGlass) September 5, 2019
Well, with all these ideas, you won’t run out of content to create. That’s always a good thing, eh? That’s what Ted says too—creating isn’t the problem, having the time to share them is.
My issue is never how to create content, but how to have time to share all the content I have/create. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Most importantly, don’t stress out about creating content—enjoy the process.
Q3: How is your Twitter content an advertisement?
Twitter is a platform for organic engagement. This means you can get feedback and initiate conversations about almost anything related to your brand. For instance, you can even poll your audience about marketing material and ads you’re considering. It’s a test-bed for you to analyze what works and what doesn’t at a speed that’s unavailable elsewhere. Twitter is instant in a good way.
It is not so much an advertisement as it is a voice, a platform for engagement. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
And so, Twitter content isn’t advertisement in the traditional, salesy sense, but rather a way for you to build relationships with your audience.
As Andrea pointed out, because Twitter is open to everyone, a tweet that gets your audience’s attention, makes them respond, and discuss serves as an advertisement for who you are and what you stand for.
A3: ditto what the others said, and I would add: your content is an advertisement when the audience you want is intrigued by it, engages with it and is attracted to you more for it. #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/MHcnZwqbh5
— Andrea D. Smith (@MissADS08) September 5, 2019
Never forget Ted’s words: Whatever you do represents you and your brand. But the impact you create, the memories you leave people with, the usefulness of your content all make up your reputation. It’s everything that your community shares about you.
A3 – SO IMPORTANT… A Brand is what you do, a Reputation is what people Remember and Share. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Q4: How do you choose who creates content for your brand?
Ted’s a big fan of promoting employees and motivating them to be your content creators. As the face of your brand, they can be a powerful voice in representing you on social media.
It’s become clear that employees are a company’s secret weapon. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Like Ted said, what matters more than the message itself is the person delivering that message. Happy employees can influence your audience. They can help develop your brand, connect with customers, offer instant support on social media where relevant, and showcase the culture you’ve established in your business process.
They are an untapped resource for building brand, reaching consumers, improving employee engagement, increasing revenue, enhancing culture and lifting ability to snap up talent. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Some of our community members also suggested hiring in-house content creators over outsourcing the job. Since your content projects your brand, you need to make sure whoever’s creating the actual content knows you and understands your values.
If you’re choosing a third-party, however, like Rachel from Express Writers said, it’s best to establish a relationship with them first. Make sure their values align with yours and they appreciate and support you as a business. Relationship building is the first step to working with influencers.
A4: You want to make sure you choose someone who knows and understands your brand and your overall mission. This person should also know what your audience is looking for. #TwitterSmarter
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Team (@ExpWriters) September 5, 2019
Q5: How does a good relationship with employees help with content creation?
Having a good relationship with your employees automatically makes them your ambassadors. They’ll want to talk about you without you even asking. J Fritz reminded us that employees share their experiences of working with you. It’s a great starting point to highlight your culture and how you’re perceived within your own establishment.
A5: On oh so many levels but one of my favs is employees will come in and share stories about how the brand comes to life in their arena and this is especially important for large organizations #TwitterSmarter
— J Fritz PR (@JFritzPR) September 5, 2019
Also, as Ted pointed out to us, good employee-employer communication translates to great customer service. Find the right tools to help you interact with your employees and encourage them to keep the conversation going. Chat with them as you would with a friend—keep the doors open to their ideas. Brainstorm marketing and branding ideas. They may have valuable observations from customer behaviour that you can use in your research and analysis.
A5 EVERYTHING! The Employer/Employee relationship needs to be revamped because it is at the heart of Customer Experience, with is the freaking Brass Ring! #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
A5 – I will say this again and again because it is at the heart of scaling content creation for a brand… Empower you Employees and you will Power your Brand!!! #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Q6: Share some tips on motivating employees to generate content.
Ted spoke about how you can help yourself by helping your employees. If you communicate the value of personal branding, they’ll be motivated to grow their own. And in the process, they’ll help you grow yours.
A6 – If you make it easy for employees to create and share content, and make it clear you want them to grow and enhance their own personal brands, they will create for you while creating for themselves. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
Some other ideas, as shared by our community:
- Thank them—send handwritten notes, freebies, or stop by their workplace and give them a pat on the back. Show that you appreciate their hard work.
- Consider prizes for best employee-generated content.
- Share stories about your employees, re-share their posts and show you value their efforts.
- Allow your teams to takeover your social media for a day or two and use their creative inputs, making sure they still adhere to your branding guidelines.
- Ask them about customer interactions so they know you’re open to suggestions.
A6 – Show them how sharing content betters their relationships, grows their personal brands and influence, and they will support the brand. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
As Tamara so well said, listen to your employees’ ideas and opinions. Ensure proper communication and give them the resources they need—like logos, image guidelines, suggested topics of discussion, and overall dos and don’ts. In other words, make it easy for them to spread the word.
A6:
– Provide them with resources
– Share great content that can inspire them
– Communicate with them
– LISTEN. Listen to their ideas and discuss ways to implement them#TwitterSmarter— Tamara (@itstamaragt) September 5, 2019
Q7: What’s your advice on choosing the right influencers?
A7 – The biggest mistake brands make when trying to engage influencers is not first trying to understand who they are and what they stand for. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
- Get to know them first, and see if their values and style match with yours.
- Observe how they engage with their audience—you don’t want an influencer who doesn’t bother to respond to comments on their posts.
- Consider people who’ve already purchased from you—they’re your fans and will be more invested in what you do.
- Avoid self-proclaimed influencers focussed on money. You want someone who prioritizes people.
- Ted told us how influencer marketing is just a large network of good relationships that’ll give you sustainable returns in the long run.
A7 – Influencer marketing, when used to its best effect, is about building a network of business relationships that will yield results over time. #twittersmarter
— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) September 5, 2019
As Jennifer mentioned, the influencer you choose should be a natural leader. They need to understand the value of building a community from the ground up.
And if you’re wondering how to measure the success of influencer marketing, take Ted’s advice: measure your promotion just as you would any other paid media activity. Then add the priceless value of relationship and the number of returning visits it generates.
Q8: Tell us about @PhotofyApp. How does it relate to content creation?
Photofy is an online content creation tool. It helps you streamline content that your employees are creating, so that they all match and resonate with your values and guidelines. You can check it out here: Photofy.com
Employee-generated content, according to Ted, gets 8 times more engagement than a piece of content you share from the branded handle. Who doesn’t want that?
Hi,
It’s always something great and unique to get something Ted.
The shared Tips and Ideas for Content Creation are amazing & helpful for Content.
I must say, People must check this post to get the helpful point for Content Creation.
Thank you Peter. Make it a great weekend.