PUBCON New Orleans 2013 | Nathan Safran "Social Content"

cdtr.co/2013pubcon @conductor
@nathan_safran
nsafran@conductor.com @nathan_safran
Social Media Content Creation
Presented by:
Nathan Safran, Director of Research
Conductor, Inc.

@nathan_safran
About Me
• Former Forrester
Research Analyst
• Director of Research
for Conductor
• Search Engine
Land/Search Engine
Watch Columnist
• Study the Search/Social
Space

@nathan_safran
About
• Market leader in
Enterprise SEO
Technology
• 1500+ top brands
including FedEx,
HSN, Staples

@nathan_safran
This session will
delve into the creation, management, and
strategy of a social media content calendar.
We will cover exact details and descriptions of
the most successful content for Twitter,
Facebook (including notes on edge rank),
Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.”
“Successful social media practice begins with a
thorough content strategy.
Today’s Session

@nathan_safran
• How has content become the backbone of search
and social?
• What does it mean for a brand to become a
publisher?
• Success Stories: How brands have successfully
transitioned into publishers
Agenda

@nathan_safran
Content is the foundation of SEO + Social
Content
SEO
Social

@nathan_safran
From an SEO perspective, content has become
increasingly important as Google algo changes
(Panda/Penguin) place renewed focus on
content quality

@nathan_safran
“You want to have a well-rounded site and one
of the best ways to do that is to have
fantastic, interesting, useful content, great
resources, great information, and then that
naturally attracts the links…”
–Matt Cutts
Head of Webspam, Google
March 2013

@nathan_safran
Search Rankings Drop
Keyword View

@nathan_safran
Keyword View
• Before the Panda Google
Algorithm Change:
Ehow.com in position 4
Keyword: ‘New Years eve table
decorations’
• After the Panda Google
Algorithm Change:
Not ranking

@nathan_safran
The “Throw-Some-Content-Up-and-Rank”
paradigm no longer cuts it…

@nathan_safran
…And, content must be accessible across social networks
because discovery is now contextual
For each of the following, indicate the frequency you
turn to search versus a social network:
('Always' or 'Often' Reponses)

@nathan_safran
What it all means:
Content is the foundation of SEO + Social
Content
SEO
Social

@nathan_safran
Given:
(1) A renewed emphasis on content quality in Search
(2) the emergence of Social as a content discovery
platform
How, if at all, has the focus of the
online marketer changed?
and

@nathan_safran
Content development is now #1 goal
for online marketers
Source: Conductor and Search Engine Watch’s survey of 600
Online Marketers, Why 2013 Will Be the Year of the SEO

@nathan_safran

@nathan_safran
So, brands are now publishers.
What does it take for a brand to
(really) be successful as a publisher?

@nathan_safran
“Provide value to your customers. Be helpful.
Become the best publication and information
source in your industry. This is the core of
inbound marketing.”
–Mike Volpe, CMO Hubspot

@nathan_safran
Source: Rand Fishkin/SEOMoz
Put another way…

@nathan_safran
But, it’s not just “Create More Content!”
The whole paradigm has shifted
Old Content Paradigm New Content Paradigm
“Make sure we have website copy with
our keywords in it”
“How are we creating content our readers
will find valuable?”
Build Links Earn Links
Goal of Product Info on the Web:
‘Tick a Box’
Goal of Product Info on the Web:
Add Value (Educate, Inform, Entertain…)
Build Content for single/few platforms
(website…)
Build Content for Multi-Platforms (search,
social, blog, video…)
It’s all about me and my brand
I’m a Publisher, working in strategic
mentions of my brand (more on this later)

@nathan_safran
How are you adding genuine
value for your readers?
The question the modern ‘Brand-Owner-as-
Publisher’ must answer:
(When you have a good answer to this question,
the rest - links, shares, community - will follow)

@nathan_safran
A few ways of doing this:
• Educate
• Inform
• Entertain

@nathan_safran
Educate and Inform…

@nathan_safran
Entertain…

@nathan_safran
Brand
Brand
Non-Brand
Non-Brand
Non-Brand
Slip your brand in-
between ‘value adds’
Entertain…

@nathan_safran
Conductor Tweet Stream:
Slip Your Brand in-Between ‘Value Adds’
Non-Brand
Non-Brand
Brand
Brand
Don’t try to take too
much. Bring people back
by sending them away

@nathan_safran
How addresses the
‘Brand-as-Publisher’ question

@nathan_safran
Content Creation Lifecycle:
Everything starts with ideas

@nathan_safran
Ideation: Identify where you can ‘add value’
• What do people want to know more about in our
industry?
• Develop content that meets that need
• Rinse, and repeat

@nathan_safran
Industry Influencers (or leading publications in your industry)
help identify what people want to know more about

@nathan_safran
Read more: cdtr.co/referral-traffic-blog

@nathan_safran
What Do People Want to Know More About?

@nathan_safran
What is the brand impact (beyond clicks) in
appearing on page one of the search results?
• Our analysis showed industry focus
disproportionately on traffic
benefits of appearing in search
• Marketers underinformed about
other brand benefits of appearing
in search
• Research study on brand
perception/intent to purchase lift
when appearing on page one in
search
• Covered by industry publications,
largest lead generator for
Conductor
The Branding Value of Search’s Page One
Download: cdtr.co/branding-value

@nathan_safran
It all comes back to:
Always Be Brainstorming (ABB)
Always Be Reading (ABR)

@nathan_safran
In Summary: Build content your audience will
genuinely be interested in.
Repeatedly. (It sounds obvious, but…)

@nathan_safran
Not having success?

@nathan_safran
Most content creators spend a bit of time on Ideation at the start, and
then focus the majority of time on creation, publishing and promotion

@nathan_safran
You may not be giving ideation the mindshare it requires
to create awesome content
Ideation must be given sufficient
mindshare in your content
creation process for your brand
to truly become a publisher
Before
After

@nathan_safran
Ideation Tips
• People love brainstorming new content ideas. Find
creative people in your org and buy them lunch
• Hire with the intention that content brainstorming
be one of the new hires responsibilities
• Leverage tools to organize ideas

@nathan_safran
Always Be Brainstorming (ABB) Tips
• Identify creative data sources in your industry you are not
currently leveraging

@nathan_safran
Final Takeaway
Whereever your organization is as a content creator, take a step
back, look at your content with a critical eye, and answer this
question:
How are we (really)
adding value for our
readers?
Content
SocialSEO

@nathan_safran
Thank You!
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION:
cdtr.co/2013pubcon
Nathan Safran
Director of Research
nsafran@conductor.com
@nathan_safran
@conductor

PUBCON New Orleans 2013 | Nathan Safran "Social Content"

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