Thanks to the proliferation of social media, brands are no longer competing against each other. They are competing against every form of messaging. Consumers (particularly Millennials) know when they are being marketed to, and anything that sounds like a pitch will be ignored. Peer opinions, in fact, are considered two to three times more reliable than brand messaging.

1. BREAKING THROUGH
THE SOCIAL CLUTTER
Strategies for Creating Interesting, Engaging
Content

2. State Farm Digital (Enterprise
Marketing),
State Farm Insurance
Huonks.com • brian@huonks.com
Linkedin/in/bkhuonker • Twitter.com/bkhuonker
www.slideshare.net/bkhuonker
@Midwest Social Media Conference
atMidwest.com
BRIAN HUONKER,
MS, SAFe® Agile, CLU®, Human Factors CUA®

3. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER

4. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 Millennials spend an
average of 5.4
hours/day
consuming user
generated content
 80% of all online
content is user
generated
 25% of the search
results for the top
brands goes to user
generated content

5. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER

6. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 What this illustrations is (tip #1) is know your
audience.
 Brainstorm them.
 Create profiles of them (and have fun)
 Discover where they are at
 Do they use Twitter (Does anyone?), LinkedIn, Instagram,
Email (not if they under 20), etc…
 They might have different personalities on them, uses them
differently
 Allows for the “like” to happen. Not the button, but the
relationship.
 Once you create a connection, you begin a relationship
 Once a relationship, conversations can happen
 Once, conversations begin, trust is established

7. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 59% of users are happy to
share branded content
following a positive
experience
 Referrals deliver higher-
quality leads
 References help sales
close deals
 Buyers prefer to engage
with peers
 Extends your reach to
customers you are not
engaging with
 Over 70% of consumers
trust the opinions of their
peers

8. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER

9. Thanks to the proliferation of social media,
brands are no longer competing against
each other. They are competing against every
form of messaging.
Consumers (particularly Millennials) know
when they are being marketed to, and
anything that sounds like a pitch will be
ignored.
Peer opinions, in fact, are considered two to
three times more reliable than brand
messaging.
Breaking Through the Social
Clutter

10. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 It’s sharing branded content through
stories to:
 Capture the brand’s persona through branded
storytelling.
 Enable social sharing through brand advocates.
 Enable brand discovery through consumer
exploration.
 Connect the brand to consumers in context
through cultural, relevant and valuable content.
 Change and enhance the consumer experience.
 Create visible brand value through the content.
 Continuously measure, examine, and optimize
the consumer experience.

11. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip #1: Set your social media goal
in order to have clear and
measurable return on investment.
 Determine what you want to
achieve with social media?
 Does that align with your overall
company vision, mission and
marketing strategy
 Should they align it to other
campaign goals
 Are your objectives S.M.A.R.T:
specific, measurable, attainable,
relevant, and time-bound?
 Record them in your content
calendar (not only for tracking but
for future articles/posts)

12. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip #2: Painted a Story
 Create content that is valuable
in customers’ eyes using data
gained from audiences.
 Discover what makes your
business unique and weave it in.
 Begin work on your content
brand at the point of
transaction (talk to them as if
they were a customer).
 Write for the Millennial and
post-Millennial generation (aka
“bathroom copy”).
 Create culturally relevant
content.

13. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip #3: Do the research in order
to uncover what customers want
to hear from you.
 What’s in it for the customer
 What keywords are customers using
 What questions are customers
asking
 What are customers saying about
you already in social media?
 What problems do customers have?
 What are customers saying about
your competitors?
 What are your competitors saying
about you?
 What is industry experts saying?
 What comments are customers
leaving?
Where is the you in here? Well, there’s
one. What have you had success with?

14. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip #4: Answer those questions
with.
 Good and bad examples.
Represents the hero and the
villain.
 Visuals. Illustrate main points
(people skim… remember the
bathroom copy?)
 How to videos. Helps explain
processes or instructions easier
than written (HowToPlay)
 Q&A. With you customers
 Summaries of industry research.
You are an expert through those
you know.
 Repurposed content from other
stories.

15. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip #5: Wrap them in strategic
forms
 Hero Content.
 Developed twice a year, content is
focused on the high awareness of
brand, content.
 Chipotle’s Scarecrow
 Exploration Content
 Regular scheduled content
designed to gain attention.
 Short form articles, infographics,
quizzes, etc.
 Cultivating Content.
 Simplest in nature but most
effective, content is designed to
continuously engage.
 Slideshows, links to external
articles
 “Gamification” Content
 The power of game elements to tell
stories

16. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
Tip 6: Shout It To The
World.
 Encourage sharing
 By employees
 by friends
 by advocates
 Everyone you meet
 Submitted to news
aggregators, bloggers,
industry sites
 Be optimize for local
searches in key market areas
 Include reference in other
marketing material.
 Content Sharing with
suppliers and other
businesses.
 Monitor your post, respond to
all comments.

17. “Small businesses should be even more focused on content
marketing than larger brands,” says Brenner. “Small businesses
don’t have the luxury of massive budgets that are over-weighted
in ineffective advertising. But they also need to drive brand
awareness and leads with limited resources. Content marketing is
a great way for small businesses to do both.”
— Neil Patel, co-founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg
Breaking Through the Social
Clutter

18. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 Take-A-Way:
People like to
share stories (it
makes them appear
smarter)
 Native, not deceptive
 Individual, ready to
evolve
 Deliver on emotion
 Reserve judgment
 Act like the locals

19. BREAKING THROUGH THE SOCIAL
CLUTTER
 Take-A-Way: Help
the customers
(everyone needs it
but doesn’t admit it)
 Solve a problem
 Escape for the
moment
 Fuel their creativity
and play
 Spotlight pop culture
 Discover new things
 Succeed

20. THE ROLE OF
CONTENT MARKETING
Exercise