Content Sharing – How to Get It Right

I've been working on content strategy for so many years I don't even want to acknowledge them all at this point, but along the way, I've developed a lot of content myself about how to work with digital media and how to assess content sharing efforts. I'll be releasing more of that in the future.Below I've listed some tips for what to do when you're releasing new content -- whether it's a blog post, an image, a video, an audio file, or some combination. Here are the things to think about before you release it and after it's shared. These are also things to consider long-term regarding building a digital presence.Before You Release a Story, Article, Program or Clip –

• Determine your goals – Who do you want to reach? Why does it matter?
• Find your audience – What social media platforms do they use? Where do they engage most? You should be there.
• Build a platform – Share related stories and previous work on your social media channels to attract members of your intended audience.
• Follow useful, interesting people and organizations to create online conversations, engaging in ongoing two-way engagement.
• Employ listening tools to watch topics related to your organization.
• Identify relevant hashtags, make a list to search regularly.
• Build lists of important resources, influencers, organizations to watch.
• Build an e-mail list for your community & audience.

After You Publish Your Content –

• If your organization doesn’t already track social sharing, create trackable links so you can see where traffic comes from.
• Create varying content introductions, being careful to embed correctly, label sources, and credit others who participated in the story (including @names of people in the article or linking to organizations mentioned can also be helpful to get them to help in the sharing of your media).
• Make a schedule for where / when to post (don’t blast everyone at the same time); think of it as drip irrigation.
• Automate posts as able – Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, etc. can help.
• Share stories, releases, images, videos, etc. with customized links, staggered at different times on different social networks, based on their usage & relevance.
• Cross promote with partner organizations & influencers in your community (share their stories, ask them to share yours.)
• Listen to what people in your community say via social media – what did they like about the story? What do they think about what you’re saying?
• Track the data – Who followed your links? How long did they stay?
• Revise your plan based on what you’ve learned – what worked? What didn’t? Did you achieve your goal? If not, what can you do differently next time to move forward?
• Keep at it – building a digital platform takes time.