Somewhere as you read this, a blogger is racing to fire out their next post. In some cases it will be a daily blog post and (believe it not) in other cases it will represent multiple blog posts that blogger is sending out within the same day.
At the same time, someone is cranking out another free PDF or trying to conceptualize their next free monthly webinar.
Numerous “tweeps” will be spewing endless rapid fire tweets with links with information, more information and then for the hell of it . . . some more information.
The content keeps coming, the world keeps spinning and they continue to demonstrate that they read the “Content Is King” memo.
My new hero Gary Vaynerchuk has a different spin on this.
“Content is King but marketing is Queen and she runs the household”
I can almost feel the earth trembling underneath me as a I write this, but I’m not even sure that I fully agree with “Gary V” on this one because I still think we’re missing the mark.
You see somewhere in our racing to crank out more “stuff” and executing these ingenious marketing plans, we fail big time in the engagement portion of our efforts.
You know the piece of the pie where people are commenting on our blogs, “@” replying to us on Twitter and interacting. Only, we are too busy to notice and respond because we need to crank out more content.
Now this is the part that leaves me completely dumbfounded . . . as marketers, as purveyors of the brand called “YOU” isn’t engagement what we need to create an unshakeable brand?
So then why are some so busy cranking out content that they fail to acknowledge, respond, interact and communicate with their audience?
Content is a critical part of this process, no doubt, but according to Gary Vaynerchuk its not just the content . . . it’s the 24 – 48 hours after the content is published as in:
Getting off our assets and getting into the forums to communicate with our target audience
Responding to blog comments. Note: It aint easy responding to every comment, but we can certainly show some general appreciation. Better yet, facilitate discussions around you and your brand . . . Why aren’t we living for that sh*t?
And its not just about responding, its about seeking out discussions where we can demonstrate our expertise. Note: One of my favorite tools for this is http://search.twitter.com/ I’ll type in keywords, find conversations on that subject and then get involved.
So here’s the deal, let’s stop with the mass production of content and for God’s sake the rapid fire tweets with one link after another, slow it down and engage our audience.
Having said that, my new mantra is
“Content is King but an engaged community is the whole freakin Kingdom!”
Castain holds up his “Just Sayin” sign and steps down from his soapbox!
Today’s News: If you enjoy this blog and my podcasts and would like to consider hiring me as your personal coach, then by all means . . . Click here dude (or dudette)
Thank you – we all have to change our “hunter” oriented push mentality -especially men – and adopt an engage and share mindset.
Well said, Paul! All this social media stuff is worthless unless it gets opportunities into the top end of the funnel. – Todd
@ Jim Burns: True and there’s nothing wrong with hunting as long as we slow down long enough to farm too.
@ Todd: True and once we get opportunities in the top end of the funnel lets take the time to work the opportunity instead of racing to crank our more content.
Thank you both for contributing and have an awesome Thursday!
Respectfully,
Paul Castain
The issue is depth of this content. If all you are doing is getting the A of AIDA (whatever), then not much is going to come of it. Maybe you call it broadcasting. This broadcast content should be considered a landing page. A landing page should convert. If it did, people would be pulled deeper into the content. If it did, we would be using webanalytics across the “document” set. I’ve not seen a convenient technology that would get this done. Further, correlating document set touches back to audience doesn’t happen either.
If you continue to think in terms of brand, instead of measurement, it’s not going to work. There are plenty of tweets from sales types complaining about lead quality. Let the content self-identify. Let the content qualify. In a B2B situation, your prospect will need five or more content exposures before they are ready to buy, and you need to fan out to find the other stakeholders that likewise need their five exposures. You need a content network, rather than a content pile.
Does anyone really expect a single exposure to work in a B2B situation?
Paul,
My priest has a better way of saying what Gary Vaynerchuk said (“Content is King but marketing is Queen and she runs the household”)…..
In our Orthodox churches, the bride and groom wear crowns in part of the ceremony signifying how they are now kings and queens of their own household. See my website http://www.babamim.com which explains this part a little more thoroughly…..
There’s also the Biblical part where it says about how wives should listen to their husbands as they are the head, etc., which always puffs the men’s chests up a little each time.
But right before the end of the ceremony, when giving his personal blessing, our priest always reminds the husbands about the man being the head alright, but that the woman is the NECK. And we all know it is the NECK that points the head in the direction she wants!
Everyone usually smiles after this, knowing it to be quite true….
Paul,
The content builds a community! Thankfully sales playbook does exactly what you preach, engage, learn, share and become experts at our craft. Thank you for being a leader. – Nathan
Absolutely true. Producing content has become an obsession for quite a lot of people. They have forgotten where’s it’s all about: engagement. Had a refocus of business earlier this year. Wanna do so much, but the only thing I have to do is getting closer to (existing) customers. Thx for the posting.
Nicely stated Paul.
Good reminder to every one who blogs, writes articles, and is involved in social media.
I follow a marketing guy who only publishes a new post on his blog about every 3-5 weeks but he has captured the attention of tens of thousands of followers so I would say that that he has been VERY effective at engaging people and developing a relationship with them.
Cheers my friend!
Kelley
Great thoughts, Paul! I seem to engage very well on twitter/facebook, etc, but responding to blogs is definitely one of the things that I fail in. Which is probably why people don’t respond on mine, either!
Appreciate the info…I now have a card at the bottom of my computer screen that says “Content is king, but engagement is the whole freakin’ kingdom!”
Have a championship day!
I agree. Content is the vehicle, the tool, the invitation, not the end-game. The end-game is a meaningful, productive connection. And you don’t need as much as you may think to draw people in. I might suggest “Content Relevance is King”. On ther hand, what if “Audience Targeting” is King?
You can’t be king of anything without loyal subjects.
If a blog article is posted in the woods, and nobody sees it, is it valuable content?
Which is more valuable, 500 tweets and no retweet, or 100 tweets and 2 retweets?
Which is more valuable, 1000 “followers” who have no interest in your product, or 50 relevant connections?
Which is more productive, worrying about how to track social media, or taking that call from a new prospect who “Read your blog article, and completely agrees with your philosophy, AND has a project for you.”
Thanks Paul – have a great day,
Kathy Tito
Paul,
Thank you for shining the light on the dark side of social media, marketing and yes sales. Too much broadcasting and virtually no engagement. You need to get upon the soapbox more often.
Teddy
@ David Locke: I don’t disagree with your awesome points, I do think we’re missing a critical step. The step where people like your content enough to comment and “@” reply etc. We need to be in those discussions, acknowledging, facilitating, interacting otherwise we are back to the days of the old static website.
@ Mim Bizic: What a nice illustration to bring the point home.
@ Nathan: Very nice of you to say that. The content certainly does build the community but this piece right now where you and I are interacting is what builds brand equity.
Or maybe my theory of being a cool guy is true and my wife has been dead wrong for the last two decades 🙂
@ Jeroen: My pleasure and good luck with that refocus.
@ Kelley: I think a key component is the marriage between that bloggers content and the relationship. You certainly have achieved that with your followers my friend!
@ Jon: I love it!
@ Kathy Tito: So true! Truth be told, we need all of the elements you so eloquently laid out for us. My worry is when we spend so much time on the content, the target audience, the measurement etc that we fail at this part . . . responding and interacting.
My money remains on those who do all of the above.
@ Teddy: Very nice of you to take the time to say that.
Thank you all for taking the time to stop by and weigh in on this subject.
^5’s and rock horns of appreciation to all!
Paul Castain
I don’t know about any of you other minions in CGX Solutions Land but I am ready to go sell some CrossMedia jobs. CHARGE!
Thanks for the perspective, as always, Paul.
You are spot on- I need to get off my asset and respond, reply, engage and build the relationship. What happens after the content is published is a perfect thought to reflect on because you are right, we are way to busy creating the next piece. Thanks for your direct thoughts.
Paul you are still the man I enjoy reading you material it is always great stuff want to market my company for me you are one of the best I have ever saw
i couldn’t agree more. a reply back on twitter to someone wanting to follow you by saying thank you goes a long way. we ask for engagement but keep dishing out the one way “Content St.” i look forward to the day we are free of search engine puppet methodologies. thanks again Paul.
Absolutely! Great stuff. Figuring out best to engage is the new challenge.
Thanks Paul for adding balance to what can become mindless chatter on the bloggosphere. I have felt the peer pressure to produce content for content sake but don’t want to abandon quality and engagement.
LG
Right on Paul..
It is sad that many of the blogs we read online are only there for SEO purposes. The writers don’t really care about content- they are just trying to get visitors to their site via keywords to sell something. This is OK- IF the content is actually good. But much of it stinks.
And.. I am disappointed when I RT someone’s content and I don;t get a response. This is fine occasionally.. but there are a few Tweeps I have stopped RTing because after as much as 10 RTs- never heard back. with all the tracking tools available, there is no excuse for that.
Rock on!! And, keep pumping out your EXCELLENT content.
@ Rob Wright: Go get ’em!
@ Josiane: And its something I have to continually remind myself as well. Its my crazy belief that this part, right here, right now (responding and interacting) is a critical component!
@ Jack Martin: Very kind of you to say that . . . thanks!
@ Bill Travers: Well said!
@ Paul Simon: Very true. And what works for us today might be old news by next week in the ever evolving landscape.
@ Lisa Goowin: I think the trick is to catch it at that moment when find that thought saying “I don’t have time to respond to those comments or tweets etc”
@ Marci Reynolds: To your excellent point regarding Twitter, I really believe there are some clueless people on there (not all, some) who think we are sitting around anxiously awaiting their next tweet. They have gotten rather caught up in their “Internet Fame” and expect us to RT, comment etc and understand that they are too “internet famous” or too busy to actually show gratitude.
Take people like Chris Brogan & Bob Burg. They are Twitter rock stars with lots of people following them, lots of responses to their content. They are also quite busy outside of Twitter with best selling books, thriving businesses etc and yet they respond and interact with their audience.
My money is on folks like them who “Get It”
Thank you all for stopping by and offering your valuable input!
Respectfully,
Paul Castain
I could agree with the content of your Blog. Let us market this. 🙂
I could not agree more with the content of this Blog. Let us market it. 🙂
Paul – I just love your writing style. I have probably said this before, but you are so refreshing. No BS – straight to the point. I agree with everything you write about engagement. I find it amazing how so many marketers KNOW how important it is to comment on others’ blogs with more than just an “@” or “great post” – yet they don’t. Someone wrote an article on one of the networking sites I belong to about this very same topic and those few of us who did respond, found it very interesting how out of the 150 or so people who read the article, only a handful added a comment. It takes time to write something that adds value to a conversation. So many people are hyper-focused on either spitting out massive amounts of original content or variations of others’ content or adding to their numbers of followers. The bottom line is unless all your social networking gets you closer to where you need/want to be, it is a waste of time. I am as guilty as the rest of us in not being able to reply to everything I would like to – still trying to find that clone machine (you already know I am up to the wee hours of the morning – you found me online at 2am LOL). For the last few weeks, I have been spending (wasting) my time searching cyperspace for either my blog or website – i need to find another host soon! Anyway, thanks again for your valuable “content”.
GREAT CONTENT PAUL ! 😉
All the blog posts, tweets, status updates, cinches and @replies in the world don’t mean S#@!t (that’s squat-not what you thought) if they don’t start and/or create a conversation. I know a lot of great “BLOGGERS” whose businesses are small, stagnant or ironically unknown. It’s the conversation, the engagement and the connection that matters.
@ Rini: You are too kind! Thank you 🙂
@ Julie Weishaar: You know, its funny Julie, I was having a discussion with a group of bloggers and someone asked in a very fun spirited way “So is this about people getting their feelings hurt when someone doesn’t respond after they have taken the time to comment, or “@” reply etc” I thought about that for a second and replied something along the lines of “What if it is for that person. Its a stupid reason for us to disconnect after we’ve already done a lot of the heavy lifting”
And thank you for your kind words. Its always comforting to know that as I do the majority of my blogging etc during the wee hours, there’s at least one other sick individual doing the same thing 🙂
@ Bryan: I would have bet that it wasn’t “squat” but that’s my “New Yawk” coming out big time.
I couldn’t agree more.
Until we get to that conversation, we are still talking at, “pitching” and at least another word or two that I’d write if I had that second cup of coffee this morning.
Your awesome point can’t be emphasized enough and as contributors in this space we need to live for that conversation.
Enthusiastic rock horns of appreciation to you all for taking the time to stop by and contribute!
Respectfully,
Paul Castain
Excellent blog post on content, and also enjoy your podcasts. On the subject of engagement, I don’t think an automated Twitter follower response is sufficient. I have noticed that the real gurus often respond with some personal quip in a direct message, or failing that indicate in a tweet directed at a relevant group that they have absorbed the interest of their new followers. Thanks for your insights, Simon
@ Simon: That’s one area I’m on the fence on. I rarely read dm’s especially if they appear to be an auto response. Its rather time consuming to do it the other way but in the spirit of good manners perhaps I need to start getting with the program on that.
Thanks for stopping by!
Paul
Paul,
Outstanding post and concepts. And like the comment that “Content is King and Marketing is Queen and she runs the house” So then ‘Engagement’ is the “Love” that keeps the family together and happy or perhaps “engagement” is the Mojo that rules the Kingdon (staying with the whole King & Queen thing) ….OK both are really hokey but…..think you are really on to something here.
Good luck and again I think you truly hit the nail on the head with the concept of “Engagement” Great thought provoking post. Tally Ho!
@ Steve “Salesologist” Cadley (I dig the “Salesologist” by the way) I like the way you put it so much better my friend.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and contribute.
A tally ho right back atcha!
Respectfully,
Paul Castain
I recently found a highly focused (and pertinent) group on Linked in and have been particpating in the conversation there. It’s another reminder that taking the time to connect, observe, and support one another is where the value is. So much of the rest of it is just noise or spewing. Eeww, gross.
Managing the social media universe keeps wandering into more cost-, not-enough-benefit territory for me. I now unfollow those who I thought might have relevance, but if they tweet 10x in a row with not much to say, I’m outta there.
But I’m sticking with you Paul, so tweet away to your heart’s content. Even 11 times in a row. 🙂 You make my day!
Great points, Paul… After all, why continue to churn out all that great content if we’re not engaging? If Marketing is Queen and Content is King, I think they both still need to pay attention their their Subjects (Audience), otherwise we’re back to Old School stuff. Again. Just sayin’…
Great point Becky!
Thanks for stopping by!
Paul
Paul, I LOVE this post! YES, engagement IS what it is all about. Developing relationships and making REAL connections with PEOPLE! There are definitely those bloggers out there who are spewing out “content”, worrying about what to write next, moving in super fast forward only to leave the impression, in my opinion, that it is ALL ABOUT THEM. They really don’t give a damn about their audience, which is very evident when they don’t respond back to comments made on their post.
I’m with you Paul, I want to connect and engage with people, develop relationships. Isn’t that what “social” media is supposed to be about?
So true. They are more concerned with writing the next bit of content and checking the amount of hits they received.
I really appreciate your thoughts Carrie . . . thank you so much!
“And.. I am disappointed when I RT someone’s content and I don;t get a response. ”
Marci, I’m with you on this one. I have stopped following certain people and stopped RTing for the same reasons as you.
Ah yes, the ignored RT. One of my pet peeves for sure.
Ah yes, the ignored RT. One of my pet peeves for sure.