Anything they can do you can do better: Competing in social media

• May 08, 2012

By Alexandra Reid

I shamelessly adapted the title of this post based on the original Fast Company article, Anything they can do you can do better, which explained that when it comes to designing new products, companies must aim to build them better than their competitors.

On the surface, this advice seems obvious. But it becomes more complex when you consider how fine the line really is that separates a pioneer and a “me too,” and what it takes to differentiate and improve your product enough for people to take notice.

Marketing plays a key role in identifying and promoting a product’s key differentiators. Marketers don’t simply explain the product and what it does and cross their fingers that people will somehow decide that they need it. They identify a market need and strategically situate that product within the market, explaining how it improves on, or sets it apart from, what’s already available. They tell stories about why people need it now and contextualize those stories according to the experiences of their target market.

Social media is becoming one of the most important channels for telling these kinds of stories. We’ve called the practice content marketing and, interestingly enough, earning an influential status on social media comes from publishing content that sets you apart from the masses — or, in other words, identifying and promoting your key differentiators. Once you have built an influential online presence, your content carries more weight and you have a better ability to promote your company and its products. And so, through proper content marketing, a win-win scenario is born — online influence rises with the public’s perception of your company and its products.

Fundamentally, we are all doing the same things on social media. We are all playing on the same platforms according to the same rules. We are posting status updates, publishing blog posts, listening, engaging, and being authentic, sharing photos, videos, webinars, Slideshare presentations, running campaigns and all the rest.

So, for argument’s sake, when I say “pioneer” in this post, I am referring to those individuals who improve and take a new direction on already established social media activities.

The only things we have control over in social media that give us the potential to differentiate ourselves are content and (generally) how we deliver it. What sets pioneers apart from the parrots is their approach to content and their ability to situate that content within wider social media discussions. Contextualizing content delineates its relevance according to the larger story of what’s going on in your marketplace. This increases the possibilities for discussion and allows people to connect with the content on various levels. It deepens the conversation and broadens its reach. Content shared through social media becomes pioneering when it influences the broader stories that define your market, when it builds such momentum and clout that it breaks down all the walls and spreads virally into the mediasphere at large.

Producing great content for social media isn’t easy. Neither is the process of developing a winning marketing strategy for a company.

Here are some steps I hope you find helpful as you develop content for the social web.

Look at what your competitors are doing

Fascinatingly, unique social media marketing content cannot be created in a vacuum. To differentiate your social media content, you must look at what your competitors are already doing. Identify what your competitors are doing well in social media and what areas of your marketplace they are not addressing. Also, look at who is following them and what content resonates with their communities. This will help you narrow down your key content differentiators.

Develop a content strategy

Lay down your editorial calendar for at least three months to ensure you have a plan for what you are going to post, how often, and where you will post. Also, identify who will be responsible for creating content. It’s a good idea to give this responsibility to a handful of people within your organization who are experts in key subject areas to showcase your company’s thought leaders. You can also recruit outside help in the form of guest bloggers and paid contributors. I’ve written on what to include in a social media content strategy before.

Ensure content is timely, concise, unique, sharable and transformable

Social media is a fast-paced environment where content has a short shelf life. Therefore, when producing your content, hold fast to the motto “be bold, be brief, be gone” to ensure your content is timely and pungent so that it lingers online as long as possible. Give it a longer shelf life by making it sharable and transformable. Serve up easy-to-digest sound bites that articulate your business case and that people can simply copy, paste and share. And allow people to consume these sharable morsels in various arrangements. For example, one blog post can become a photo, tweet, Facebook status update, LinkedIn discussion and all the rest. I’ve written about how to create transformable content before.

What are you doing to compete in social media?

Image: Trusted Advisor