Have you ever taken a ton of time with something… a video, a blog post, a really stellar image or Infographic… then you post it on Facebook and Twitter, and its shelf life is like 3 minutes?
So frustrating.
When you create a great piece of content, something you’ve put some time and care into crafting, the goal is to make sure people read it and are touched by it in some way. But so often, a great piece of content is just left to die on the vine because there’s no process in place to make sure it’s discoverable.
For example, let’s say you’ve just created an amazing sizzle reel from your most recent event. You painstakingly learned iMovie on your phone just so you could really capture the feeling from the event. The result is a killer minute-long video of the highlights from your event. So you put it up on YouTube and Twitter, then email your family and friends and tell them to watch. Your video gets about 20 hits, and then… crickets.
A sizzle video is what I like to call “premium content.” Every piece of premium content you create needs to be syndicated across different channels so it gets seen. The only way to make sure that gets done is with a plan… or a simple checklist. Here’s how to make sure your premium content doesn’t die a sudden death:
1. Use a calendar to plot out your sharing plan.
This is the step that most of us usually skip. Cause it’s a pain. If you’ve got a great video, you don’t just want to share it once. You need to make a plan to share it several times… probably over a month period. You’re not going to remember to do that unless you put it on a calendar. So once your premium content is created, map out your sharing plan on your calendar.
2. Share your premium content natively across several sites.
All roads should lead back to your website, which is why you created the premium content in the first place. So upload the video onto YouTube or Vimeo (make sure it’s optimized to be found in search). Then embed the video in a blog post on your website. Grab the link from your website and start sharing.
- First, upload it to Facebook… follow your plan from number one to share it a few times. Remember, your entire fan base isn’t likely to see your post, so feel free to put it out more than once. Don’t forget your Facebook groups too.
- Edit the video down to share snippets on Twitter & Instagram – then encourage viewers to go back to your website to see the full video (don’t forget the link!)
- Write 10 to 20 tweets that can be shared over several weeks driving people to watch the video.
- Share it with your audience on LinkedIn or in any of your LinkedIn groups. If you have a company page, add it there.
- Use Pinterest to drive people back to your website by pinning the video on your Pinterest page.
- Choose a couple content discovery sites and share your premium content there – places like Digg, Stumbleupon or Delicious. These give you an added SEO boost and help deliver more web traffic. Just like your social media sites, you’ll need to set up accounts on these sites before you can share.
- Once you’ve gone through this entire sharing process once, you’ll have a nice list of places to share. Create a checklist for yourself so the process is simple to remember the next time you do it.
3. Don’t forget email.
But wait, isn’t email so 2010? The one thing that is guaranteed to get in front of people is email. Your social posts can get lost in the vast newsfeed that is Facebook and Twitter. But email goes directly to your customers. And if they’ve opted-in to your list, they’re practically begging you to send them content. So make sure the folks on your email list get a chance to experience your premium content. Drop them a line with a link when you’ve created something amazing.
What are your favorite places to share when you’ve got premium content? How do you make sure your audience doesn’t miss a post from you?
About the author: Nina Radetich is a longtime journalist and founder of New Media Strategies, a social media consulting agency in Las Vegas. Nina helps businesses build their social strategies and connect with customers through creative social media campaigns. Contact her directly at [email protected].
This article first appeared at Nina’s blog.