Should I tweet, blog or facebook every day? Sustainable content strategies

Almost every day we hear clients asking whether they should tweet, blog or facebook on a daily basis, which seems to be the word on the street these days.

While there is a hint of truth to this, it's not a strategy for every company.

Our rule of thumb: don't ruin your website by posting poor content. Treat your blog or website like a store where displaying too many bad products would turn off customers.

This article presents some answers but is not the end-all, be-all on this topic.

Authentic content, quality vs quantity.

Good content is authentic, well written, and short. Do not succomb to the "must post today" syndrome for fear of becoming outdated.

Your articles should provide valuable information, and links to referenced content.

Here's our favorite article on this topic: http://knol.google.com/k/how-to-write-good-content-the-basics#

Sustainable content strategy: 1 or 2 blog posts / person / week. Synchronize blog & facebook & twitter.

A sustainable strategy is to have each content writer in your organization write once or twice a week, allowing enough time for quality editing.

The "sustainable content strategy" formula:

• Number of weekly posts =  number of writers in organization x 1.5.
• Number of weekly tweets for posts = number of weekly posts

How to broadcast events: it all depends. Sustainable event strategy: tweet as much as you can before and during the event.

http://conferencehound.com/blog/conference-event-planning/nine-tips-for-live-tweeting/

Events are a different breed. Events for which attendees must make advance accomodations or reservations should be treated separately from walk-in events. One-time (or yearly) events should be treated separately from regular (monthly or quarterly) events. Day-long events, such as seminars, workshops, tradeshows and the likes should also be treated differently from several-hour-long events.

Here's a formula we came up with that provides a guidance for most companies:

The "sustainable event strategy" formula:

• Number of weekly tweets for events = number of weekly events x 3 x Event Factor
• Event Factor:
• Yearly events => from 1 to 3 months in advance, tweek every other week. From 4 to 2 weeks in advance, every week. The week before: every day. On the event days, several times per hour. 
• Quarterly events =>  from 4 to 2 weeks in advance, every week. The week before: every day. On the event days, several times per hour. 
• Monthly events =>  from 4 to 2 weeks in advance, every week. The week before: every day. On the event days, several times per hour. 
• Weekly events => tweet once a day.
• See this posts: http://conferencehound.com/blog/conference-event-planning/nine-tips-for-live-tweeting/ they suggest

Differentiate events and articles: one generates a buzz, the other retains visitors.

Don't confuse events and articles (blog posts). Events are a great way of generating buzz for your company. People will comment on your event, or link to your site. 

Major events should be announced on your blog/website long in advance. How they went should be reported within the following week, ideally posted the next day. If you have videos, load them up to youtube with the proper description and a link back to your event page.

If you have lots of events, consider using an event calendar on your website. Do not flood your blog with events or you run the risk of drowning your good article content.

Know your audience, post accordingly.

News organizations, magazines and other publications, nothing much we could tell you that you don't already know.

Most other businesses could use one or more of these tips:

• Tweet your deals, blog the results (ex: we sold out in an hour, don't miss the next one!).
• Tweet your upcoming events (follow above strategy)
• Blog how the event unfolded, with photos and videos when necessary. 
• Upload to youtube and link to your blog
• Tweet & blog product reviews, 
• Tweet and blog purchasing advice.
• Synchronize your blog on facebook and twitter