An enterprise content management system is extremely important in the current world for the customer who is "always on." The digital age has brought many new opportunities for businesses, but each opportunity carries potential challenges. One example of this "dual nature" is the growing popularity of social media sites. These sites can be a marketer's best friend — or a company's worst enemy. It all depends on how well you manage them.
Regardless of the ECMS you have chosen, you have the ability to integrate your ECMS with social media. The functionality may be included in your software, or you may need a third party plug-in to accomplish the task. Either way, you have the power to interact with others through the social channels, such as auto-publishing your blog post and sharing it with your network. However, unless you have a specific strategy in place for managing both your content and your social activities, you could sabotage your efforts.
What Consumers Want
Consumers have certain expectations from businesses engaging in social media. They expect an engaging conversation rather than a hardcore marketing ploy. They want to get to know you — what you stand for, your mission, your philosophy — before they make a purchase. They expect to have the same engaging experience across all channels that they may use to interact with your company, from your company's website viewed on a desktop computer to a social media site viewed on a smartphone.
Many companies have realized how a content management system can help provide an engaging omni-channel experience for their customers. However, merely enabling social media in your ECMS does not guarantee the desired results.
Successfully Integrating Your ECMS and Social Media
If you want to get the most out of your social media efforts, you will need to follow certain practices.
- First — and this is very important — limit your social media efforts to channels in which you are actively engaged. For example, do not link your content to your Facebook page if you seldom review the page, respond to comments or add new site-specific content.
- Consider developing content specifically for social media. Making an article available for access through a social site does not automatically make it social content. Social content should be informal and presented in a conversational voice. It should share an idea or experience, be helpful and speak to the people you most want to reach. It is intended to make an engaging connection and foster a meaningful two-way conversation.
- Establish meaningful metrics to measure the success of your social media efforts. Without analytics, determining your ROI will be difficult, if not impossible. Analytics offer you opportunities to measure your level of engagement and adjust your strategy.
- Use all the tools available to you to engage your viewers. Consider site-specific contests, videos and surveys. Remember, though, that it is not "all about you." While you want to share news about your company, your products and your promotions, concentrate more on building relationships than on flooding your site with marketing campaigns. If you are an active sponsor of a charitable organization or event, promote the group or event on your social page. Offer content that your customers will appreciate, even if it has no direct connection to your brand.
Marketing professionals know that they must adjust their methods periodically if they are to achieve their goals. In recent decades, technological advances have required frequent (and sometimes disruptive) adjustments. Social media is just one more technology that marketers must master to be competitive in the digital age.