8 tactics for developing social content for your clients

That last one’s the most difficult. As I’ve discovered, it’s not so easy to come up with content that piques customers’ discerning interests day after day. You can theorize all you want—when you’re on the hook to get it done, it’s hard. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.

There is a method to this madness—at least when it comes to brainstorming and identifying those topics and issues that your customers care about.

Because Thursday is Social Media Day, I want to share a list of approaches that I’ve taken to help brainstorm and generate social content with my clients and partners.

1. Scan Twitter hashtags and search terms within your industry regularly. See what issues are bubbling to the top and write about those.

2. Scan Twitter lists within your industry. Find out what these key influencers and folks are talking about, and consider weighing in with on those topics. Don’t forget to feature their tweets prominently in your post.

3. Develop a list of 10 to 20 key blogs in your industry, put them in a blog reader, and sift through them once a week. Find out what these people are discussing, and offer a contrarian viewpoint. Again, make sure you link back to the original post to which you refer.