In a recent thread I asked the question: “What is your top social media marketing challenge in 2012 and why?”

The #1 answer was Content !

Okay so I agree content can be challenging for small businesses looking to earn a return from social media.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about why content is so challenging for your business specifically…

Does your business require you to create lots of content to be successful?

Do you find it hard to come up with content ideas?

Are you able to use social media effectively without creating content?

the floor is yours…

The problem for me is that it takes time to develop good content, and I’m not allowed to dedicate my time to doing that. I am allowed to dedicate 20% of my time to social media a week, and the other 80% of the time has to be working on other projects. Some of that can feed back to social media, but not all of it. This is a huge problem for me unfortunately. I want to generate original content… but how do you do it when you have huge time constraints? Sometimes it can be very frustrating know what you need to do, but know you can’t do it.

Many of us find content a challenge because we overthink it…I used to do that, and now I’ve gotten a few strategies in place that help.  Time is a barrier, especially if you don’t like to write or aren’t quick to expand a thought

Here are some of the things I’ve learned to handle content better:

repurpose things you’ve done - take a presentation, teleseminar, whitepaper, brochure and see how many things you can morph it into–especially a series of blog posts (or vice versa). These all tie in nicely to use social media to generate traffic

When I get an idea, particularly when I’m driving or walking the dog, I call my free conference call line and start a recording. I spill my thoughts and then it gets transcribed (ideally outsourced).  This can be very helpful if you don’t like to write, and hire a ghost writer–you have the idea and expertise and they create something for you to review.

Comment on someone else’s blog–link back to yours and write a quick post with something extra

If you have a business that can really use case studies, then include a project outline as part of your business process. The PM then outlines basic details, and your writer can start plugging things into a your basic outline. Depending on the length of the project, the writer schedules phone meetings to interview the PM and/or key participants in the project, ideally including the client. Once the project is wrapped, it’s done. Usually you have a testimonial buried in there as well!  this might be able to be turned into a speaker presentation, webinar, teleseminar or more…The biggest trick is making this an ongoing part of the engagement, so that the writer/marketer is involved all along and can also form relationships. plus if the project hits a snag, they are aware. Sometimes those interim challenges will become huge benefits if the project gets back on track!

those are just a few ideas.

@amyhallbiz I agree Amy, it’s not so much coming up with the content, it’s finding the time to write it, post it, monitor and respond to it.

I think those of us who are in marketing as our full-time job forget just how all-consuming it is to own and run a small construction business, a one-doc veterinarian’s office, or a day care.

All of those would benefit from social media, but the amount of time–not to mention mental capacity–left at the end of the day typically doesn’t allow for any sort of in-depth engagement with your spouse or family, let alone an online social network.

And yes, those of us in marketing think we are the answer, but we don’t work for free and there’s a lot of other things that are going to get budget before “managing social media for me”…

@reneestpeter @amyhallbiz I agree about the time it takes to manage it being an issue.

One thing I work with clients on is proper planning and scheduling, and having tools in place that can automate to the extent is wise. If you have the content written and a strategy & plan in place you can outsource fairly inexpensively if you are creative. However, this takes a trusting relationship. Facebook is a good way to try this, because you can have admins that don’t need access to any of your personal logins, so you have time to be sure the poster is appropriate, and follows the plan in place properly.

The bottom line is that if a small business wants to successfully grow, they can’t be seduced by the “free” moniker associated with social media. But outsourcing help to a marketer in reality is far less expensive that either hiring one full time or doing it themselves. It seems as do-it-yourself is easier, but that is time taken away from other strategic things, including networking, selling, dealing with accountants, banking, etc., and handling customers/clients. 

The real problem I see (almost equal to the perception of “I can’t afford to outsource”) is that many small biz owners enjoy social media, or get sucked into the vortex and spend far too many hours a week without benefit.  I did a survey and over 65% of my small biz owner respondents were spending 6+ hours a week on SM for their business, and of that group, 38% were over 10 hours a week!

@reneestpeter I agree the strategy is key, and not doing scattershot attempts. It all depends on the business, the market they seek and their goals. It should not be stand alone.

@annfurnivall that is great for you! You’ve obviously found ways to engage in FB and that’s great. Have you ever done a contest or a survey? What does work for you?

great thread, yes, writing content is the most challenging, coming up with ideas isn’t…If I could dictate content somehow and transcribe it while I gradually fall asleep or slowly awake, I’d be set! @tedksocial @joanmuschampfagnani @annfurnivall @reneestpeter @amyhallbiz @lizkarschner

With the new Timeline on Facebook pictures have almost become a must. Look at the timeline with only status updates, boring. Lots of pictures and highlighted updates improves the visual appearance of your page. Check your insights to see how many likes are coming from the page. Sometimes asking a question will generate ideas for content. Or providing a solution to problems within your market. If you have a visual product, ask your customers to post pictures of them using it. The pictures don’t have to always be slick and professional. Be on the lookout throughout the day for interesting articles or trivia that could be the basis for your next blog or status update. It just takes practice, a lot of practice

thanks  ted…i  love it….and when i   was starting  and   experimenting  and  making my  facebook  plot  up i was online    with  a  lot of   web  gurus  who  said dont mess with facebook that     i could  get as  good a return on   blogs and  google  +.and i  dont see that  happening   at all in my   circle of   store  friends………the  experts  were older  guys and  really  really  smart ,   very  good at  seo  and meta tages and programming  and  etc etc   etc etc….not using  facebook  themselves and  not  liking that  facebook  was in  control of    the page  and  could   change  …true  of course… but anything  can  change… and like so many  gurus     they didnt   understand  the   local  viewpoint….  because that wasnt their world  at all….so i  gave up my  blog,  sob sob,  and   went   into facebook…and  WOW  THE  DIFFERENCE… 

@tedksocial thanks  for looking  ted…. .  the  facebook price is    kind of  hard  to  believe….  now,free in  money  and   just a few minutes a  day in  time… and  probably  the  most  affective   of all our  marketing…but it all works  together of  course…we still snail mail to  3500  people   4  times a yr…

  run out of ideas?  no  way …i run out of  time and maybe ability  ….  but the idea  part is  easy  ….  picking and  choosing  among  all of  them is  HARD…. …

@lizkarschner I see that you work at a power company and I can totally understand your challenges, wow !   It reminds of when Marcus Sheridan wrote about the challenges of content marketing for companies that find it difficult to generate conversation. 

How long have you been doing social media for SEPCO?

@amyhallbiz Your suggestions for content are totally excellent!  I dig the FAQ idea.  I think that is very underused, especially since a lot of people that come to your website have been there before and are almost ready to buy, but they have a couple of burning questions left before they pull out their Paypal.

@deairby Johnny Truant (famed blogger) says he is dictating content now so it is kinda funny you mentioned that as a possibility.  I believe he uses the new iPad

@tedksocial I’ve been doing this for just over a year. I will get good conversation, but it is rare. I’ve been following Marcus now for about a couple weeks and find his information compelling. 

@lizkarschner Excellent, here is the blog post I was talking about:

Why Guest Posting is Often a Major Waste of Time
http://www.thesaleslion.com/guest-posting-waste-time/

@annfurnivall It sounds like you are really doing it right. You’ve got the right attitude, seeing your business through the eyes of your customers! 

I have not found content generation to be a problem. There are so many options for good content that I feel the surface is just being scratched. I pick three major topics for my area rotate between them and find plenty of accidentals along the way to relieve any blogger’s block. The key, as others have pointed out, is to think about your customer. That opens a world of possibilities and is very good for your own R&D. I post at least once a day and sometimes more. I maintain a small stable of drafts I can turn to if I have to turn my attention elsewhere. With about 250 archived posts I can always recycle (but haven’t done that yet.)