This week is like back to school season. Burger King UK gets a lesson in the importance of context. Marketers have a resource to find out where they are – and where they need to be – on the social media maturity path. And everyone can learn from a quick chart that shows how many steps it takes to create high-performing content.
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Everyone (except Burger King? ) knows an apology will follow this tweet
You may have heard about the latest malpractice of the fast food chain on social media . To celebrate International Women’s Day, Burger King UK has launched its new HER (Help Equalize Restaurants) scholarship campaign to help women working at Burger King pursue an academic degree in culinary arts.
It is a worthwhile cause. But the tweet (since deleted) caused an outcry from the public – and the company soon apologized. (See all the details in this Adweek article: Burger King Gets Bake for ‘Women in the Kitchen’ Tweet Supporting Female Chefs . )
We hear you. We got our original tweet wrong and we apologize. Our aim is to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships. We will do better next time.
– Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021
WHY IS THE PROBLEM: Content marketers are encouraged to try the -box ideas. And the Burger King campaign certainly falls into that category. But before you publish, double-check with a few people in your target audience (who don’t work for your brand.) And when you ask them for information, don’t explain anything. whatever. Let them see the content like anyone else. Ask their thoughts as an open-ended question. (Specific questions with multiple choice answers may bias their responses.)
It’s also a great reminder to match the content to the distribution channel . The provocative headline is supposed to work as an advertisement because it catches the reader’s eye and then explains the change (i.e. scholarship program) on the same page. But using the phrase “Women in the kitchen” as a standalone tweet is a failure. Readers cannot easily understand the context of the scholarship – and react with anger .
HOW WE HEAR ABOUT IT: CMI’s Lisa Dougherty shared the post on Adweek.
The idea of #content is provocative but has no context. That led to an apology. Can @BurgerKingUK’s idea work? via @Brandlovellc @CMIContent #WeeklyWrap Learn how> Click to Tweet
How mature is your brand’s social strategy?
“… (Social) should be one of your most cost effective channels to drive sales, improve customer service, and foster loyalty… (Many brands) didn’t include it. a complex strategy and operating model drive business results and performance,” wrote Matt Allison in a recent Ubiquity Lab newsletter.
Ubiquity Lab then takes readers through a four-stage route for social media: walk, jog, run, and sprint. You can provide your email if you’d like to receive 19 – question review to find out where you all stand on the roadmap. Even if you don’t take the test, the article (no page) How to benchmark your Social Media Strategy provides a lot of detail that you can use to figure out what stage you are at.
Here are the general descriptions:
The article describes what your business should do (and why) at each stop on the map. It also acknowledges that “sprinting” may not be the goal of every business.
“You can ‘walk’ in some areas but ‘run’ in others – and that’s great, as long as you’re moving forward,” the article reads.
WHY IT PROBLEM: For successful use, Social Network can’t just be an add-on or add-on to a content marketing strategy your . It needs to be an indispensable ingredient. As you go through this article, you will gain a better understanding of how a brand’s social media compares to other social media in terms of maturity. More importantly, you’ll have a better understanding of what you should be doing based on how you see social media fitting into your program.
HOW WE HEAR ABOUT IT: Sarah Mitchell of Typeset saw the article in Story Lab, the Ubiquity Lab newsletter. She first shared it on LinkedIn . With the way it goes there (600 % more pageviews than her average posts), she is sharing it with the CMI community.
When it comes to #SocialMedia, are you walking, jogging, running or sprinting? A helpful resource from Ubiquity Lab that will get you where you want to go, via @SarahMitchellOz @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Click to Tweet
How many steps to creating high performing content?
Next time you need to explain how it affects content creation or how to make it most effective, try this helpful image from Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Studios. Image (from The Complete Content Creation Process in 17 Steps and a Flowchart ) captures each step of the content creation process, starting with the idea and ending with shipping it to the editor.
Here’s a quick look at the first four steps in the concept development process:
Check all the steps – included search optimization write the first draft, and edit and polish – the whole Infographics .
WHY IS IT PROBLEM: Content creators know how much effort goes into their work. But after one detail, Formal process – and making sure not to miss a step – is not the way to go for many of us. Writing down the details is important to make sure we’re creating what your audience wants – and the needs of your business. Plus, it’s a great way to educate all those involved or budget approval for content marketing.
HOW WE HEAR ABOUT IT: CMI’s Kim Moutsos admired the chart in a recent newsletter from Orbit.
How many steps does #ContentCreation take? 3? 5? ten? This flowchart from @crestodina addresses the question (and we explain why it matters), via @KMoutsos @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Click to Tweet
Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
