10 STEPS of Social Content Life Cycle: From Cradle to Grave
1. AUDIT – What do we have
2. ANALYSE – Are they useful
3. STRATEGIZE – How does it help
4. CATEGORIZE – What should it be used for
5. PRODUCTION – Making it complete
6. REVIEW – Internal checks
7. APPROVE – Stakeholder approvals
8. PUBLISH – Getting it out there
9. UPDATE – Content integrity
10. ARCHIVE – Content afterlife
3. AUDIT
WHAT DO WE HAVE
There is a wealth of
content that organisations
already have internally or
have access to that can
be used for social.
• Photo Library
• Offline Content
• Archives / Old Content
• Website
• Feature People (Staff / Customers)
• Social Mentions
• Curate Social Content
• Partner Content
• Brainstorm
• Create New Content
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Photo: Simson Petrol
4. ANALYSE
ARE THEY USEFUL
All animals are equal, but
some animals are more
equal than others.
George Orwell, Animal Farm
• Qualification Factors
• Quality
• Ownership & Rights
• Purpose
• Timeliness
2
Photo: Gaelle Marcel
5. STRATEGISE
HOW DOES IT HELP
How does the content you
have dovetail into the existing
Social Strategy?
• Business Goals & Objectives
• Reach, Awareness, Activation, Loyalty
• Communications Plan
• Social Playbook
• Content Plans
• Social Experiments
3
Photo: Maarten van den Heuvel
6. CATEGORISE
WHAT SHOULD IT BE USED FOR
Social Content can be for
different purposes and can
come in many formats across
channels.
• Content Pillars
• Listicals & Roundups
• How-To & FAQ
• Reviews, Testimonials & Case studies
• Quotes
• Brand Stories
• Facts & Stats
• Research & Reports
• Whitepaper & E-Books
• Infographics
• Photo Albums
• Memes
• Polls & Contests
• Videos & Gifs
• Presentation Slides
4
Photo: Yanko Peyankov
7. PRODUCTION
MAKING IT COMPLETE
Sometimes the content itself
needs a bit more work to make
it awesome.
• Social Copywriting
• Punchy Title and Description
• Thumb stopping visual / gif /video
• TL;DR
• Author / Contributor Write-up / Photo
• Call to Action
• Landing Page
• Indemnity & Disclaimers
5
Photo: Todd Quackenbush
8. REVIEW
INTERNAL CHECKS
Make sure the content meets
the necessary guidelines.
• On Brand (Look & Feel, Imagery & Tone)
• Social Playbook Guidelines
• Checklists
• Technicalities (eg. Tracking Codes)
6
Photo: Alejandro Escamilla
9. APPROVE
STAKEHOLDER APPROVALS
Organisations need to have
appropriate gatekeepers for
social in place.
• Identify Stakeholders / Gatekeepers
• RACI Model (Responsible, Accountable,
Consulted, Informed)
• Plan out approval process (daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly, adhoc)
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Photo: Benjamin Child
10. PUBLISH
GETTING IT OUT THERE
Making sure your content
reach the right audience at the
right time and the right place.
• Time of Day
• Which Social Channels
• Geography
• Social Influencers
• Online PR
• Audience Targeting & Media support
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Photo: Bench Accounting
11. UPDATE
CONTENT INTEGRITY
Things change and evolve
quickly on social, hence
keeping your audience
updated ensures the integrity of
your content.
• Developing Stories and Conversations
• Updated Facts
• Correct Mistakes
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Photo: Jay Wennington
12. ARCHIVE
CONTENT AFTERLIFE
Consumers access content in
many ways, not necessarily
from newsfeeds which means
they might stumble upon old
content from search or links.
• Remove Really Old Content
• Redirect Audience
• Online Archive (eg. Facebook Albums)
• Offline Archive (backup and store offline)
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Photo: Dương Trần Quốc
13. SOCIAL
CONTENT
LIFE CYCLE
FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE
1. AUDIT – What do we have
2. ANALYSE – Are they useful
3. STRATEGIZE – How does it help
4. CATEGORIZE – What should it be used for
5. PRODUCTION – Making it complete
6. REVIEW – Internal checks
7. APPROVE – Stakeholder approvals
8. PUBLISH – Getting it out there
9. UPDATE – Content integrity
10. ARCHIVE – Content afterlife
| Nick Pan | @nickpan
Photo: Teddy Kelly