If you are in any way affiliated with marketing, you probably spend a significant amount of your time managing social media accounts. And to keep things interesting that may mean curating LOTS of content that your followers will appreciate and that they haven’t seen before. And THAT means you are constantly (perhaps frantically) scouring the Internet for funny/outrageous/newsworthy articles, images, and videos for inspiration.

But searching for a needle in a haystack – even if that haystack is powered by Google – can be a bit daunting. Stay on track and follow these steps, and you’ll have more witty* posts than Twitter can handle.

1. Add insight. Before we get started on WHERE to find content, we want to focus on what to do with that content in the first place. Your purpose online isn’t just to entertain (well, maybe it is a little bit), it’s to educate and add value to other people’s lives. People follow you for your knowledge and your unique point of view. A fascinating article is only as worthwhile as the insight you provide with it, so insert your own commentary and include a clever introduction. Instead of tweeting “Interesting article! http//:bit.ly/link #cool,” lead with a witty phrase and or your individual perspective.

2. Avoid the “echo chamber.” Ever feel like you’re tweeting into the ether and no one is listening? You might be in the “echo chamber.” In a blog post on the topic, Chris Pirillo gives some great tips on how to eliminate the “echo chamber,” a dangerous territory where your social media content has become repetitive, dull and generic. Finding the right material (as you’ll learn below) and positioning it carefully (as we mentioned above), will keep you on the right track.

Go with what you know. Once your brand has been established, it will help to briefly outline a few go-to publications or resources for material. For instance, if you sell organic frozen bananas to upper-middle class monkeys, you’ll probably want to follow a few food blogs, the local zoo blog (for the baby monkey pics), and the banana market in a major newspaper. Keep a running list of your most successful spots, and bookmark them so they’re easily accessible.

Explore the road least traveled. Once you’ve created your tried and true list, dig deeper. Most blogs and articles link to other blogs and articles. It’s a little bit of a rabbit hole, but if you click around, you’ll likely find smaller publications with content that’s a little bit off the beaten path. These juicy treats will take your social media accounts from predictable to genuinely informative and diverse.
5. Agree-GREAT.Yes, that is a silly pun, but it is great advice. There is a wellspring of content aggregators out there, and you would be foolish not to take advantage of them. Our favorite is Alltop, which organizes recent blog posts by topic (even “great Tweet material”) is an amazing place to see lots of information at once, but even the line of Gawker sites works well (depending on your goals), albeit with a slight editorial slant.
6. Crowdsource. The whole point of social media is to share information quickly, so don’t be afraid to find new people to follow who provide just what you’re looking for. Of course, the only rule here is to give credit where it’s due and cite your references. Yep, plager-tweet-ism is not cool.
If you love what you’re company or clients do, then this job can actually be kind of fun. You’ll be surprised at what you learn, and you may even find sites that you can use for other accounts. At Black Sheep, we TRY to keep a reserve of cool links and ideas in a Dropbox document or Google doc just in case the pickings are slim.

*In all actuality, the wittiness is up to you. This just helps you find the source material.

Ways to gather and save social media content

Managing social media content

Regular

For many people, the Houston marketplace is all about oil, gas, energy, and humidity. But, if you really dig deep there is untapped marketing potential for entire communities that are bound purely by their love of the city we live in

The Trail 
The historic Heights has one, the azaleas have a legendary one and if you’ve ever been to Houston during the month of February, you can’t miss getting stuck in, beside or next to a trail ride for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Invaluable to local businesses, becoming a part of one of these walkabouts not only merits a public seal of approval but also comes with a completely new audience to boot. Want some recognition? Become one of the businesses that are either a part of or support their local community through “trail.”

The Crawl
Photography, fashion, or bike crawl, Houston embraces any kind of maneuvering that allows for libations while participating in simultaneous cultural events. One of our favorites, Inner Art Corridor or ICart- a conglomerate of local artists exhibiting all at once, for one day only. Expected to attract thousands of people, this is a great way to become relevant to a crowd of articulate, educated consumers that are just sauced enough to pay attention to what you have to say. Practice what you preach, is what we say and we’ve definitely jumped on board this opportunity.

The Car
Show, boat or parade, Houstonians love their cars. The most epic tribute of all? The Art Car Parade. Beloved by every Houstonian worth their salt, this event gives creative flair to the dullest of subjects or industries, and most importantly, showcases businesses with a prevailing sense of humor and pictures for a lifetime.

In the end, Houstonians want nothing more than to support the city they live in. By joining or sponsoring an event that is central to sustaining the Houston Arts or cultural population the results are two-fold. Not only does your business gain new exposure, but you get real-life documentation that you were there and have the t-shirt to prove it. Oh, and did we mention good karma?

Not only does your business gain new exposure, but you get the real-life documentation that you were there and have the t-shirt to prove it.

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Reaching the untapped marketing potential