Each hour more than twenty (20) hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. In that same hour 38,000 photos are uploaded to the Flickr photo sharing service. Given the massive amount of social media (audio, video, images, and blog posts) available to internet users how do you get your content to stand-out?

First, understand your audience. As a Social Media PIO your audience is not the entire internet. Instead your target includes local media, citizens in your response area, employees or employment candidates. Make sure you are creating compelling content for your target audience.

Second, reach out and connect with your target audience. Search for bloggers in your community. Begin to read their blogs, comment on their posts, and eventually ask if they will help share your social media content with their audience. Follow other Twitter users in your city or regional response area. Most Twitter users will follow you back. Then make sure you are posting links to your social media content in twitter.

Third, correctly title and tag content so visitors can determine if it is relevant to them without actually viewing it. “Safety Tips” is too vague for a video title. “Home Safety Tips for Kids in Parsnip County” defines your target audience – parents in Parsnip county. Tags help users that are searching by keywords. For example, if you are posting pictures of vehicle extrication practice to your Flickr account add tags like – rescue, extrication, fire department name, firefighter, paramedic, vehicle crash.

Fourth, unless you have a compelling reason not to allow others to embed and or link to your photos, videos, and blog posts from social networking sites like Facebook. That allows for exponential increases in views. For example, the Social Media PIO has 100 Facebook Friends. One of his friends shares a video from your blog about a bicycle safety program in his Facebook stream to his 500 Facebook friends. If a few of those people share that link with their Facebook friends your audience has increased exponentially.

Finally, encourage sharing with widgets that can be added to a blog like “Share This” or “Add This.”

Tell us about your social media content in the comments section so we can share it with our audience.

Read more about the staggering statistical difference between physical storage and digital media storage.

About The Author

Greg Friese has authored 45 articles for PIOSocialMediaTraining.com

Greg Friese, MS, NREMT-P is an author, podcaster, blogger, and advocate for emergency response agencies to use social media before, during, and after any incident. Greg is the Director of Education for CentreLearn Solutions, LLC. He is also the co-host of the EMSEduCast podcast and is a paramedic for a 911 agency in northeast Wisconsin

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