Content Remains the King

People like relearning old lessons again and again, it seems. The
phrase "content is king" has been bandied about for many years now, but
some people still get confused when a new medium of communication comes
along.

What you say is the most important thing in
communications. Exciting and powerful media like social networks only
work when the content is exciting and powerful. No one will follow your
Twitter posts if you aren't interesting, compelling and engaging. Marc Hausman talks about the "entertaining of PR"
and he's right. Public relations professionals will only be successful
if they develop and distribute valuable and, yes, entertaining content.

The
point of this post is remind anyone thinking about integrating a social
media component into their communications strategy that what you say is
the critical ingredient to a successful campaign. The fundamentals of
good PR remain in place. When building and engaging social networks, it
is very important to invest in those relationships by bringing valuable
content to the discussion. Merely "being present" is not enough.

Nick O'Neil has a good post about Twitter etiquette which,
I think, backs this up. Following people on Twitter just so you can
notify them when your press release went out is missing the point.
Spending the time to engage with people in an interesting, compelling
and entertaining way will grow the credibility you are seeking and will
build a valuable communications channel.

Thoughts?