Content … or malcontent?

… And speaking of content, that’s become the bugaboo of many a budding social media program.

It happens far too often: Social media programs start out with the best of intentions. A plan is pulled together with all the right elements – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, blogs, RSS, etc. – in place. For the first few months, things go smoothly, but then the initiative ?begins to atrophy.

What’s happened? More than likely, it’s a lack of content creation.

For people who think social media can be successful as the tenth item on someone’s to-do list … think again.

Social media takes substantial resources, time ?and dedication. Content creation in particular is critical. In fact, it’s the linchpin of social media engagement.

Think back to the days of printed newsletters, when people started running out of interesting articles to include in the third quarterly issue of the year.

With social media, it’s the same problem — only on steroids — because new content requires your daily and weekly attention, not once every three or four months.

Successful content creation requires substantial planning, research and development, along with martial-like execution. Calendars and schedules, editorial topics and assigned authors: All of these should be part of your program … not to mention clear lines of responsibility and accountability.

Done well, social media can be a big boon to your marketing efforts. Don’t let lack of content get in the way of your success.