Put Your Content in Context

I remember the first time I discovered “Content vs. Context” when explained by Gary Vaynerchuk. I had heard it plenty of times before, but it never made sense until someone like Gary comes along and puts it in real practical terms.
Essentially what the difference is, as I’ve covered before, is content is what you create. Your blog post, artwork, video, music, review, etc. Context is the place you put it in. Context is how the correct audience discovers it. So basically, your content doesn’t matter if you aren’t distributing in the right channels, in the right manner, to the right people.
Take this example.
I created a piece of content. In this case, it was a video tutorial on exactly how to identify and engage with potential leads on Twitter. I had the content, I needed it in the correct context. I took to Search.Twitter.Com and began searching on hash tags my target audience would be using. It took probably 5 minutes and I @ Replied to maybe 15 people who I felt were asking this question, or talking about a similar subject.
Here is one conversation…

@SocialMediaDIY Hey Charlene, I just did a great screen share tutorial on how I use Twitter to LISTEN as a business. http://t.co/OQByX7X81F

— Dallas McLaughlin (@BossDJay) December 4, 2013

I’ve never met Charlene, never engaged with her, never heard of her. But I discovered her taking 5 minutes to search for people who might care about this content, rather than sitting there wondering where everyone is. Obviously, she is passionate about the same topic and had tweeted about it literally seconds earlier. Charlene was fast to respond…

@BossDJay I'll check it out when I get back to my office, Dallas.

— Charlene Kingston (@SocialMediaDIY) December 4, 2013

And then check this out…

Looking for simple advice about how to get leads from Twitter? Check out this tutorial from @BossDJay | http://t.co/H5kEc9JtPr — Charlene Kingston (@SocialMediaDIY) December 5, 2013

So who is Charlene? Charlene, it turns out, has 5,000 followers. She’s a featured blogger on Social Media Examiner (a major player in the Social Media world), and happens to live and work in the same city as me. So, Charlene sent my (branded) YouTube video out to 5,000+ of her followers.

So, I’ve kept the conversation going…

@BossDJay Hey, I like your video tutorial, Dallas. I didn’t realize that you are also in Phoenix.
— Charlene Kingston (@SocialMediaDIY) December 5, 2013

 

@SocialMediaDIY thanks Charlene! I’m officed in Downtown Chandler at “The Social Media Boss” stop in sometime if you’re around!
— Dallas McLaughlin (@BossDJay) December 5, 2013

 

@SocialMediaDIY I can see the tree from our front door! You’ll have to stop by
— Dallas McLaughlin (@BossDJay) December 5, 2013

So that’s it, guys. I’m telling you, if you’re focusing all of this time on content, great. That’s awesome. Content is King. But Context is Queen, and the Queen rules the house. So, dedicate a little bit more time, go that extra mile and place your beautiful content in the correct context and score.