"I think we should be on the Twitter," said non-marketing business guy.

Organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries are starving for content, and they might not even realize it.  PR and marketing guys, this is a golden opportunity for us to shine.  On how many occasions in recent months have you been approached with one of the following conversations?

• "I think we should be tweeting or on the Facebook or something."
• "So what do you think about this social media thing for MY  business/industry?"
• "Well, we need a Twitter account and a Facebook page to get the word out."

Swap out any one of those 'Twitters' or 'Facebooks' for 'blog', or 'social media' or another specific site.  I have been doing this for a few years now, and I get it... non-marketing people sometimes need a loooonnngg time and a lot of convincing to catch on to the expertise that their marketing team is offering them from the start.  No problem. So, the boss or the client or whoever it is, is coming around now and saying this is it. Now is the time for us to do the online content thing, go forth and make it be.

The step some companies are missing here is the CONTENT. Should most organizations have a presence in these online spaces? Most likely. That does not mean that all of these channels make sense for every situation.  There is an opportunity for marketers to be creative here.  To satisfy the demands of the person you answer to and the organization's customers, marketers need to be generating content over a number of channels, but while interesting is important, engaging and relevant are key.

Organizations in any industry need to understand how to create this kind of content for their audiences and goals.  Leadership should also understand that no single blog or social media profile is the magic bullet for "getting the word out" about anything.  These are simply additional channels for sharing messages, and an integrated approach, as always, is best.

Here is a great article for getting started with a content strategy, Create Brilliant Content for your 'Boring' Business from Lauren Fairbanks of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

It is possible (likely even) that your organization should in fact be on "the Twitter".  However, there are many factors contributing to using these online content  tools effectively including relevancy, engagement and participation.  Consult a marketing expert to develop a content strategy that is integrated and realistic for your organization.