‘Stock and Flow’: The Secret to Balancing Your Digital Marketing
‘Stock and Flow’ is the perfectly gentle digital marketing assault
The new age of marketing has demanded a new recipe- with new ingredients- for marketing campaigns. Only recently, there have been major changes to Google’s indexing algorithms (which is what searches your page for keywords and relevant information) and how people share information on social media, which affects how to go about this new marketing. Being hyperactive in generating webpage content and constantly talking on social media will bring some success. However, there is a more structured approach referred to as ‘Stock and Flow’, a term coined by Twitter’s Robin Sloan. This will get you where you feel comfortable and successful by creating a planned assault.
What is Stock?
Stock is the everlasting content on your page that people might still search for in a month or in three years. It’s not the little news stories that you post that show you’re awake, but rather the thoughtful, educational, rich content that tends to be longer in length. It’s the stuff you have a team or your content writer develop so that it answers questions. It provides important material and insight into the world of your industry.
It’s important to not promote yourself much- or at all- in your Stock. Its purpose isn’t to be direct advertising, but direct communication. While directly communicating with your consumer audience, it’s an indirect way to bring these potential consumers to your webpage. Typically, they will be merely searching for the answers to questions about some activity or miscellaneous information they desire. If you’re staying relevant to your industry, these searches should lead to you. Your content should at least be in the same field as your business, even if it varies from impacts that your specific products or services cause. So, to put simply, this Stock will be the big stories your company shells out in order to be a great source of information for Internet searchers and people that follow your social media pages. It shows you care and that you’re knowledgeable, while bringing in consumers.
What is Flow?
Your Flow is your ongoing, daily hyperactive content that keeps your brand engaged in conversations at all times. Whatever anyone’s talking about that day on social media (news, product releases, etc.), you should be posting about as well. Comment on other people’s pages, share a great news article, retweet a funny comment about a new product, or promote a great review about some new gadget in your industry. Be everywhere with your account. These will be your indirect forms of output. Keeping your followers engaged shows that you are constantly trying to progress your industry and in turn, help them progress in their endeavors. Don’t be biased or selfish- sharing other great articles will help you receive attention for yourself. (Note: Obviously don’t go around sharing all of your competitors’ articles and jokes that can’t be funny.)
Flow can also be minor opinion pieces regarding your industry or some small notes/ideas you might have one day that your audience could find interesting, funny, or relatable. Whatever joke or shower thought it might be, don’t overhype it, just throw it into the cybersphere so your audience gets some entertainment. Your followers will appreciate you being active and not wasting a number on their “Following” or “Friends” list.
How This Digital Marketing Works
Create a schedule. Set aside days that your audience would like to read some heavier content (Stock) and leave the several days in between for some lighter posting (Flow). By creating this balance of ‘Stock and Flow’, you’ll get the major content that can boost your reputation as a highly respected member of the industry, filled in by the ongoing talk your Flow will provide as entertainment. As Chinese philosophy suggests, you need the Yin with the Yang. You get to be mainstream, but at the same time deliver meaningful material that’s useful and positively impactful in a person’s life. This is the two-pronged attack. Although subtle, it is the killer digital marketing assault that will have your audience excited whenever you release a new post.
