SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD
A social media content management system coupled to a social media network includes database files and execution instructions to assemble, manage and transmit social media content. The database files store a feed content file, a social content management file, and management tables including a schedule file and an export content file. Execution instructions include a feed channel content system for receiving and storing feed content items in the feed content file. A selection subsystem is used for selecting and storing export content as social media posts in the social content management file. A scheduling subsystem enables a user to create and store schedules, to select a schedule and to merge the selected schedule with the stored content in the management file to form the export content file. An export system transmits the stored content as social media content posts to the social media network according to the selected schedule.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/568,687, filed Dec. 12, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/360,541, filed Jan. 27, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,943,054, issued Jan. 27, 2015, which claimed the benefit of U.S. provisional patent applications Ser. No. 61/441,600, filed Feb. 10, 2011, and Ser. No. 61/438,147, filed Jan. 31, 2011, herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONOne of the most time-consuming tasks within social media is searching, finding, reviewing, editing, scheduling and posting relevant content (articles, blogs, reports, new web pages, etc.) that will be valuable to your targeted social media audience. Taking the time to consistently post quality content daily to ensure no matter when your audience is logged into a particular social media platform you are posting to, is an important factor to building relationships, providing value and social media success.
Furthermore, it is important to infuse content that talks about YOU, your brand, products and services into the social stream. Remembering the different social content, sites and platforms your social accounts represent, as well as remembering to post that content, is another big challenge facing social marketers.
In addition, taking the time and/or remembering to hashtag the text of your posts to Twitter is something we either often forget, don't have the time to do consistently, or don't remember the keywords we should be hashtagging in our posts.
These are some of the needs that the Social Media Content Management System and Method address.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThere are several aspects to the present invention:
1) Social Content Management System—The first system designed to database preformatted posts for including, but not limited to a company's website, video's, fanpage and any other content a company would want to post and share within the social media space.
2) Automated method of databasing, formatting and editing content specifically for social media posting, including but not limited to Google Alerts, RSS Feeds, Imported data, etc.
3) Automated text content hashtags—System that allows user to database keywords and assign replacement hashtag text that will automatically search social media content text within a databased environment and replace the keywords with desired Hashtags.
4) A system and method for aggregating large amounts of social media content posts, including but not limited to text, links, images and video, then merging the multiple edited posts with a preformatted time schedule, resulting in prescheduled social media posts over several days possible. Additionally, the prescheduled posts are automatically assigned date ranges and can be exported into one of many formats, including but not limited to text, CSV, etc.
The Social media content management system and method of the present invention significantly reduces the time required for finding, reviewing, editing, scheduling and posting relevant content by automatically pulling Google Alert search terms and RSS feed content directly into a database with headings, links and descriptions, ready for posting to social media accounts. This content can be reviewed, edited, grouped and appended with date/time posting schedules that then can be exported and immediately uploaded into a social media management system, such as HootSuite, for bulk posting.
The Social media content management system also provides the ability to automatically merge hash tags into the text content of your posts. Users can create lists of pre-selected key words as well as the desired replaced hashtags. Bundle Post automatically finds and replaces the keywords with the hashtags, delivering more effective posts, in a lot less time.
Social media content management is the first system with the capability to database and merge all web, video and social content along with desired #FollowFriday posts and insert them into an exportable file format. Having your personal social content posts already databased and ready ensures you don't forget to post your brand related content into your daily feeds.
Using the Social media content management system can cut approximately 80 percent of the back-office workload required, making social media management more effective for organizations of any size. Additionally, businesses have the potential to realize increased profitability as a result of the efficiencies the technology delivers, allowing more time for engaging with fans and followers.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The Social Media Manager 30 computer(s) include conventional memory and processor hardware and operating system and browser software. Stored in memory are Database files 38 and executable code, referred to herein as the Execution System 40 for implementing an embodiment of the invention.
The last component of each of the Database files 38 and the Execution System 40 implement an export system for transmitting the content items stored in the export content file in different media formats 36A, 36B, 36C. The export system is operable to transmit content items in one or more of the following formats: direct connection to third party social media management applications (36A); an application program interface (API) connection to a specific social network or other API-functional application (36B); or as a text file, such as a comma separated value (CSV) text file (36C).
Automated method of databasing, formatting and editing content specifically for social media posting, including but not limited to Google Alerts, RSS & Atom Feeds, Imported text file data, etc. (feeds), as a repository system for all ingested or manually entered social media content posts.
The system uses multiple standard parsing techniques to receive feed data stream and break it into two or three components: 1) Text headline (the heading or article name) 2) The URL link to the associated the content and 3) The short provided content description associated with the URL *often the beginning of the article etc. This process is repeated for as many records exist in the desired ingested feed stream, resulting in a “channel” containing multiple records, preformatted and saved as social media posts/status updates. In some cases, such as email posts as in
The method databases these components as a single database record (see table 78) that is specifically formatted for posting any number of these records to various social network platforms, or as a comma separated value (CSV) export text file containing multiple posts that can be uploaded for posting using various Social Media Management Tools, such as HootSuite. The text headline of each specific record can be edited manually and the URL can be viewed to review the entire content the social media post is associated with.
Social Content Management System—A method and system designed to database preformatted social media posts for a person or company's proprietary content. This social content repository can include, but is not limited to a social media posts about a company's website, videos, fanpage, straight text and any other content a company would want to post inside the social graph.
The system has a method for databasing other social media content in the form of actual social media posts or status updates. Each post can have text content and a URL link, as well as a title or post name. Folders can be created and named and then contain any number of social content posts in each titled folder. This method can also be used to database and manage Twitter follow Friday (#FF) posts, mentioning certain Twitter accounts.
Automated text content hashtags—System that allows user to database keywords or phrases and assign replacement hashtag text that will automatically search the text content of databased social media posts and replace them with desired Twitter Hashtags.
The system enables a method that allows a user to create and name folders for Hashtag text content. Once a folder is created and named, any number of keywords can be added and a replacement hashtag can be assigned. The system allows a user to select a created hashtag folder and request it to run a search of the text in all social media posts within the database. Based on the keywords/phrases found within the desired hashtag folder, the system will find and replace each desired keyword/phrase within a specified table of content within the system with the associated hashtag from that folder.
A system and method for managing, arranging, group and exporting social media content for posting to social networks. The method allows a user to select social media content that has been previously entered and/or otherwise aggregated into various tables within a database, having been pre-formatted for posting to social networks.
From a system that contains multiple feed channels 64, 68 and saved social media posts 72, a user can select content from the multiple sources within the database 78 to include, view, edit and arrange the content posts they wish to distribute to various social networks. The selected posts are then placed in a preliminary form of management table 106, from which the user, at blocks 108A and 108B, can further edit, viewing links and changing the order of the posts to produce an edited management table 110.
A system and method for merging databased social media content posts with a preformatted time schedule, resulting in efficiently scheduling large amounts of social media posts. The method includes managing time slots and the creation of time slot lists, specifically for merging and posting social media content to social networks.
In the process of
Once a user has their list of posts created and databased, the user can then merge the edited management table 110 with the schedule 128. In
System and method for exporting scheduled social media content posts for uploading into third party social media management applications—or—scheduling directly from the database.
All formatted, edited, hashtagged and scheduled social media content post records can be exported from the management table for posting on various social networks. There are several ways the content posts can be used:
-
- 1) Export to a text file ready to be uploaded into a user's preferred social media management software (example HootSuite). Exported files can be downloaded into one of many formats, including but not limited to in text, CSV, Tab, XML or other accepted text file formats.
- 2) Transfer scheduled content posts directly to a third party social media management application via the application's available API.
- 3) Database the resulting file and post the content directly to the user specified social network via the network's available API.
Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in various embodiments thereof, it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. I claim all modifications and variations coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A social media content management system, comprising: execution instructions for assembling, managing, transforming and transmitting social media content; the execution instructions including: associated with each item for the feed content, for storage in the feed content file;
- a computer having a memory and a communications interface for coupling to a social media network;
- a database for storing files in the memory; and
- the database including files for storing:
- a feed content file;
- a social content management file; and
- management tables including a schedule file and an export content file;
- a feed channel content system including:
- a subsystem for receiving a plurality of feed content items via the network and automatically storing the plurality of feed content items in the feed content file; and
- a feed content parsing subsystem for automatically parsing each item of feed content into parsed feed content including at least two parts: a text headline and a Web link
- a management system including:
- a selection subsystem for selecting parsed feed content items to be export content and automatically storing the export content as a plurality of social media posts in the social content management file; and
- a scheduling subsystem for a user to create and store in the schedule file one or more schedules separate from the plurality of social media posts each comprising a plurality of posting times, to select a schedule and, to merge the selected schedule with the stored content in the management file to form automatically an instance of the export content file containing the plurality of social media posts, each associated with one of the posting times in the selected schedule; and
- an export system for transmitting the content items stored in the instance of the export content file as social media content posts to a social media network for posting according to the selected schedule.
2. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the database includes a social content repository for storing social media posts of a user's proprietary content from which the selection subsystem is operative for selecting social media posts as additional export content and storing the additional export content in the management file.
3. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the feed channel content system includes a feed content parsing subsystem for parsing each item of feed content into at least two parts: a text headline and a Web link associated with each item for the feed content.
4. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the feed content parsing subsystem is further operative for parsing the feed content to include a content excerpt in the parsed feed content.
5. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the selection subsystem is operable to select feed content items from the feed content file based on recency to add to the management file.
6. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the selection subsystem is operable for the user to manually select feed content items to add to the management file.
7. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the management system enables the user to edit one or more of the feed channel file, the management file, or each selected item of the feed content.
8. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the export system for transmitting the content items stored in the export content file is operable to transmit content items in one or more of the following formats: direct connection to third party social media management applications; an application program interface (API) connection to another API-functional application; or as a comma separated value (CSV) text file.
9. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the feed channel content system includes a feed content parsing subsystem for parsing each item of feed content into three parts: a text headline, a sample of content and a URL link associated with a web page for the feed content.
10. A social media content management process operable on a computer having a memory and a communications interface for coupling to a social media network to transform content selected from a received data feed and to republish the transformed content as social media content posts to the social media network, the process comprising:
- receiving a content feed data stream including candidate feed content items for posting as social media content, the feed content items each including a URL link to associated content; and
- automatically parsing an item of the candidate feed content items into a candidate social media post comprising at least two parts: a text headline and the associated URL link for the feed content item;
- automatically storing each candidate social media post in a feed content file;
- selecting candidate social media posts from the feed content file and automatically storing the selected social media posts in a social content management file;
- editing the text or URL of selected social media posts in the social content management file;
- providing a schedule containing a plurality of times for posting the social media content to a social media network;
- merging the schedule with the stored content in the social content management file to form an export content file; and
- automatically transmitting the selected social media posts stored in the export content file as social media content posts to a social media network according to the schedule.
11. A social media content management process according to claim 10, including storing social media posts of a user's proprietary content in a social content repository, selecting social media posts from the social content repository as additional export content, and storing the additional export content in the social content management file.
12. A social media content management process according to claim 10, in which parsing an item of the candidate feed content items into a candidate social media post further includes parsing the feed content of the item into a content excerpt.
13. A social media content management process according to claim 10, in which selecting candidate social media posts from the feed content file to add to the social content management file is based on recency.
14. A social media content management process according to claim 10, in which selecting candidate social media posts includes the user manually selecting feed content items to add to the social content management file.
15. A social media content management process according to claim 10 in which the user edits one or more of the feed channel file, the social content management file, or a selected item of the feed content.
16. A social media content management system according to claim 1 in which the social content management file comprises:
- a table of unique dates and times associated one-to-one with a table of content text headlines for a series of transmissions of content items associated with the content text headlines to the social media network;
- the unique dates and times including a beginning date and time for commencement of the series of transmissions; and
- a table for storing in association with each content item a URL link associated with a web page for the content item.
17. A social media content management system according to claim 16 in which at least one of the content items includes a hashtag automatically input by the system.
19. Social media content management system according to claim 16 in which each content item further includes a content excerpt.
20. A social media content management process according to claim 10, in which the feed content includes an RSS data feed.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 24, 2017
Publication Date: Aug 10, 2017
Inventors: ROBERT M. CARUSO (NEWBERG, OR), EVERETT STEELE (VANCOUVER, WA)
Application Number: 15/495,366