Skip to content

Social Media Content’s Role in Marketing: Your Top Questions Answered

social media content roleIs social media a type of content or a channel? What is the future of Google+? Are companies using too many social channels or too few?

These were just a few of the questions debated during last week’s #CMWorld chat with Joe Chernov (@jchernov) and Joe Pulizzi (@joepulizzi). Read on to get the details of our discussion on these and other questions asked by CMI readers and Twitter followers. You can also view the highlights in the SlideShare below, or read the full transcript. 

Should content come before social?

 

 

While the majority of participants agreed that content marketing should come before social media content, this view was certainly not unanimous:

 

 

Should social media primarily be considered content or a channel?

As the discussion of priority continued, Joe Chernov made a strong assertion:

Many chat participants also subscribe to this view:

 

 

 

But not everyone was on the same page:

 

 

 

Are organizations on too many social platforms or too few?

There is no doubt that there are a lot of social channels to choose from, but are companies missing an opportunity to explore new channels, or are they already communicating in too many places to be effective in their social media content strategies? Our chat participants voiced their opinions on this question:

 

 

How do you decide which social channels are best for your organization?

 

 

Like Ardath Albee stated above, it’s best to be active on the channels where your audience is. While our chat participants agreed with this, the question of how exactly to do this successfully is still up for debate:

 

 

Regardless of the channels you’ve decided work for your customers, Ardath Albee reminded everyone about the importance of customization:

 

What can you do to reduce the number of channels you participate in?

While simplifying your social media content strategy and/or reducing the number of channels you participate in sounds good in theory, it can be difficult to give up control of your brand conversation on the channels that aren’t a priority. However, our participants did offer some practical suggestions on how and why to make these sacrifices:

 

 

 

Is Google+ undervalued or over-hyped?

When discussing what social channel is most undervalued (SlideShare, LinkedIn, and Twitter topped the list) Joe Pulizzi sparked a lively debate around the content marketing value of Google+:

Although one person joked that was Joe crazy, many Twitter chat participants weighed in with their opinions on both sides of the issue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How should companies organize around content and social?

Again, all of these ideas are valid, in theory. Yet, actually implementing a solid content and social media content strategy is not a straightforward process, especially in larger, more complex organizations. We asked participants if they have a separate social media person/team vs. a content marketing person/team:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regardless of who you choose to manage your social media content, the general consensus is that these strategies should remain dynamic, to capture the latest trends and conversations:

 

What can content marketers do to improve with social media?

The last question posed to our chat participants was, “What is the top thing content marketers need to improve on or learn when it comes to social media?” The tips came pouring in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join us for today’s #CMWorld chat about B2B content marketing with special guest Ardath Albee (@ardath421). And if you want more insight on social media and content marketing, join us for in-depth discussions on these topics, and many more, at Content Marketing World 2013.

Cover image via Bigstock

 

Michele Linn

Michele Linn

Michele Linn is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Mantis Research, a consultancy focused on helping brands create and amplify original research they can use in their marketing. Before starting Mantis, Michele was head of editorial at Content Marketing Institute, where she led the company's strategic editorial direction, co-developed its annual research studies, wrote hundreds of articles, spoke at industry events and was instrumental in building the platform to 200,000 subscribers. In 2015, she was named one of Folio's Top Women in Media (Corporate Visionary). You can follow her on Twitter at @michelelinn.