Nearly every social media marketer today is using original content to promote brands. According to the 2014 Social Media Marketing Report from Social Media Examiner, 94% of social media marketers are using original text content in their brand marketing initiatives.
In fact, 58% of social media marketers who responded to the survey ranked it as the most important form of original content, and 81% of survey respondents reported that they plan to increase their investments in original written content in 2014 with blogs showing a significant resurgence in popularity.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that social media marketers are increasing investments in original brand content, but seeing the data shows you just how important prioritizing original written content, as well as other forms of original content, should be in your marketing plan. Take a look at the statistics related to original content collected through Social Media Examiner’s survey of social media marketing professionals:
Percentage of Social Media Marketers Using Specific Types of Content in Social Media Marketing Activities:
- Original written content = 94%
- Curation of other people’s content = 73%
- Original visual content (e.g., infographics, memes) = 60%
- Original videos = 60%
- Original audio content = 22%
The Most Important Types of Content According to Social Media Marketers:
- Original written content = 58%
- Original visual content = 19%
- Original videos = 12%
- Curation of other people’s content = 10%
- Original audio content = 2%
Percentage Social Media Marketers Planning to Increase Investments in Specific Types of Content:
- Original video content = 81%
- Original videos = 73%
- Original visual content = 70%
- Curated content from other people = 46%
- Original audio content = 33%
Back in 2011, I wrote an article for the Corporate Eye blog that explained the four ways that content builds brands. It’s interesting to see how those four things are exactly what research continues to prove in 2014. Original branded content can effectively increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your brand’s website, boost sales, and more. It should be at the top of your 2014 marketing plan’s priority list!
Online content consumption shows no signs of slowing down, so build your content marketing team and start publishing original brand content (or publish more original content if you’ve already got a team and content strategy in place). Every day you wait is a lost opportunity that competitors of all sizes and around the world are happy to seize.
Image: Rogers Cadenhead licensed CC BY-SA 2.0
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye
