At storycurator.com we position social media as an entry point to the web – not much different than search.  One admittedly debatable difference is that when the user is interacting with their network in social media space, they are not willing recipients of advertiser messaging.  I’d be curious to see how many social media interactions revolve around product or brand-related discussions.  While I’m sure the number isn’t insignificant, the “reach” of any one conversation is miniscule.  We think advertisers need to temper their expectations with respect to social media.

Monitor brand reputation and audience interests – but do not advertise

We see a backlash coming for marketers who use social media channels for outbound messaging.  Marketers need to respect the social media channel and, if they do, they may get enough critical mass of chatter around their brand that they can extract some meaningful brand sentiment data.  While this is valuable information to have, it needs to be taken in context.  While sentiment analysis is beyond the scope of this post, we love to talk about it and how brands need to respond to this valuable intelligence.

Let’s get back to how social media and user generated content can figure into creating great content hubs or stories.   First off, social media and user generated content can provide ideas for new stories or content hubs.  Figure out where the buzz is in social media space and then begin to build a content hub around it.  Invite the “influencers” in the social media space to come in and comment or contribute in other ways.

Once your content hub is up and running, consider engaging readers through things as simple as user comments all the way up to more sophisticated games and contests and, if the topic hub has evergreen potential – even forums.  Pay attention to new and related story ideas that come up through reader comments and forum posts.  If they use particular domain-specific phrasing or keywords, make note of this and use their language as you add articles to the hub.

Social Media is a key entry point to the web, but not a productive marketing channel in its own right.

Sound crazy?  We know.  Jaws drop when we say this out loud. 

We are concerned about the level of attention paid to social media right now by marketers and media people.  We aren’t convinced that social media provides the right context for advertising because participants are not in the right mindset to receive the message or engage in any meaningful way.  We know that brands are certainly discussed in social media space, and that this must be monitored, but efforts to participate in these conversations simply don’t seem economical to us.  I find it ironic that marketers are so caught up in reach when they place media, but don’t see the abysmal reach (and durability) of social media conversation.  Odd.  Forums, on the other hand, make a lot of sense to us, but I guess that makes us old-school.

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