Effective social media marketing

It is is often suggested that social media is either a waste of time for businesses' (not a view I’d ascribe to!) or relatively ineffective as a marketing channel, largely because of the time it takes to build momentum and the trouble many organizations have in measuring the outcomes.

Similarly, while content marketing is currently the darling of marketers, especially in B2B, a lot of organizations say they experience significant challenges in implementing an effective content marketing strategy.

My recent research highlighted issues with creating high quality engaging content, finding the budget to spend on content, finding the time to create great content and, inevitably, how to measure the ROI of content marketing.

In spite of these hurdles, it’s clear that most digital marketers are committed to combining social media with content marketing. I can gladly say; to some extent social media and content marketing are the perfect partners: one delivers valuable information while the other facilitates a conversation around it, giving companies the ability to show they’ve got brains and personality.

It’s worth pointing out that my research, which invited Nigerian-based consultants and agencies to provide their insights into the marketing techniques that worked best for them (not their clients), PPC – once an essential element of digital marketing – was considered the least effective activity. Online advertising came a close second from last.

Ironically, PPC adverts are incredibly good if your goal is creating a ‘funnel’ that can be measured accurately and honed to deliver results. It seems that the modern digital marketing consultant is less concerned about sheer numbers and more focused on demonstrating value and making genuine connections.

To my mind this is step forward, but I suspect my PPC-oriented colleagues might not agree. Social and content marketing is certainly powerful, but should we be ignoring other, tried-and-tested channels?