New research finds content curation vs. creation sweet spot

Whether you’re on a first date, meeting new people at a dinner party, or making it rain on Twitter, it’s not a good idea to talk on and on about yourself. It’s awkward.

Conventional social media marketing wisdom suggests that brands should avoid being overly self-promotional. Brands seek to “be a part of the conversation” by sharing links that are relevant to their followers but often not specifically about the brands’ products or services. This act of finding good content and sharing it is content curation.

Contrast this with another nugget of conventional social media marketing wisdom: “Content is king.” This means that the best thing a social media marketer can do is create content that people think is valuable enough to share with the world.

But isn’t promoting your own content akin to talking about yourself? Isn’t that rude and ineffective?

This creation versus curation paradox inspired me to look for some answers in the data.

Analyzing 150,000 social media posts