It’s been said a thousand times, and now in the age of social media and media consumption, it’s becoming more true than ever before: content is king. In a recent post on one of our all-time favorite blogs, mashable.com writer Adam Ostrow makes a strong case for content over commodity in his post “Is Social Media Failing to Produce Business Leads?” and brings up many other points of interest as he explores a research report for B2B marketers by LeadForce1.

The article covers many interesting facets of media and content, but most intriguing is the study which reveals that visitors display overwhelming gravitation to engage in blog content instead of exploring products or services or -no surprise here- spending time submitting the tired oh-so-90’s “Contact Us” web form. Especially those who arrive at business websites via social media.

A Self-fulfilling Prophecy?
It’s been argued the stats are a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and it makes sense that the majority of referral traffic via social media is to content as opposed to product and core service offering pages and submission forms. Of course it is. Social media is conversation and content. A web form isn’t content and nobody wants to converse about it. The second you tweet a message about completing a contact form for client referrals or tell followers to check out your static service offering page is the second they hit “Unfollow” and are lost to you forever. People know how to use the web. When visitors come to a web site they can figure out where to go to get that information. “Sharing” a product link with your audience is akin to actively spamming them. “But they’re following us to hear about new service offerings and product developments”. Probably not and if they are, they won’t be for long.

Whatever you share with your audience has to add value to your online relationship, or you risk being in no relationship at all. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh suggests taking an ICEE approach to social media: inspire, connect, entertain or educate. I would add one more qualifier: genuine. Genuinely have your audience’s interests at heart and make sure the message – be it a twitter tweet, a Facebook or LinkedIn update, even a blog post – is authentic. The second your followers catch the slightest whiff of “I’m another number they can sell to” – something every business should avoid at all costs – it’s over, especially online with social media and its ever-so-fickle followers. Clients and customers have been advertised at for decades, social media is different, and so better be your message.

Social media is for conversation and content. Direct sales and lead generation may be incidental to it, but should never be the goal. “Direct” should be the tip off, a warning word that smacks of direct mail marketing and direct phone sales, neither of which have anything to do with conversation or engaging content and neither of which are too effective or long lasting.

The struggle amid producing product pages vs engaging content is a clamorous one which echoes especially loud in the brief, albeit extraordinary annals of social media. It’s a common contention in many organizations; are we writers or do we make this widget? Are we video producers or do provide this service? Are we radio talk show hosts or do we sell this product? It seems the most successful and effective will do both, as Adam Ostrow perfectly illustrates by sharing a quote from Andrew Heyward (former President of CBS News) who wrote in the Harvard Business Review: “every company is a media company.”

Adam ultimately sums up beautifully in his post: “The thing to keep in mind is that while linking your audience to a blog post might not translate directly to a sale, it might translate to a blog subscription, a retweet, or a share on Facebook. And that audience – which will grow with every quality piece of content you produce — can be re-engaged down the line with news about your products or special offers that directly drive sales.”