NEW RESEARCH: Content is the Fuel of the Social Web

AOL, in partnership with Nielsen, has released results of new research that reveals some interesting trends about social media and content.

Imagine this: "27 million pieces of content are shared on a daily basis. Results also show 53% of time spent on the Internet is directly attributable to content consumption."

What's behind this? "Nearly one-quarter of all social media messages contain links to content."

AOL and Nielsen say "the results of the research have strong implications for brand marketers when it comes to connecting with consumers because 60% of content-sharing messages specifically mention a brand or product name."

They also say marketers have two tactics for exploiting the behavior of content sharing - one for each:

    •    Pass-Along: Since 36% of content shared on social platforms is embedded, marketers should ensure their message is part of the content that’s being passed along (e.g., branded entertainment).

    •    Link-Back: Since 60% of content shared on social platforms includes a link to an external site, marketers’ messages should “be there” when users link back to engage with that piece of content on the external site (e.g., display advertising).