Most businesses these days are spending over a quarter of their budget on content marketing. And while we are told all the time about its importance, there are some days we ask ourselves how exactly that one tweet or blog post actually benefits the company in the grand scheme of things. Then comes the question: is it really worth the money? We believe it is, and here’s why.

Everything is about content creation these days. We should know — after all, it is what our business is based on. Our lives are flooded with content: newsletters, blogs, banner ads, Facebook, Pinterest, Google search, you name it.

It is often said, “Don’t wish for it, work for it.” And the same goes for your social media strategy. Simply creating a social media profile and posting occasionally – and sometimes even regularly – will not bring you the exposure and marketing success you are looking for from the social platform.

Recently, while explaining content marketing and social media strategy building to a stranger at a party they asked me point blank, “Does a social media strategy really work, or is it all just pointless marketing fluff.” It made me laugh, and made me grateful for an opportunity to share the value of creating a social media strategy for business.

I often find myself comparing my content marketing projects to a writing a novel. After all, I like to think of myself as a writer first and a content strategist second. So, when I start a new project, whether it be a blog post, or a full-scale digital strategy, I find that I can easily jumpstart my creative engine by thinking of the piece as part of a story.