Fresh Insights: Third-Party Articles for Social Media Marketing

By Callie Kessler
Southern Tier Communications Strategies, LLC

My first task as the newest Southern Tier Communications Strategies social media marketing intern was to compile third-party posts for digital marketing clients. In no time at all, I intuitively understood the value this brings to thought leadership.

Basically, I had to find certain articles and write a quick summary for each that would be most appealing to their target audiences. I also researched hashtags applicable to their respective social media platforms that could drive the most engagement.

Why Are Third-Party Articles Important in Social Media Marketing?

They spark conversation. They keep that conversation going. They point consumers – especially in the B2B realm – toward helpful insights that solve their pain points. 

Content marketing is so much more than going online to brag about how great you are. People don’t want to be marketed to. They want to be educated and nurtured with great content – even if it’s not your own. (And this doesn’t mean you have to highlight content from competitors.) 

A Great Learning Opportunity for Social Media Marketing

This assignment was a great learning opportunity for me – and I’m so happy that the clients IMMEDIATELY saw value in the social media posts I compiled. My two biggest takeaways from this were:

1.) How to find articles that pique interest from a specific target audience, and

2.) How to craft summaries that inspire the reader to want to continue with the article.

(Helpful hint: These are skills that help in getting clicks and engagement on your company’s own proprietary content.)

Some articles may be more appealing and effective for content marketing. I quickly learned the difference between what works and what absolutely does not work! When looking for research articles, I found that those addressing the future of something were most appealing to our clients’ audiences. 

Social Media Storytelling – Adding to the Ongoing Narrative

I put myself in the audience’s shoes:

• What are their pain points? 
• What are they thinking about daily?
• How are they viewing the world?
• How do they seek solutions?

I learned the common bond through all of this: people view the world through a narrative lens. Their experience is a story. Finding solutions to their problems has to fit within that story. That’s why effective storytelling is so important in every industry. 

Learning to do this helped me find third-party social media articles at a quicker pace. I ended up finding some awesome articles!

At first, it took me longer to write a quick summary, but by the end I learned which information was most important, and I was able to move more quickly through the task. I found that asking a question really could intrigue people to want to read the article attached. I learned that re-reading each of my summaries from an unbiased perspective really helped to see if it would catch a reader’s attention.

Looking Forward to Helping Our Social Media Marketing Clients

Working through my first social media marketing tasks for Southern Tier Communications Strategies quickly taught me skills that I can use in future assignments and through my schoolwork. I even learned to love reading articles and new topics that I never have really read about. 

STCS is here to provide digital marketing expertise in a variety of areas for for-profit businesses and nonprofits alike. Let us help you to build your grand narrative – with social media as an important supplement to your content marketing efforts.

(Editor’s Note: Callie Kessler is a junior Strategic Communications major at St. Bonaventure University. Southern Tier Communications Strategies, LLC is committed to providing outstanding client service AND learning opportunities for aspiring communications professionals. Our growing internship program develops critical skills for college students to later achieve career success.)