Study Says Quality (Thank God) Will Overtake Quantity in Content Marketing

Today, Expion announced the results of its first FAVE 50 Social Retail Report which revealed the first half of 2013 to be the slowest growth period for retailers on Facebook since 2011, marked by a decline in fan engagement and volume despite an increase in the number of brand posts published.

The report analyzed the top 50 retail brands' performance in H1 2013, identifying two luxury brands, Tiffany & Co. and Victoria's Secret (natch), as leaders in Facebook engagement across the retail industry.

The report, which analyzed upwards of 16,000 Facebook posts and their subsequent performance, shares social trends in the retail industry, as well as winners and losers across brands, posts and post types in terms of both engagement and volume. Walmart, Victoria's Secret and Tiffany & Co. were the big winners.

Some of the reports top findings include:

2013 is Slow Going: In H1 2013, the retail industry had its slowest growth period since 2011, with an actual decline in engagement and volume, despite an increase in the number of posts that were published.

Quality versus Quantity with Content Strategies: The report shows that brands publishing fewer effective posts are creating nearly as much volume as brands relying on a quantity-driven approach. The report says we should expect to see a greater dichotomy between these two strategies, and as Facebook becomes more saturated, the quality-driven approach should overtake the tiresome quantity-driven approach.

Growth Regression: While there was an even split across the 50 retailers in social volume growth - 25 saw positive growth and 25 saw a decline - eight of the top 10 brands experienced a decline, showing that the top retailers took a step backward during H1 2013.

Video Did Not Kill the Image Star...Yet: Despite video popularity across social media platforms like Vine and Instagram, posts with images still dominated Facebook. Images represented 80 percent of posts while video posts accounted for a meager 3 percent.

It's a Luxe Life for Retail Fans: When looking at industry sectors, luxury brands were the highest performing in terms of total fan engagement, driven by captivating product images, often tied to pop culture. Retail sectors such as drug stores, supermarkets and small-format value, which depend on mass appeal, fell to the bottom of the list.

Check out the full FAVE 50 Social Retail Report, here.