Content is king, they used to say.

Then all that appeared to matter was the quality of your backlinks and SEO.

Now, it seems that the only thing everybody is talking about is Twitter and Facebook. What is a brand to do?

The reality is that each of these methods still has tremendous value, but their weight can be increased several magnitudes when combined to work together. While standalone usage of any of these concepts can shift a few eyeballs, insisting upon first-class content, outstanding SEO and wonderfully-engaging social media allows brands and marketers to see the kinds of results – and sales – they’ve only dared to dream about.

Yep, you’ve guessed it: this whole is very much greater than the sum of the parts.

This infographic from internet marketing firm Vertical Measures looks at the authority building machine for brands.

(Source: Vertical Measures. Top image credit: Login via Shutterstock.)