Content Marketing Trends in 2017

19 Apr Content Marketing Trends in 2017

We all know how difficult it is to stand out when it comes to content marketing. So much has already been written, said, uploaded, shared and distributed all across the realm of internet. But no worries, thanks to those Google nerds who are constantly there to change Google algorithms posing everyday a new challenge to marketers and businesses to stay ahead in the search engine race. The strategy for content marketing has to adapt with the changes and thus we did some research and have come up with some of the trends that are most likely to dominate the content marketing arena in 2017.

1. Skillful use of Facebook

If content marketing would be a human, Facebook is its face. But just creating a Facebook page is not going to help much to your business. Its an effective channel not limited to getting feedback, responding to general queries, launching new campaigns, sharing information and victories, keeping them engaged with you but a lot more:

1. Use Facebook for what it is – connecting! It is difficult but really important to sort out the number of organic followers and genuinely interested people who interact with the content being posted.
2. Make it look lucrative to join your Facebook community by making it exclusive to customers or those who sign up with you and also connecting with them on Twitter, Instagram, etc.
3. Consistently update your page with new content and interact with people on Facebook can be a great way to build a brand value and long-term commitment with customers.
4. Share your blog posts, images and videos with such interesting descriptions that people can’t keep themselves from clicking on them. A blog post that offers free and valuable information is always likely to get good response and you can always share it more than once to increase the visibility. Pictures and videos, of course, draw lot more clicks than blog posts and can lead to great deal of engagement.
5. Use Facebook Insights to retrieve valuable information such as the ages, genders, locations, interests and other insights into your audience which can be really useful in framing your overall marketing strategy.
6. Be creative with Facebook ads. Draw more traffic to your website by promoting your statuses, blog posts, videos or other content that has been received by your current audience. You could also use Facebook ads to test your content first by promoting it in the form of an ad. Read more about how Facebook can get you that competitive edge on Social Media, you’re looking for.

And why Facebook? Because it still has the highest number of members among all social media platforms.

2. Use of Visual, Infographic and Video Content

The use of content in the form of graphics, images, visuals, audio and video has become so fundamental to the user experience that if you haven’t considered including images, we recommend you should. Hire a photographer to shoot your team, your products and customers or hire a creative design artist who can blend your message with the images and graphics to say it all.

Video platforms (YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook Live) are constantly evolving and coming up with new ways of reaching and engaging audiences. According to Brian Sutter, “The most consumer internet traffic is video.” And guess what Zuckerberg had to say on this, “I think, video is a megatrend, almost as big as mobile.”

Here is some more information about why and how multimedia content can improve your business performance.

3. Real-time and Personalized Content

The competition in content marketing is becoming more intense, especially as we are creating more than what we can consume. There is a lot of good quality content out there, be it blog posts, visuals, info-graphics, videos, or other forms of media. Where to from here?

Brian Sutter, Director of Marketing for Wasp Barcode Technologies sums it up in one word, Personalization. That means analysing the behaviour of your audience and customising your content to best reach and appeal to them. There are various sources for marketers to get this information which can help them in gauging the market trends and make the informed decisions based on those data-driven insights.

Moreover, user-generated content is the latest trend for framing a successful  content marketing strategy. Many people rely on their fellow consumers when they evaluate different brands. Personal experiences and user reviews therefore play a major role in the decision making of consumers [Forbes].

4. Focus on Building long-term Relationships

Email marketing is a fundamental way to maintain long-term relationships with your customers and reach potential customers. Effective email marketing takes a lot more effort than you might first think though. Appeal to your customer base by:

1. Offering them exclusive rewards or benefits, such as discounts, vouchers, and special deals
2. Try to put a personal touch on your email communications, for example addressing them by their preferred name (Nick, not Nicholas), or remembering their birthday and sending a greeting. It puts a human face and personality on your brand, which is much more appealing than automated responses.
3. Write your emails with a friendly tone. Again, it is better to engage with a human than a robot
4. Following up with them in way that makes them come back. Make sure that their entire experience of buying your product or service was smooth enough.
5. Asking for reviews and suggestions. This is not just a simple way to stay connected but also a direct way of engaging with your customers and seeing what appeals to them [Search Engine Land].

5. Be The Change You Want To See In The Market

Studying the market behaviour and devising your market strategy is becoming slowly obsolete with the market driven consumer taking place of the consumer driven market. To make it easier, if you can’t deal with the situation, change the situation. You’ve got the power. You’ve got to offer something which may not be in need already, but is so attractive that you can easily create the need for.

If you want to know more about Content Marketing, give us a call on 02 8007 5774 or email us at [email protected]