Content marketing has changed dramatically since the days of 300-word blog posts and half-baked articles. In the past, a company could post a handful of blogs once a month and easily get to the top of the Google search results. Now, attracting the attention and loyalty of customers is much harder.
In an attempt to deal with the complexity of the content marketing journey, a lot of businesses have begun to churn out more content as quickly as possible – hoping that quantity will get them back to the top of the list. However, the truth is that today’s customers don’t need more content – they need the right information, delivered in the right places. In a world that’s plagued by a sheer information overload – the question is where do we go now?
What’s Next for Content Marketing?
Simply giving up on content marketing and moving to something else isn’t an option. Content encompasses every marketing strategy in the world. It’s the videos posted on Facebook Live, the influencer messages on Twitter, the blog posts on a website, and the press releases in an online magazine.
As EA leader Vikram Singh said: “The need for content creation is skyrocketing”. While brands are generating more content than ever before, the consumer need for that content remains static. While everyone appreciates great content, analysis indicates that around 5% of all branded content achieves about 90% of consumer engagement. So, what’s coming next? Here are just 3 predictions.
More Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages
Today’s customers don’t want to read or watch any old content. They want to see information and entertainment provided by industry experts. This means creating accurate content around a specific topic – and catering to a unique niche.
Topic clusters are emerging as the future of the content strategy. All companies need is a focus topic, and a cluster of ideas they can build around a “pillar” page. For instance, a branding business might focus on branding, then branch into marketing, communications, and design.
Different Types of Content
While there will likely always be a place for written content in the digital marketing world, experts believe that other solutions like video marketing and podcasts will be crucial in the future. In the world that’s more fast-paced than ever, video has emerged as one of the easiest to consume media methods. 90% of customers say that product videos help them make purchasing decisions.
Video marketing is also a great way to show a company’s human side and help with building relationships between customer and corporations.
Distribution and Resurfacing
Finally, in the future, the distribution of content will be almost as critical as the content itself. Companies that know how to resurface existing content will be able to reach larger audiences with less effort and lower their investment into content at the same time. Companies can even ask influencers to distribute their marketing messages for them to help improve their reach.
It all comes back down to the importance of sharing the right content with the right audience at the perfect time.
Ronn Torossian is the CEO and Founder of 5W Public Relations.
