Carefully navigating through the marketing landscape, a fresh set of trends consistently emerges, each one vying for attention and labeled as a "can't miss" opportunity. While succumbing to every trend might lead to exhaustion, there are certain patterns that demand recognition as we approach the final stretch of 2017.
Many businesses are still in the process of crafting a robust content marketing strategy. For those in that phase, consider this: Native advertising remains the gateway to success, and mobile continues to be the flavor of the moment.
Smart Insights underscores the significance of content marketing, declaring it the most crucial tactic for driving incremental sales in 2017. Amid an industry characterized by experimentation, certain key trends have emerged, and here are ten of them that everyone is buzzing about.
Brands Will Persist in Investing in Original Content
Recent revelations suggest that tech behemoth Apple is gearing up to invest $1 billion in original content. While speculations hint at Apple aiming to compete with Netflix, there's more to Apple's strategy than mere video streaming. In a competitive landscape, brands must stay relevant, and meaningful, original programming helps companies expand their audience and maintain customer satisfaction.
Google is also acquiring original content from media entities and brands to fill content gaps, while Facebook channels substantial capital into original video. Amazon, the e-commerce giant, might emerge as the largest investor of all. Though results are yet to unfold, one thing is certain: content marketing is taking center stage.
Transparency Will Rule Supreme
Consumers are becoming increasingly desensitized, expecting companies to be transparent, honest, and committed to giving back. Despite successful efforts by some brands, certain promotional tactics are viewed as desperate or untrustworthy. To bridge this gap, brands must focus on transparency and disclosure, bringing in the era of Influencer Marketing.
However, working with influencers comes with challenges. The Federal Trade Commission is taking measures to protect consumers from companies lacking transparency, as seen with Machinima's 2015 warning for not disclosing paid endorsements to YouTube influencers. To build and maintain audience trust, the next phase of influencer marketing and branded content must ensure complete transparency.
Content Marketing Budgets Will Keep Growing
Globally, companies are allocating significant funds to content marketing. While this is good news for content marketers, it poses challenges for companies with limited staff, pushing them to turn to freelance writers and others who can produce content cost-effectively.
Content Marketing Duties Will Continue to Overlap
Determining who is accountable for content within a company can be challenging. Roles and responsibilities shift within marketing departments and other areas of the business, leading to a fragmented content strategy. This confusion can result in a disjointed content approach.
Internet of Things Will Take Content Off-Screen
Consumers are no longer confined to screen-based content consumption. The Internet of Things (IoT) has seamlessly integrated content into our lives in innovative ways. With IoT, most content is becoming digital, offering marketers opportunities for targeted content interaction based on proximity, sensors, device pairing, and more.
Live Video Surpasses Pre-Recorded Video
While pre-recorded video is not obsolete, live video has taken center stage. According to Buffer, 80 percent of marketing respondents in a 2016 survey expressed a desire to create more video content, with 42 percent favoring live video. Facebook reports that users spend three times more time watching live videos than pre-recorded ones, making it a preferred medium.
Blurred Lines
Content has evolved beyond its original confines of owned media. As social media expands and our ways of engaging with audiences diversify, the lines between owned, earned, and paid media blur. Content can no longer be confined to silos, and a seamless integration of all three approaches is essential for a company's growth strategy. This necessitates internal and external teams adapting to handle content development, deployment, and promotion cohesively.
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