Content marketing is still among the mosteffective ways for brands to gain visibility. The right type of content has the ability to rank prominently in search results, earning shares on social media and making a name for the business behind it.As with other types of marketing, however, the type ofcampaigns that are effective can change from year to year.
In 2015, content marketing will continue to evolve asbrands find new ways to reach customers using the devices and websites theyre interacting with most.
As the competition for customer attention continues to heat up,infographics, photos, and videos will be essential supplement to every piece of content.Arecent surveyfound that nonprofits rank higher than for-profit organizations in their content marketing strategies, with 63 percent reportingthey are currently working on visual content as part of their marketing strategies.
As data analyticsgradually becomes an integral part of major business decisions, savvymarketers are learning to use analytics to structure successful content marketing campaigns. In 2015, businesses will begin to feel the pressure tostudycustomer behaviors and craftinformed content marketing strategiesto remain competitive. A customer will be served content that meets his own personal preferences rather than being part of a marketing blast that likely wont capture his attention.
Mobile device usagepassedPC use in 2014 for the first time in history. Recognizing this, brands areadjusting their content marketing campaigns for smaller screens and short attention spans.Content will be designed to be read on small screens, with localization andlocation-based search terms reaching peak importance.
In 2014, many businesses focused their content marketing efforts on long-form technical documents like white papers and case studies to attract consumers.2015 will see an increased focus onnarrative science, where data is used to tell a story in an engaging manner, with numbers updated as they change.
Case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of storytelling from a businesss existing-customer perspective. In 2015, brands will build on this, letting customers share their own personal stories about a product or service. This not only humanizes the experience and makes it more relatable to readers but it takes some of the content creation work out of the hands of brands, allowing them to simplyclean up the content and post it.
Dashboard services may make it easy to post one social media update across multiple platforms, but content marketers now see the value of personalizing each post. Fromguest blogs to articles to tweets, brands will begin to personalize theircontent marketing efforts in order to reach different demographics in different ways.
Interactive storytelling will become an integral part of product demonstration, especially at events like expos and conferences. Brands willfind ways to useinteractive 3-D product modelsand well-crafted content toengage customers and give them a taste of a product without actually having the product on site.
Guest blogging hassufferedsome bad pressin 2014 due to some unsavory practicesthat resulted in multiple spammy links.There is still a valid use for content marketing, both for gaining prominence in search rankings andgrowing your audience by meeting new people on other websites. In 2015,professionals will continue to see the benefits of working with others in the industry, whether its to share information on social media or to spend a day guest blogging on each others sites.
Excerpt from:
10 Ways Content Will Change in 2015