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Content Marketing Trends to Follow In 2018

FindItMore | Content Marketing was rated as the most important tactic to generate sales in 2017. With a market in constant transformation, it is important to know the trends and prepare for the coming year. Here are some important content marketing trends for you to follow next year and ensure your investments deliver the right returns for your business in the long run:

 

Microinfluentiators

Social media has changed the way we understand digital influencers. We are not just talking about celebrities, influencers can be anyone, in the digital world, each person has the power to broaden their message and influence an audience. Everyone has access to some channel or platform that can put their content in the hands of the right people.

Think of microinfluentiators as digital influencers with a total audience size between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. Micro-influencers are much more likely to get a comment in a publication than macro-influencers. Microinfluentiators are more likely to publish on topics from specific niches and they have loyal followers who share their passion. With the growing number of ad blockers, it is increasingly difficult to reach prospects, and micro-influencers can fix that gap by 2018.

 

More Brand Blogs

We will see companies take more and more control of their content by creating their own blogs. Topics such as company news, involvement with customer stories, guest posts, and business trends relevant to the audience. This will allow brands to connect with their customers in a centralized way. Many companies are already investing in their blogs and turning their own publications into engaging, high-quality content attracting engaged readers. So, if your company still does not bet on this tactic, better run.

 

Documented Strategy

If you look at the growing effectiveness of Content Marketing, we can attribute this success to very specific things, but especially the practice of documentation. It is important to note that not only the documentation has brought good results, but also the constant evaluation and adjustment.

 

Explanatory Videos

Explanatory videos are short, uncomplicated videos that explain the product or service of your business. The visual elements of a video help visitors understand more about what is explained with just a few short sentences. On sites where an explanatory video is present, visitors are much more likely to watch the video than to read the text on the page.

 

Distribution Tactics

Every day more content is published and that means that the way you distribute your content to the right people and on time is increasingly important. If you want to get through all this noise and get attention you need to adopt a strategic distribution.

 

Align Content for the Consumer Journey

It is essential that you consider where your audience is on the consumer journey before creating content because people who are just starting to think they want to buy something need to see completely different content than people who are already about to make a purchase. This works particularly with products and services with long purchase decision processes, such as high-ticket items.

So, identify where your audience is on the buyer’s journey and align those steps with their positions in the marketing funnel to create the most relevant and targeted content possible. Your results will improve when you take the time to ensure your content and the consumer journeys are aligned. Content is what catches your audience’s attention and builds trust in your brand.

 

Embrace Machine Learning

Machine Learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, and involves the use of computer algorithms to gain knowledge of data and information. As more data and information are collected, machines learn and produce different results based on a variety of factors, such as patterns and trends.

Over time, the machine collects more and more data, and thus, its results become more accurate, relevant and personalized. One of the best examples of machine learning we can see in action is the search engine algorithm like Google. As more people conduct searches using Google, the search algorithm gets better and delivers more accurate results. For content marketing, tools are being developed that help publishers create content that is best suited to specific audiences. When a company can publish perfect content, and make it available to the right audience at the right time, conversions increase naturally.

 

Empower Automation

We live in the age of automation, where experienced entrepreneurs are looking for ways to automate all imaginable tasks, including tasks related to content creation, publishing, and promotion. This trend will not stop growing so soon, so it’s best to embark and start automating parts of your content marketing process as quickly as possible.

Do not feel overwhelmed by automation. Instead, start by making small changes to content marketing workflows. For example, start automating aspects of your lead generation, email marketing, and social media initiatives.

 

Publish Co-Authored Content

Why rely only on your own ability to create content and promote it when you can associate with another person to do it? Publish content in partnership with another person or company that can help you expand your reach and is a trend that any entrepreneur can benefit from. Get to know other companies who have the eyes and ears of your audience and ask them if they would like to partner with you to create and promote useful content. This way, you will share the workload and duplicate the benefits for you.

 

Be Adaptable, Not Just Calendar-Focused

Flexibility is becoming increasingly important in content marketing. Leaders in the marketplace can quickly adapt their content to meet market changes and consumer demands, leveraging learning and automating machines to stay ahead. Yes, you should create a content calendar, but do not be so rigid that you cannot adapt it and seize opportunities (or prevent threats) as they arise.

 

Invest in The Long Run

Content marketing is a long-term strategy. You can supplement it with short-term tactics to generate immediate results, but your power to grow a brand and a business comes from your ability to generate sustainable long-term organic growth for your company. That means you need to commit to quality content consistently. Do not give up. Persistence wins when it comes to content marketing.

 

Create Dynamic Content

Dynamic content is content you create once, but it includes variable elements that change based on the audience that sees you. For example, you could run an email marketing promotion that shows a 10% discount offer for one segment of your audience, and a 20% discount for another segment.

When you publish content and dynamic creatives, images, text, and offerings may change depending on the individual who consumes such content, but you save time and money because you only need to create the content at once. Dynamic content has become commonplace in most corporate marketing departments, and is fairly easy and affordable enough for small businesses to use as well.

 

Conclusion

Content marketing will continue to grow as the foundation of all marketing strategies. Content is what catches your audience’s attention and builds trust in your brand. It is the experience created by your content that moves the customer from the top of the funnel to the final conversion on the buyer’s journey.

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