Content marketers need to be more like meteorologists than fortune tellers. Instead of gazing into a crystal ball to predict the future trends of content creation, we must make educated forecasts, monitoring the available data and adjusting as necessary. We won’t get it 100% right, but we’ll do a lot better than we would asking the Magic 8 Ball for help.
To help with your content creation trend forecasts, we asked the presenters at Content Marketing World to share their well-informed predictions for content marketing.
Develop systematic approach
The biggest trend that we see in content creation is the idea of scale. Today, content is created in almost every part of the organization – from marketing, service, support, and training. All of this content influences purchase decisions and customer loyalty. Unfortunately, most companies don’t have a unified content strategy across these functions and they struggle with having a single brand style and tone. Successful content teams will have a much more holistic look at every content experience; from the home page to the help page.
Steve Rotter, chief marketing officer, Acrolinx | @sjrotter
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Automate it
The Associated Press went from publishing 300 earnings reports per quarter to 3,000 per quarter by automating the writing through Automated Insights’ Wordsmith platform. Storytelling is, and always will be, a predominantly human endeavor. But, when it comes to data-driven content (e.g., earnings reports, fantasy sports, athletic game recaps, survey results, analytics insights), machines are more efficient and accurate. When the directive is, “Give me data, give me context, and give me insights,” machines will win.
Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO, PR 20/20 | @PaulRoetzer
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Cook up a few bites
Developing “spreadable content” – writing one to three really great foundational pieces that are atomized into “snackable” content – will change the way content is produced.
More companies also will look at creating and/or enhancing their blogs to target specific personas.
Mickey Mencin, director of corporate communications, Hyland | @mmencin
Get into the pictures
Brands really need to figure out the visual-storytelling aspect of content marketing. We’ve been talking about it a lot, but not too many brands do this well. The trick? You have to hire some talented folks in design and video production. We have amazing designers with a ton of talent who have helped make our content marketing look amazing. I also love what the folks at Wistia are doing with video, as another example.
Michael Brenner, head of strategy, NewsCred | @BrennerMichael
Wrap around the people
Consumers now rely on peer-to-peer connections and less on messages directly from companies. User-generated content will become keystone to your content marketing. There is a reason why influencer marketing is effective. Peer-to-peer communication is perceived as authentic and helps brands extend their reach into niche markets.
Juntae DeLane, digital brand manager, USC; founder, Digital DeLane, @JuntaeDeLane
Look at us
It’s not new, but the trend toward user-generated content shows no signs of slowing. Your audience wants to be involved. They demand it. They’re ready to engage if you’re willing to find ways that make it possible. And that promises to keep things exciting.
Jeannine Rossignol, vice president, global marketing for large enterprise operations, Xerox Corporation | @j9rossignol
Get real
All content marketers must realize that ultimately their work – even great content – is inherently distrusted by customers and prospects. The future of content creation is user-generated content and employee-generated content. The best content programs will be those that are architected by marketers, with the content itself created and distributed by real people.
Dwell on it
Google’s continuously changing algorithm is focusing more on user experience. We need to consider this when creating our content. For example, one measure of user experience is dwell time. When someone clicks on a search result and lands on a blog post, how long does he spend on that post before returning to Google? If the return is immediate, that signals to Google that the content didn’t deliver what the user wanted.
Ian Cleary, founder, RazorSocial | @IanCleary
Long live the users
At the Research Triangle Park, we built our entire website around trusted users, who have carte blanche to post whatever they wanted directly to our homepage – no approval process. We did this by vetting the users, not the content. No roadblocks. Just real-time, delicious content.
Erin Monday, marketing manager, Lenovo | @ErinMonday
Hold up an automatic mirror
As image recognition technology becomes more sophisticated and widely available, brands will be able to find and utilize user-generated content that contains images related to their brands. Content marketing will become a sort of cooperative effort between customers and marketers. It will be a merging of the automation of programmatic technology and the platform-specific niche attraction of native advertising, all while building a stronger relationship with customers on a more personal level.
Ben Plomion, SVP marketing, GumGum | @benplomion
Wink and nudge
I only spot trends when they’ve passed. I do think this internet thing is going to go big, though.
Maybe the content deluge will force content to get increasingly granular and more personalized. Oh, and brands will have to learn how to integrate content more naturally and organically through the whole stumbling, tripping, groping path we call a purchase journey.
Doug Kessler, co-founder and creative director, Velocity Partners | @dougkessler
Stop talking
All of the challenges we’re seeing in the digital ad space – viewability, fraud, declining attention – only are going to make content more valuable. We’re reaching an inflection point where we finally create content for consumers rather than just talking at them.
Julie Fleischer, senior director, data + content + media, The Kraft Heinz Company | @jfly
Personalize without a name
It’s not a one-size-fits-all world. You need to think about ways to personalize your content by focusing on a role, industry, or challenge that’s unique to a particular audience segment. In some cases, marketers are using automation tools to better understand which formats are used most by which audiences.
For example, if the last three pieces of content that a person read were short blog posts, you may not want to send that individual a 15-page report. Past is prologue.
Brian Kardon, chief marketing officer, Lattice Engines | @bkardon
Go for fun
The expected content fare – such as how-to topics, customer stories, and research findings – will not, and should not disappear. However, the fun and interactive stuff will continue to rise. Quizzes, games, and contests get people excited. In certain niches the straight and narrow may work, but in the mainstream battle for attention, you need to amp up the fun if you want to create … I guess I have to say it … buzz.
Barry Feldman, founder, Feldman Creative | @FeldmanCreative
Google says
The biggest trends come from whatever Google seems to want. We’ve seen a lot of content trends come and go, and they all seem to be based on Google algorithms. The best trend, however, is to simply just write great content and not to worry about “what’s hot” today. If the content is great for your audience, do it, regardless of what Google wants today.
Stoney deGeyter, president, Pole Position Marketing | @StoneyD
Want to dive deeper into analytics? Don’t miss Content Marketing World 2015 September 8-11 in Cleveland. Register today.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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