Whether you are building your content plan for the entire year or a quarter, it’s a good idea to consider these 8 digital marketing trends.
Content marketing is continually evolving and FAST. You need to be evaluating what’s working and building for the future of your business.
Content Marketing Efforts Are Proving to Be More Effective
According to the research from Content Marketing Institute 62% of Marketers are reporting improvement in their efforts.
Whereas in 2016 only 30% were reporting improvement.
Mobile
I’ve mentioned this before…more traffic is coming from Mobile phones than desktops these days and this is only going to increase.
Here are 2 statistics you should be aware of:
- Mobile now represents 65 percent of digital media time, while the desktop is becoming a “secondary touch point” for an increasing number of digital users. Marketing Land
- The image below shows that Mobile browsing represents 65% of browsing time vs 35% via Desktop.
So if your website isn’t responsive and checked on a mobile device for readability and function, add this to your list of must-do’s
The 2016 WASP Annual Survey of Small Businesses reports that Facebook is still the #1 social media platform for small businesses.
The reality here as I have discovered that if you want to play on Facebook, you must pay to get the results you’re looking for.
However. if you are looking for a new frontier, then I suggest you get on the Instagram bandwagon. You can still build big targeted followings on Instagram without spending a dime on advertising.
I am still a big believer in Facebook and it’s possible to build a big targeted following on a small budget of 10/day.
It’s what I’ve done to build targeted audiences of nearly 10k for several of my clients and how I built my own page to over 8k in 6 months.
You gotta do it right and work with the right people to build both your Facebook or Instagram audiences or you can wind with the wrong audiences.
Visual Content is King
If you are content marketing then you need the right images to go with every piece of content you are sharing.
If you want to stand out and get noticed with your content then follow these three steps when selecting images:
- Pick a relevant image
- Make sure it is a high resolution image – no fuzzy images please!
- High contrast Images
- Add copy to your image
I like to use unsplash.com, Bigstockphotos.com or photodune.net for my go-to sources for hi-res images….
Smart Marketers Will Add Video Content to the Mix
Have you added video to your content plan? If not, now is the time…. And here’s why:
Aim for adding at least one article per month via video if not more and watch your traffic increase.
Post it everywhere, on Youtube, upload to Facebook etc… read this article here that will take you through the steps of filming and repurposing your videos: http://kristenpoborskyteam.com/kristen/how-to-embed-your-facebook-live-video/
User Generated Content
You’re probably asking what is User Generated Content and how can it help me?
UGC is social shares, reviews, comments, and even YouTube videos which is the act of users promoting a brand rather than the brand itself.
Most often I see this as collaborations out on social media platforms where people with big audiences are paid to promote a brand.
Yep even you can harness the power of UGC to promote your business online and get in front of a bigger audience.
It’s a good way to build the know, like & trust factor as well, people are more likely to work with someone who comes recommended to them.
Content Promotion Matters
Not only do you want to create great content, you must make it a priority to promote it wisely.
Not just once but repeatedly.
You must set up systems to reformat existing content, republish it, or both. You don’t want to publish your great content and just forget it.
Social Media moves quickly…Twitter is a great example of that where a tweet lasts probably all of 3 minutes.
And you will want to consider advertising as a means of promoting your best content.
Personalizing Your Content
According to Content Marketing Institute content personalization is a trend we all should become aware of.
It is a strategy where you deliver segmented content based upon their interest, location etc….
One Size Does Not Fit All:
With this in mind you should take a good look at your customer experience and create a more effective strategy
- Build multiple entry points on your home page for more information based upon their current situation
- Create multiple opt in opportunities based up solving their urgent problem
- Provide different services/programs aimed at serving your prospects
- Publish content that is relevant to each of your ideal client’s needs
While I believe you need a better customer experience, I am not telling you need to be all things to all people.
Don’t go wild creating a huge site with too much. Instead limit yourself to 3 options and go from there.
In the end everything I’ve outlined here boils down to one thing, focusing on your audience by watching your metrics and seeing what they are responding to.
Once you have this information. it is a simple matter of creating the customer experience that makes you the perfect choice.
To recap, here’s the 8 Trends That Will Shape Content Marketing
Make sure you have them on your radar:
- Content Marketing is an important component to marketing for your business
- Your website need to be mobile friendly
- Facebook is still effective for getting your message out to a targeted audience
- Remember that visual content is a critical part of your content
- Add Video into your content creation calendar
- User Generated Content is another way to get in front of a bigger audience
- Content promotion matters
- Personalize your content delivery & user experience
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