content marketing predictions Archives

Expert Weigh-In: Content Marketing Predictions For 2016

by Adam Oakley | Dec 31, 2015 | Content Marketing

We talked to more than 15 content marketing experts (19, to be exact) this month and asked them for 2016-geared content marketing predictions on our industry. Here’s what they shared. Longer insights directly from the experts are shared below the infographic.

The Experts Weigh-In: 19 Content Marketing Predictions For 2016

1. Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Evangelist, Founder of Content Marketing Institute, Author, Speaker, Twitter @JoePulizzi

“Focus everything on building subscribers – one content type, one platform and consistent delivery over time.”

2. Kevan Lee, Content Crafter at Buffer, Twitter @kevanlee

“Really excited to see where content marketing goes in 2016. I have a sense that we’re nearing some really big changes, perhaps even a bit toward segmentation of sorts. I’m kind of thinking back even to blogs like Daring Fireball and Kottke that have been curators of a sort, while also taking occasion to go longform on a topic if need be. This mix – long plus short, or rich media plus plain text also – is one direction I could see things heading, as it might support the varied tastes of readers who might want different things!”

3. Steve Rayson, Director at BuzzSumo, Twitter @steverayson

“The job of content marketers will be challenging in 2016. The volume of content published will continue to grow exponentially and getting your voice heard will be harder. Thus it will be important to research content opportunities before you start creating content.

For example, what content does your audience love, what emotional elements engage them, what formats do they like and what content do they particularly like to share such as quotes, facts, images, tips, research, news, etc.? What is the best content in your space and how can you improve on it? It will also be increasingly important to have an amplification strategy before you create content. Who will share the content and who will link to it? You need a clear outreach strategy for influencers and link building. Building relationships with key influencers will grow in importance. In 2016 the battle for content engagement will be won or lost before any content is even written.”

4. Ted Rubin, Social Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Brand Evangelist, Acting CMO of Brand Innovators, Twitter @tedrubin

“For marketers thinking about approaching content marketing from a networking and community building aspect rather than a marketing and sales aspect can be very difficult. Brands need to attract customers, but breaking through the clutter is challenging. Every day brands and marketers are spending millions trying to get you to use, keep using, and share that you love their brands. But why aren’t they doing everything they can, and using some of those millions to do it (probably way less that they are spending on those marketing campaigns), making experiences with their brand remarkable. Opportunities to do this are given to brands each and every day and they simply, turn their heads, rave about their latest and great “campaign’ as if it were a military conquest, and pass up ways to really create customers for life.

2016 needs to be the year of doing what I call… Looking People in the Eye Digitally. The last few decades of marketing tactics have made us lazy communicators and I’ve had just about enough. Most often we don’t even pay attention to who we are talking to other than via the data we collect (and even that’s a maybe). In order to fix this and really start to benefit from the content we produce (both as individuals and as companies), we need to start looking people in the eye digitally.’

Brands, in 2016, and going forward… Standout by “LIKING” them BEFORE they “LIKE” you. #RonR… #NoLetUp!”

5. Michael A. Stelzner, Founder of Social Media Examiner, host of Social Media Marketing podcast, Twitter @Mike_Stelzner

“360 Degree Live Video Experiences: The year 2015 started an era of live casting with the introduction of new technology such as Periscope, Facebook Live and Blab. 2016 will take some of these live broadcasts to an entirely new level with the introduction of live 360 degree broadcasts that will allow people to move their mobile phones and experience the action as if they were actually present and moving their heads. In addition we’ll see the wide scale adoption of cost effective virtual reality devices that will enable fully immersive 3D experiences that are live. Much of this will be enabled by low cost 360 cameras like the Ricoh Theta combined with economical devices like Google Paper that transform the smart phones everyone already owns into a virtual reality device. This represents an entirely new opportunity for marketers to give factory tours and any other form in-person experience the mind can imagine.”

6. Mark Traphagen, Top 10 Expert for SEO & Content Marketing, Speaker, Sr. Director of Marketing at Stone Temple Consulting, Twitter @marktraphagen

“Make 2016 your year of quality over quantity. Rather than straining to get out as many content assets as you can, concentrate on producing fewer but truly epic pieces, and then repurpose and re-promote them over and over again.”

7. Brian Fanzo, Change Evangelist & Keynote Speaker, host of #SbizHour, #CloudTalk, SMACtalk, Twitter @iSocialFanz

“Content Marketing in 2016 will see a new focus on creating great content that embraces real-time input from the community while creating and delivering the content at the right time! “Content is king” inspired marketers to create content just because they knew that content was powerful rather than asking for feedback, leveraging data and creating great content. Thanks to apps like snapchat, periscope and Facebook live streaming brands can now crowd source content ideas in real-time while also surveying their audience to better understand the content they should be creating for their community. Live streaming will also drive a new focus on creating more authentic content and dissolving the notion that customers prefer perfect content.

2016 is an exciting year for content marketing as I believe the content will be more data driven and include the community in the creation like never before ultimately making happy customers, community and marketers!”

8. Shane Barker, #1 Social Media Consultant, Writer, Co-Founder at Modera, Twitter @shane_barker

“2016 will be the year of the Social Media Influencers! Brands large and small will start to research, evaluate and hire influencers through platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. These influencers will become micro-producers of original content that is tailored for their following and spoken in their voice. These unique campaigns will create social proof for the brands while driving traffic and ultimately more sales.”

9. Sujan Patel, Co-Founder of Narrow.io & ContentMarketer.io, Twitter @sujanpatel

“I predict that in 2016 content marketers will switch to quality over quantity of content published and devote more time to content promotion and distribution. I’m already starting to see this shift with the leading marketers/companies in Q4 of 2015. I believe so strongly in this that in prediction that I built ContentMarketer.io to help with content promotion.”

10. Eric Enge, CEO of Stone Temple Consulting, Twitter @stonetemple

“Here are my thoughts on content marketing for 2016 …

During the course of 2016, we will continue to see a deluge of content, with most of it ranging from poor to decent quality content. Leading content marketers, however, will figure out that even good quality content is not good enough. You have to be thinking about elite content (or what Rand Fishkin calls 10x content).

In a recent BuzzSumo Moz study, the data showed that most articles get very few shares or very few links, but even fewer articles get a significant number of shares AND links.

There is a real battle for attention going on out there, and you need to do what it takes to stand out from the crowd.”

Thanks for the connection and the opportunity to submit my prediction. Here is a shorter version and a link to my longer post on the subject. Feel free to quote any or all of this in your article and if you can find a way to link to that post, I would really appreciate it.

11. Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insider Group, co-author of The Content Formula, Head of Strategy for NewsCred, Twitter @BrennerMichael

“I predict a massive correction in advertising budgets that will drive an increase in content marketing. This will require us to get pretty darn good at showing Content Marketing ROI.

We’ll also see more personalization, visual content and brand-produced entertaining content. Is 2016 the year of more brands finding a personality and sense of humor? Read my longer post with more 2016 insights.”

12. Guillaume Decugis, CEO & Co-Founder at Scoop.it, Twitter @gdecugis

“First, proving Content Marketing ROI will become more and more important in 2016: content marketing is maturing and after a grace period experimenting with it, marketers are now expected to show how it impacts lead and revenue generation.

Second, I’d say that things are getting serious: content marketing is not yet a science but a proven methodology for it has emerged and gone are the days when you could simply rely on pure creativity and… luck. While content generation remains key, successful content marketers invest at least as much time and budget in the other parts of the content marketing cycle: planning, distribution as well as analyzing what works and doesn’t.

Third, we’ll see the rise of Content Marketing Automation as many of the tasks in that cycle and methodology can and should be automated for greater results and time saving. Distribution to social channels, generating content emails from your posts, discovering great content to share or analyzing performance data are all examples of tasks that smart marketers will perform better and faster by using content marketing software.

13. Larry Kim, Founder of Wordstream, Twitter @larrykim

“In 2016 in terms of content marketing, I’m greatly increasing investment on Social Media Ads and Video content promotion. I’m cutting back (even more) on Google+.”

14. Michael Stricker, Marketing Director at SEMrush, Twitter @RadioMS

“At first, the cessation of Google’s Auto-Suggest API will choke many keyword researchers seeking it’s insights into what gets entered and clicked in search. Tools such as SEMrush that use their own intrinsic methods to arrive at Related Terms will continue to perform.

Eventually, someone may find a way to purchase that autocomplete data from Google and present the results, but this signals the end of an era wherein free tools like Soovle and ÜberSuggest were helpful.

The nosebleeds induced by skyscraper content will sap the strength of many creators. Broad evidence suggests that social sharing of such tomes far exceeds actual reads. Ridiculously encyclopedic collections (One Million Ways to Sew On a Button!) will tarnish the trade and in the end, searchers must be understood, personified and their queries taken in context so that a more concise, useful and usable answer can be served. Fortunately, data about audience interests, affinities and better targeting is becoming commonplace and easier to use! I predict that use of interviews to construct personas will be methodized and rise to practical prominence in 2016.”

15. Jacob Hagberg, SEO Consultant & ORM at Orange Fox, Twitter @jacobhagberg

“In-house content creators need to understand the customer journey and how properly placed PR with influencer mentions impacts organic search traffic.

Always ask yourself, “Is this content more powerful on our website or as a digital asset on a partner website?”

For example, consumers often search “brand + reviews” right before making a purchase just to confirm they are making a good decision. A positive mention of your brand on a third-party authority website is psychologically more powerful than a list of testimonials on your company website.”

16. Jeff Deutsch, VP of Marketing for Ptengine, viral Inbound.org author, Twitter @jgdeutsch

“I’ll just put it this way. The human species produced 27,000,000 pieces of content every day in 2012, and internet use is increasing daily. How to cut through that noise? That’s your top challenge for 2016.

I’ve developed a set of guidelines to shock and awe readers into paying attention to you. I call it the P.A.V.E. Principle. I developed it through my discussions with some of the best copywriting minds working today. (Who noticed me after my post, “Confessions of a Google Spammer” jumped to #1 on the inbound.org content Hall of Fame.)

The PAVE Principle: Be Personal, Authentic, Vulnerable, and use Emotions.

Here are the people and posts that express these values best.

Personal: Joanna Wiebe is really good at this, and it has a lot to do with her meteoric rise in the copywriting world. Check out her article on Mad Men and copy writing to see what I mean. (Mind blown moment: Check out how often she uses the word “I” in her writing to connect with readers.)

Authentic: Julia McCoy wrote the best piece on this. Go read it. (Mind blown moment: 43% of millennials rank authenticity over content.)

Vulnerable: Brian Lenney wrote a great piece about how persuasive vulnerability can be. (Mind blown moment: The top viewed TED talk of all time is about the power of vulnerability.)

Emotions: Talia Wolf is one of the most well-known masters of emotional persuasion. (Mind blown moment: Steve Jobs also knew these tricks and used one–anchoring–when announcing new product prices.)”

17. Olga Andrienko, Head of Social Media at SEMrush, Speaker, Blogger, Twitter @OlgaSEMrush

“1. The struggle of writing for humans and pleasing search engines will be brought to a whole new level. One just doesn’t go without the other any more. Content should be optimized and never over optimized.

2. I see more and more content marketers talk about metrics, ROI, tools like Google Analytics and how to use them to track success. This is a very optimistic trend, because data always does more good than harm.

3. Another trend will be people realizing they can’t constantly produce new content, and start re-purposing their content. I see it at SEMrush as well. Instead of creating a whole new post, we get a webinar that our audience liked and create post based on the presenter’s insights and slides. We’re reworking all Twitter chats we hosted to get the best quotes and use them.”

18. Brent Csutoras, Founder & CEO of Pixel Road Designs, Twitter @brentcsutoras

“In the early years of social media, we got way too focused on being active and producing content regularly, ignoring the fact that much of the content produced was low quality and really served no purpose. Over the last two years, everyone from search engines, social media sites, to even the users themselves, have really made it clear that quality is way more important than quantity.

in 2016, companies have to focus on quality, and further more, start to really understand what quality means. Does your content answer a question, help someone make a decision, and provide real value. You have to be willing to take yourself out of it being your company and your content and really ask, is this someone I would read or share? 9 times out of 10 it is not.

Spend more time researching topics to add historical relevance to them, reach out to experts to have them comment or add to the article, use real design firms to create quality graphics and Infographics, and use visuals in your content that actually summarize and work with the content, instead of just useless stock photos meant to check off your article requirements.”

19. Julia McCoy, CEO of Express Writers, Twitter @JuliaEMcCoy

“2016 is going to be the Year of Reckoning in content marketing. How so?

1. Business owners will come aboard the content marketing train or find they’re being left behind. It’s time to produce good content (such as starting a blog, produce videos and graphics, engage and create on social media) or join the outdated group of people who aren’t.

2. Content marketing creators will vary their content productions more to step up the game. Podcasting is hot right now; it’s not over-saturated just yet, but will be in late 2016. Now is the time to start yours. Better and more unique forms of video content will happen. Live streaming will be even more popular. Forms of better engagement on social media, like Twitter chats, and tools for engagement, will grow; to rise above a standard level of infographic, gifographics will be created; content will be better researched and more effort put in; we’ll find more answers online as companies grow and produce their own unique content. To rise above the content sea, you have to be a thought leader. Be unique. Add your own insight. Create your own tool. And that will require major investments. Gone is the DIY age of content marketing.

3. Inbound marketing will thoroughly trump outbound. Cold calling, interruptive TV ads, mail flyers will be less in existence, and companies will realize the necessity and significance of inbound marketing investment and production.

Don’t be left out in the Year of Content Reckoning; join the rising revolution of (better) content marketers. Add your voice. Be heard. Stand out, engage your fans, build an audience.”

Have a 2016 marketing prediction? Enjoyed these expert predictions? Share your thoughts in the comments!

6 Online Content Marketing Predictions for 2014

by Adam Oakley | Jan 20, 2014 | Content Marketing

2014 is here! We’ve all ushered in the New Year, some at small, intimate gatherings and others at large, happening parties. Now that the celebration is over and the hangovers are subsiding, it’s time to dig back into the hardy topics at hand. Content marketing predictions are one of the meatier online conversation topics. Social Media Today hit this topic square on the head by presenting a beautiful infographic depicting the digital marketing trends of the New Year. They boldly stated that “2014 will again transform the digital marketing landscape in the form of: content marketing, advertising, big data and mobile marketing.”

The Rise of a New Kind of Content Marketing

In truth, during the last two quarters of 2013, we saw an unprecedented transformation in the what, where, why, who and how of content marketing. To a large degree, the very definition of “content” underwent transformation from a keyword caterpillar to a content-rich butterfly. Reputable online sources have published hundreds of articles with 5, 10, 15, even upwards to 50 online content marketing predictions for 2014. While most of these prediction hold a certain amount of merit, which ones should you zero in on as we plunge into an exciting year of content-focused marketing? That’s what we’re here to discuss:

Prediction #1: Content Will Be Its Own Full Fledged Department

According to a Mashable post on content marketing in 2014, CMOs and agency heads are already “looking to hire new roles with content in the title.” In the past, we’ve seen journalists enlisted to run editorials, but in 2014, we can expect to see Content Marketing Managers, Directors of Content, and Chief Content Officers. Their talents will be in high demand as content becomes its own significant department.

The Moz Blog, a strong source of dependable predictions, says, “Resumes listing ‘content marketing’ will grow faster than either SEO or ‘social media marketing’ [resumes].” This is because the new motto of 2014 will be “less isn’t more.” Content in 2014 is the killer strategy for rankings, engagement, credibility, and authority.

Here at Express Writers, we predicted in December that 2014 would be “the year of the Informer.” In essence, if your content isn’t informing, you won’t be ranking. Content needs to be your new priority, and here’s how you accomplish this:

Plan content ahead of time. Don’t fall prey to the pitfall of “winging content.” Instead, take time to plan. Brainstorm topics and research their appeal to your target audience. Review the analytics of your website and see which pages are getting the most visits. Use the content of these pages to stimulate further content ideas. With a little planning, you can even repurpose old material—such as presentations and speeches—for articles, blog posts, press releases and social media. If you find your creative well running dry, join communities and subscribe to feeds in your niche to generate new ideas. Try to plan a daily—or at least weekly—release of new, engaging content.
Keep content interesting. The average person spends about one minute on any given webpage. Your goal should be to make content impressionable and easily digestible in this timeframe. Keep paragraphs short and insert attention catching subheadings and lists. Include client reviews and success stories. Stay hip by referencing pop culture or current events; this can keep your content fresh and timely.
Keep content relevant and fresh. You’ll miss the point of quality content completely if you don’t keep copy relevant and fresh. Relevant copy informs the reader how your product or service relates to their immediate needs and why they should choose you over the competition. If your content lacks relevancy, don’t expect potential customers to spend more than a minute skimming your page. They will quickly move on, giving their business to the competitor who provides relevant copy. Likewise, fresh copy is all about keeping the material fresh. You can do this by referencing current trends, new information or approaching the topic from a unique or new perspective. The last thing a potential customer wants is to read stale content.
Search engine optimization still matters. Although we are trending away from keyword stuffing, optimizing your content by including keywords and keyword phrases is still important. Therefore, properly done keyword research should still be a priority for the content department.
Create backlinks. Your content should be created with backlink opportunities in mind. Season the content with links back to your website, social media profiles, blog, or previous posts. This practice will help boost your search engine ranking. You can even comment on blogs, articles, and forums around the web with links back to a relevant post on your website. But, be sure your comment adds value; otherwise, you will risk being branded a spammer. Remember: linking is about adding value. Do not randomly link to credible sources just for the sake of linking, as this will detract from ranking. Links should add value by furthering the discussion.
Use social channels. In 2014, social channels are going to work hand-in-hand with content. Your content department should be nurturing this relationship. Use social platforms to promote blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, press releases, whitepages, and any other content you release. You can even submit this type of promotion to discussion pages, groups, and communities that encourage it.

Content marketing is going to tie in with every other avenue of online (and even offline) marketing in 2014. The Content Marketing Institute is an unrivaled source of content marketing predictions. In fact, they’ve been around longer than any other content marketing predictor on the planet, and they make it very clear in their “50 Predictions for 2014” that quality content is at the heart and soul of success in 2014. It will affect everything, from Google SERPs to sales conversions. If your content is weak, your entire marketing plan will likewise be weak. Moving forward, hiring a content professional or content agency will be in your best interests—even if they are only on-staff for consulting purposes.

Prediction #2: Mobile Marketing Is Exploding, Catch the Wave

Our obsession with mobile devices is no secret. We like convenience. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love having the Internet at my fingertips. I can be anywhere in the world and have the ability to look up whatever I need whenever I need it, instantly. I love it, you love it, and customers love it.

In 2014, mobile phone traffic is expected to exceed that of traditional desktops. Over 50 percent of mobile users depend on local searches, and this percentage will only increase. As a result, mobile marketing is imperative to success in 2014. Websites need mobile optimization in order to display properly across the variety of devices currently used by potential customers. By catering to local and mobile searches, you can be sure of increasing your Internet traffic, which leads to higher sales conversion.

Mobile marketing strategies will need to be built into your content. Daily blogging, press releases, and articles can hit your audience instantly via their mobile devices if you plan it well and tap into social media channels as a distribution source. A lot of people feed RSS and subscriber feeds into their mobile devices. It will be important to ensure your content is visually appealing and easy to digest as readers view it on the go.

Prediction #3: Location-Based Marketing Will Matter

Google search engine result pages are not static, which is one reason why keyword stuffing isn’t going to do you any good in 2014. And as we said, mobile searches are skyrocketing. Google is catering to the individual searching from their cellular device, likely endeavoring to find a local establishment that meets their query. As a result, marketing strategies need to include local search parameters.

In many ways, location-based marketing is great news. It’s handing you the opportunity to increase sales in your own local community. Embrace this change by getting more involved with the audience right there, in your local community. People want to connect to local establishments, and will likely stream to your social media channels if they know you exist.

National and even international search parameters will also be important, as these will be separated from local searches. Location-based marketing will be a heavy focus for advertisers and businesses. Expect a need to incorporate location-based keywords and keyword phrases into your content.

Prediction #4: Everything Will Start and End with Your Customer

An article published by Business2Community had this to say about content and your customer: “You know what you’re selling. But just as important is figuring out who you are selling it to.” Everything from your content creation to content marketing must start and end with your customer in mind. In the competitive, mobile world of information, people won’t spend time reading or listening to content that doesn’t:

Affect them emotionally
Apply directly to them
Address an issue they face
Effectively solve a problem or issue

It’s imperative to feed the greatest need in marketing today: people want to be educated. They want to make informed decisions. They don’t just want a service or a product from a reputable company. They want to buy from a company that has a story.

Prediction #5: Stories Will Sell

Since the dawn of literature, great storytelling has been at its heart. We’re all attracted to a good story, the kind that reaches into our soul and provokes thought. Content marketing is starting to incorporate this staple of literature into copy.

Why does your audience love social media? It’s because it gives them the opportunity to cultivate a one-on-one relationship with individuals, organizations, and companies. People want to be a part of something, not a sales number that hits your quarterly report. They want to matter, and they want to know why you matter. Therefore, it’s important for them to see beyond your company logo. They need to see the people behind the brand, the inspiration, and passion that lead your business to the place it inhabits today. They want to see the struggles you’ve overcome and be there for the next hurtles you’ll face. They want to see you in the community and contribute to your own internal community. In 2014, stories will make a huge impact on content marketing. We just might see copy that includes stories like:

How the business got started
Who started it and what makes it unique
Why your niche is whatever it is
What prompted your business to reach out to the community or adopt certain values
How customers have been affected by your business
Why customers keep coming back

Content isn’t just about presenting statistics, specs and facts. It’s about connecting with the audience and making them feel a connection to you. This type of association builds trust and loyalty between customers and businesses.

Prediction #6: Content Translation Will Increase

The Content Marketing Institution made the interesting prediction that as the need for quality, relevant content increases in 2014, “the need for translated content will increase, perhaps exponentially.” As your business reach expands from the local to national and eventually international level, you will find that an English-only strategy is limiting (even if you only conduct business within a single country). It will be time to step into the world of translating copy into multiple languages to reach a diverse audience of potential customers.

2014 Is All About One Killer Strategy: Quality Content

As you can see, 2014 is most definitely “The Year of The Informer.” Informative, engaging content should be at the center of everything your business endeavors to achieve. Content doesn’t have to be a headache to create. Today you have numerous avenues to create and display engaging, relevant content through:

Daily blogging
Informative, technical or educational articles
Press releases
Whitepapers
Infographics
E-books
Videos
Podcasts
PowerPoint Presentations
And More

The styles and avenues you can choose to present your content to the world are practically limitless. One common denominate is the 2014 essential: creating killer content. It’s the best content marketing strategy for achieving rankings, audience engagement, established credibility and more.