With the exception of a few stragglers, content marketing has become as essential to digital marketing strategies as SEO and SEM. According to a 2018 B2B report published by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 91% of respondents now use content as part of their marketing strategy. That’s a big number.
Effectiveness is another story altogether. Only 35% of respondents measure ROI, and a mere 24% deem their efforts as “extremely” or “very successful.” Clearly, there is much to consider—and as technologies emerge and evolve, successful marketers need to reiterate constantly to stay on top.
So, as we dive headlong into 2018, what better time to look at the key factors that marketers should think about for their marketing strategies?
Video Is Now Ubiquitous
Whether it’s live streaming or pre-produced storytelling, there are now just a handful of companies who haven’t produced some form of video for their businesses. Eighty-five percent of businesses now allocate marketing resources toward video production, according to a benchmarks study by Vidyard.
Whether it’s Facebook Live, social content, webinars, or corporate videos, there is really no reason you can’t produce some form of video to tell your story. Everyone has a story to tell and nothing engages audiences as well as video.
Podcasts Are on the Rise
According to HubSpot, 11% of marketers plan to add podcasting to their marketing efforts in the next 12 months.
Podcasts are relatively new to the content mix, yet they have the distinct advantage of convenience. Instead of watching videos at their desks or in their living rooms, consumers can listen to podcasts while commuting, exercising, and running errands. From a content creation perspective, podcasts are easy to make and won’t break anyone’s budget.
You can:
- provide handy tips to your market
- set up an interview program with business leaders in your sector
- discuss and dissect trends to advance your thought leadership
- go behind the scenes as you pitch new business
Podcasts, when done right, are highly engaging and a ton of fun for your audience.
Multi-Content Marketing Is Key
According to the CMI, B2B marketers use six different content marketing formats on average. You’ve probably tried some of these at least once in the last few years:
- social media posts
- case studies
- videos
- ebooks and whitepapers
- infographics
They’re all useful in their own right, but diversity is important—both in creating the content format itself and distributing that content through different channels. Draw qualified traffic into your sales funnel by proactively engaging across multiple platforms with an eye for performance tracking.
Each piece of content can be tailored to a specific medium. For example, video currently dominates Facebook, while and infographics work well on Reddit. You can repurpose content for different platforms, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel with every kind of content you tackle. Your monthly webinar, for example, could provide plenty of fodder for a weekly blog and a couple of eBooks.
Voice Search Is Transformational
Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana are just a handful of available voice search platforms that are changing the way people interact with their devices. In 2017, it’s estimated that 18.5% of the population used voice-enabled digital assistants on a monthly basis. According to Google, 41% of US adults use voice search daily.
In 2018, we will see a surge in businesses optimizing content for voice search. This area will evolve rapidly over the next few years as natural-language processing and AI become more advanced, and more features and functionality are added to voice-enabled systems.
The Value of Analytics
Content marketers are using analytics to make data-driven decisions to develop funnels within minutes of seeing the content’s performance. According to CMI, 87% of B2B marketers now use analytics tools, compared to 79% just one year prior. Inbound marketers will be delving even deeper into website analysis, keyword research, A/B testing, and other techniques to learn more about their audiences.
Through research and marketing analytics tools, you’ll have a far better window into your target audience’s interests, what influences them, and the types of content that delights them. Data can also help prioritize your objectives, such as increasing organic traffic to your site or growing your social following.
2018 will be a year of quality content and data-driven strategy. Factor all of these elements into your marketing strategy for this year to lay a foundation for success and scalability.
Written by Peter Vamos
