The success of your content marketing is highly contingent upon the relevancy of your marketing techniques. The content marketing is in a constant evolving phase and success in this domain is about changing yourself with the changing trends. It is about adapting to the practices that work best in the realm of online business.
A good learner never stops evolving himself with the emerging time. Being a student of content marketing, you also have to gear yourself up with the changing canvas of online business.
So without further ado, let’s find out some of the hottest trends that you need to learn if you want to beat the competition in 2018. Here they are:
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Video Content Will Take The Lead
According to Aberdeen, content marketers who use videos in their marketing strategy get 66% more leads every year, while they achieve 54% growth in brand awareness. The rising popularity of video marketing is related to live streaming to a large extent.
Today, brands make real-time videos of their brand, products, and services which infuses trust in your brand and people want to associate with a trustworthy business.
Another survey by WYZOWL reveals that 83% of content marketers think video content can ensure higher ROI, while 82% of them consider it an integral part of their marketing plan. The survey also shows that marketers witnessed 81% uptick in their sales.
The aforementioned figures are sufficient to prove the efficacy of video content and it also insinuates that video marketing is going to be even bigger in the running year.
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Transparency Will Matter
As content marketing gets more global and widespread, it has become even more challenging for marketers to win the trust of the people. In this sprawling world of online business, people will only choose brands that can create a sense of trust.
The idea of ‘cause marketing’ is no longer an easy way to gain the trust of your audience. Today, people want to associate with real people and not the ‘attention-seeking’ slogans behind your social media handles that call for the urge of a green environment or a welfare society.
To build your credibility, you need to come across as someone they can interact with. So instead of blowing the trumpet of your ‘sustainable business’, you need to bring out the human side of your business.
What you can do is engage with your audience in two-way communication. The best way is to go live and take your brand out there in the audience. For example, you can do a live ‘product launch’ where you can invite potential buyers and have a real-time ‘Q & A’ session with them.
Similarly, you can take services of a social celebrity or influencer to endorse the products. All these things would lend credibility to your business and more people would like to engage with your brand.
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Focus More On User-Generated Content (UGC)
The user-generated content has opened new avenues for the content marketers to showcase their brand and let the people promote it to others. With blogging, social media comments, and social sharing, you now have the power of people to pitch your brand.
A survey by Nielsen drills down the role of people in promoting a brand. The survey was based on people from sixty countries. According to the survey, people are likely to trust a brand that is recommended by a friend or a family member.
Rather than bragging about your own brand on your blog or social media handle, you should let the people do the job by writing an article on your brand or sharing the shots of a newly-launched product on social media posts. Once it gets the hype in the target audience, the people will do rest of the job.
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Content Will Continue To Rule Your Marketing Strategy
The content is the foundation for the success of any marketing strategy. The content comes in different forms and styles. For example:
- Social media post
- Blogging
- Web copy
- Article writing
- Email marketing
- Visual marketing
- Podcasting
Each of these forms of content has a different role in the promotion of your online business. However, the quality of your content scales up only when you spice it up with a concoction of things, such as text, audio, and visuals. The more variety you add to your content, the higher are the chances of your marketing campaign. The content will continue to dominate the realm of content marketing even in 2018.
Wrap-Up…
2018 was a happening year for content marketers and it is continuing to grow even in the running year. Hopefully, you will evolve from the previous year and take your content marketing efforts to the next level in this year as well. Wishing you all the luck!
