Content is and will most likely always be king. Every company needs a well-crafted content creation strategy, a budget and team able to execute and ongoing monitoring of key metrics to ensure that things are on track in order to compete in today’s digital world.
You will need to view analytics for every piece of content created to see which formats are getting the most interaction and response from your audience. The topics here outline some of the major content marketing trends to pay attention to in 2017 to help your content’s exposure.
Email Marketing
Though many companies see email marketing as old-fashioned marketing schtick, it actually can be a very lucrative investment of your time. The Direct Marketing Association estimates that proper email marketing campaigns average a 4,100 percent return on investment, especially in the world of B2B marketing.
Use targeted offers on your site to build an opt-in list, and segment the list so you can send focused messages to your customers and prospects. Whether you stick with individualized drip campaigns or you simply send a monthly newsletter, you’ll find that you’ll get a pretty good bang for your buck.
Content Subscription
If your website consistently offers high-quality content that is valuable and educational, people are more likely to pay for it. The fact of the matter is, people really don’t mind paying for access to educational content that provides factual information to them. Valuable content includes statistics and linked facts.
Offer a subscription plan at a minimal cost to bring in a little extra income and build your audience, and entice new subscribers by letting them view a limited number of articles each month. You can even up the stakes by asking them to complete a short survey first.
Multimedia in Content Marketing
The average reader makes a decision to read or leave in 8 seconds or less. Your job is to capture their attention and give them a reason to continue reading right upfront. How do you remedy this? Include relevant video content and images that bring your topic to life.
Your content is more likely to be shared and referenced when video and image inclusions are present. Every article that you post on your website should have a main image. It helps SEO and social media sharing when you customize the photo to include a company logo or website name on the main image.
Corporate Blog
According to the Content Marketing Institute, brands that post content consistently are likely to outperform their competition. By consistent, they are referring to a regular frequency of new content being published.
Don’t let your corporate or brand blog languish. Nurture it week after week with consistent posting, and watch success build over time.
Real-Time Content Marketing
If real-time marketing is not something your brand is currently doing, you’re missing out. You can take almost any major event and tie your company to it in a positive way. What you’ll want to do is pick an event, such as a major win by a sports team and offer a discount along with the post. An example is a mattress company saying “Sleep better after the next [team name]’s wins the championship. Mention this ad and use promo code [insert promo code] for special savings on a new mattress purchase.”
When creating content for online publishing, keep in mind that your audience isn’t going to want to look through large blocks of text. Break your content up into sub-headed sections. Include bullet points, tips, and links to related posts on your website whenever possible. The easier your content is to look at, the more your audience will want to read it.
