As 2013 has wound to a close with a New Year hot on its heels, there’s no better time than now to start examining how content might evolve in the upcoming months. When you’re aware of what’s on the horizon, it should be easier to adapt your content creation and marketing strategies so they provide the biggest impacts for your business. Keep reading to get some valuable insight.
Native Advertising Is on the Rise
Recently, some news outlets have begun using material known as native advertising, or branded content. Although it is drawing criticism from some who say it blurs the lines between editorial material and advertising, the New York Times recently announced a plan to use that form of news-like advertising on its website. Specifically, it will be identified through a colored bar and the words “Paid Post.”
If one of the most respected news outlets in the world has figured out how to incorporate that style of advertising on its site, it seems likely native advertising will only continue to assert dominance throughout the year ahead.
Content Must Be Attention-Grabbing and Relevant
Although it was once deemed sufficient to simply post new content regularly on a blog, contributors now must work harder so content is not only current, but also interesting enough for readers to take notice and want to learn more. According to this infographic from Chartbeat, there is an average of 92,000 new articles added to the Internet every day. If you want yours to stand out, it’ll probably be necessary to go outside your comfort zone.
In terms of relevancy, here’s an example of a blog. It’s for an addiction rehabilitation center that not only publishes content that applies to a target audience, but also uses engaging delivery methods like motion graphics to illustrate some of the reasons behind common trends in drug abuse.
Those could be particularly helpful for people who are currently struggling with drugs or alcohol and thinking about getting help, as well as loved ones who want reliable answers about the vicious cycle of dependency.
Marketing Strategies Will Move to Mobile Devices
In 2013, many businesses realized it was time to explore responsive design in an effort to appeal to mobile device users. This trend seems set to continue, and some analysts believe it’s not enough to just make content mobile friendly. Instead, it’s time to go further by using marketing strategies that specifically appeal to people who are using mobile devices.
Some industry experts also feel a growing number of customers will prefer to interact with marketers via e-mail. With that in mind, any efforts to reach customers through e-mail in 2014 should be compatible with mobile devices.
Social Signals Will Continue to Influence SEO
When Google’s Hummingbird algorithm was released, it became clear how content that’s easily shareable across social media platforms may rank higher in search engines. A social signal represents any time a person’s link on social media connects back to your webpage, and it began being especially relevant for search engine optimization during the last quarter of this year.
This will probably still be the case throughout 2014, because Google places value on sites that are informative and interesting. If content is repeatedly shared across social media sites, it likely fits those two descriptors and others.
Closing Thoughts
Although no one can say for certain exactly how the content marketing and creation landscape will transform in the months to come, the predictions above seem like safe bets. Regardless of whether you choose to follow them or not, aim to make your content plan as diverse as possible, rather than focusing on one type and hoping it gains traction. That should help you gain and maintain viewership whether the audience prefers to get information from blog posts, infographics, social media channels or a combination of all of three.
Images: ”Highway Signpost with Content Marketing wording / Shutterstock.com“
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