New developments in content marketing
Fortunately for content marketers, we’re used to working under flexible, agile and rapidly changing conditions. While other industries have been struggling to demonstrate their value in a whole new world, content has proven increasingly valuable: the demand for information and entertainment has skyrocketed since the start of the crisis. And that’s exactly what your content offers to your
company and its customers.
As so many companies and industries turn to content to reach their customers right now, we thought it would be a great time to release our new report on the most recent content marketing trends. Based on extensive market research, our report gives a detailed look at all of the top content-related trends for this year and the post-coronavirus world. It offers insights and best practices from some of the world’s most successful content marketers.
Below, we take a quick look at some of its findings.
It’s time to prioritise high-quality content
Quality will be a decisive factor for content marketing from now on. It’s not just that Google’s new BERT algorithm enhances the focus on quality. Your customers also demand and deserve good content. If you want your content strategy to succeed, it needs to focus squarely on your customers’ interests and needs. Good content should add value to people’s lives. That’s why leading marketers are shifting budget away from paid advertising and focusing on creating high-quality, customer-focused content. The good news is that this strategy can work, even if you’re operating on a relatively small marketing budget.
Position your company as an information resource
Adding value means providing rich, informative content. This enhances the way the public thinks about your brand. If you consistently publish smart, well-produced content, you will establish your company as a thought leader in your industry. Top content marketers know that effective content is about informing and engaging with customers. It’s not about pushing an overt sales message.
Choose relevant channels
Owned channels are ideal platforms for raising brand awareness and driving conversion. Successful marketers say that social media is the best investment for your ‘paid’ marketing budget at the moment. That’s why it’s crucial to research various social media platforms and figure out which markets they appeal to. Take some time to determine exactly who your target audience is and where they like to spend their time online. This will help you choose relevant channels that are more likely to reach your intended viewers.
Use journalistic storytelling
If quality is the top buzz word for this year, then it’s closely followed by journalism and storytelling. Stories have a powerful emotional impact on people, enabling us to remember detailed information much more quickly and effectively than simply being presented with a set of facts. Now is a great time to engage professional freelancers with a journalistic background. They instinctively take a storytelling approach to content creation, which makes your brand’s messaging more engaging to readers. Client cases are also an excellent option for content right now.
These make your content more personal, because they tell the real stories behind your customers’ successes.
Outsource your content creation
This year, more and more companies are embracing content as a strategy for achieving business goals. Producing the volume of content that it takes to maintain a successful content marketing strategy is time-consuming. Even large companies cannot afford to hire a full-time staff of in-house writers in most cases. That means you’re probably going to need some external help. The future of content marketing is freelance. Leading marketers now follow a simple strategy: they develop their own content strategy and goals in-house, then scale up content creation by outsourcing it to a fixed network of trusted freelance writers.
Understand how freelance talent works
If you’re ready to join the freelance trend, then it helps to understand how freelance content creators work. It can be an extremely time-consuming process to manage your own network of freelance talent. That’s why many companies now turn to quality-focused talent agencies like ours.
Quality standards
To reach your quality standards and keep up with your content calendar, you’ll need reputable freelance talent. If you’re not sure where to find those best-in-class journalistic writers, team up with an agency that carefully pre-screens writers to separate the pros from the amateurs.
Making content more meaningful
It’s been a tough year so far. We’ve said goodbye to so many things for now: crowded football stadiums, crowds, office parties… parties… offices… But here’s one thing we can all feel good about saying goodbye to: low-quality online content. Thanks to genuinely beneficial initiatives from Google and other search engines, the days of keyword stuffing and clickbait headlines are finally coming to an end. That means we can all look forward to a more informative, entertaining online landscape.
It’s a great time to get in touch with what your customers are really looking for. Ask yourself how your company can step in to fill gaps in their knowledge or make a meaningful contribution to their everyday lives. And really drive home your messaging by using an engaging, journalistic storytelling approach. To find out more about the top content marketing trends for this year and beyond, be sure to read our full report.
