Content marketing is still among the most effective ways for brands to gain visibility. The right type of content has the ability to rank prominently in search results, earning shares on social media and making a name for the business behind it. As with other types of marketing, however, the type of campaigns that are effective can change from year to year.
In 2015, content marketing will continue to evolve as brands find new ways to reach customers using the devices and websites they're interacting with most.
Visual Continues to Dominate
As the competition for customer attention continues to heat up, infographics, photos, and videos will be essential supplement to every piece of content. A recent survey found that nonprofits rank higher than for-profit organizations in their content marketing strategies, with 63 percent reporting they are currently working on visual content as part of their marketing strategies.
Personalization is Everywhere
As data analytics gradually becomes an integral part of major business decisions, savvy marketers are learning to use analytics to structure successful content marketing campaigns. In 2015, businesses will begin to feel the pressure to study customer behaviors and craft informed content marketing strategies to remain competitive. A customer will be served content that meets his own personal preferences rather than being part of a marketing blast that likely won't capture his attention.
Mobile-Friendly is a Must
Mobile device usage passed PC use in 2014 for the first time in history. Recognizing this, brands are adjusting their content marketing campaigns for smaller screens and short attention spans. Content will be designed to be read on small screens, with localization and location-based search terms reaching peak importance.
Narrative Science Will Replace White Papers
In 2014, many businesses focused their content marketing efforts on long-form technical documents like white papers and case studies to attract consumers. 2015 will see an increased focus on narrative science, where data is used to tell a story in an engaging manner, with numbers updated as they change.
Customers as Storytellers
Case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of storytelling from a business's existing-customer perspective. In 2015, brands will build on this, letting customers share their own personal stories about a product or service. This not only humanizes the experience and makes it more relatable to readers but it takes some of the content creation work out of the hands of brands, allowing them to simply clean up the content and post it.
Cross-Platform Content Marketing
Dashboard services may make it easy to post one social media update across multiple platforms, but content marketers now see the value of personalizing each post. From guest blogs to articles to tweets, brands will begin to personalize their content marketing efforts in order to reach different demographics in different ways.
Interactive Applications for Product Storytelling
Interactive storytelling will become an integral part of product demonstration, especially at events like expos and conferences. Brands will find ways to use interactive 3-D product models and well-crafted content to engage customers and give them a taste of a product without actually having the product on site.
Collaborative Marketing
Guest blogging has suffered some bad press in 2014 due to some unsavory practices that resulted in multiple spammy links. There is still a valid use for content marketing, both for gaining prominence in search rankings and growing your audience by meeting new people on other websites. In 2015, professionals will continue to see the benefits of working with others in the industry, whether it's to share information on social media or to spend a day guest blogging on each other's sites.
Competition Heats Up
There is a growing awareness of the value of content marketing that will have a definite impact on the business playing field in 2015. Businesses will be forced to be more inventive in their strategies as competitors launch their own content marketing strategies.
Content Campaign Measurement
Analytics will power personalization, but they will also become increasingly important to every marketing campaign. Businesses will learn to measure and adjust with each new blog post or social media update. With more tools available for measuring campaigns, this will become easier than ever in 2015.
As a new year begins, businesses of all sizes are already preparing this year's marketing campaigns. By using the many tools available and working to create unique content campaigns, brands can continue to get their names out there in order to connect with customers.
