With just over a month left of the year, it's time to start thinking about what the next 365 days hold for content creation, undoubtedly one of the pillars of any effective digital marketing strategy.
From the evolution of information formats to new user browsing habits, and potential aces up social media's sleeve; all these factors must be carefully considered, as they can significantly influence the actions taken by marketers from now on.
This is what content marketing will look like in 2017
Although the inherent dynamism of this sector makes accurate predictions very difficult, we wanted to echo some of the possible content creation trends for 2017, anticipated by Joe Pulizzi, a content marketing expert, and reported by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). Using these as a reference can guide us on what's coming to the web and within agencies. Ready to discover what the Chinese Year of the Rooster will bring?
1) Video will continue its unstoppable rise
According to an Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media report, video consumption increased by 85% between 2010 and the current year. This spectacular growth is closely linked to the widespread use of smartphones. In fact, Zenith assures that mobile phones will become the primary platform for video viewing in 2016. Despite this, Pulizzi predicts that this format will continue to spread virally, with few brands committing to creating valuable audiovisual content.
2) …and text will remain central
Despite the tyranny of images, text will continue to play a crucial role, perhaps more than ever. The digital video craze is obscuring the bigger picture, to the point where many marketers resist accepting that most of our communications are still based on written messages. And, frankly, most new professionals in the sector, specialising in new technologies, are not precisely virtuosos of the written word. Against this backdrop, Pulizzi believes companies will strive to hire the best journalists, writers, and copywriters, either in-house or as external collaborators, to ensure quality and optimised texts that achieve good SEO ranking.
3) Facebook: also for lead generation?
Although Princeton University itself dared to predict that 2017 would be the beginning of Facebook's end, Mark Zuckerberg seems determined to prove that dire prediction wrong. Just this month, he announced the opening of new offices in London, which will create 500 new jobs. In any case, Pulizzi highlights that, in the coming months, companies could intensify lead generation efforts on Facebook through content marketing.
4) Snapchat's coming out party
The ghost social network has not only dethroned Twitter in daily users, but it has also surpassed the all-powerful Facebook in video views. For this reason, and despite being a platform primarily used by a very young audience, marketers should start taking it much more into account in their campaigns.
5) Mobile: the winning horse
How many times have we heard that [insert date] will be the year of mobile? Today, 13 months after mobile traffic surpassed that generated from computers, and after the resounding success of augmented reality applications like Pokémon Go!, these devices will continue to dominate digital marketing in 2017. A warning for sailors marketing managers: given that there are more devices than people in the world, designing a content strategy not intended for mobile consumption will be, simply, a suicidal idea.
6) Integration of sales and content: the pending subject
Although this statement may sound harsh to marketers, Pulizzi asserts that if content is not integrated into sales, salespeople will return to their original environment: offices and brick walls.
7) Marketing automation will need to increase
Figures show that email is far from dead, and it can be more important than ever for content marketing campaigns. This is evidenced by the fact that investment in email marketing will be the fastest growing this year. However, Pulizzi warns that most companies send their contacts spam disguised as content day in and day out, and that this practice has led to marketing automation. Furthermore, he warns that companies only utilise around 10% of this practice's potential. Therefore, gaining efficiency and ROI will require greater attention to this area, so companies can get the most out of it.
360-degree videos, infographics, video games…
To these predictions, we should add those of Matt Siltala, president and founder of Avalaunch Media, recently published by Search Engine Journal. In Siltala's words, 2017 will see the definitive take-off of 360-degree videos —especially in the real estate market—, and will serve for infographics and video games —especially if based on virtual reality— to continue flexing their muscles in the content industry.
He has referred to live videos in the same terms, as Insights predicts, considering that Facebook Live will become mainstream.
Do you have questions? Would you like to know how other areas will evolve or what strategies you need to implement to maximise your investment and improve ROI? In that case, write to us or call us at 93 532 93 78. At B2 Performance, your digital marketing agency in Barcelona, we will provide you with the support and guidance you need to achieve the best results in all your marketing actions. And most importantly: for much less than you imagine. See for yourself!
