At this point, marketers understand that content marketing will become an increasingly prominent promotional practice moving forward. However, massive adoption makes it a challenge for brands to stand out, and professionals must think carefully about what their audiences want and how to deliver interactive content.
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n a recent B2B report from the Content Marketing Institute, 52 percent of respondents indicated their greatest content creation challenge was crafting truly engaging media. A separate but similar study from BizLaunch reaffirmed this problem, with respondents defining content that's interesting and engaging as two different ideas. Approximately 62 percent said engaging copy educates readers on a specific topic, and 23.4 percent described engaging content as something that saves viewers time and money.
Marketers who cite engaging copy creation as their No.1 content marketing challenge have to realize there's no secret formula that can solve this problem. There's no computer code that turns bland and boring information into something magical. Brands just have to dedicate time to understand what makes their audiences tick, develop their own voices and convey their most interesting key propositions in such a way that people want to come back for more.
Recent content marketing trends present insights on strategies that can help brands incorporate different content types to appeal to different audiences and spread their messages across new platforms. The data helps brands follow trends, reach new prospects and discover angles that drive conversions.
News Content Marketing shows brands are in tune with the industry (and the world at large)
To achieve long-term results and transactions through content marketing, professionals must earn consumers' trust, and news content marketing delivers consistency.
One news content marketing approach is to use business updates as fodder for articles - and recent data suggests audiences respond to news about corporate philanthropy. According to Edelman's "Good Purpose" study, consumers prefer to purchase products or services from brands that have social agendas. Participate in community outreach, and new and existing customers may become loyal brand ambassadors. In fact, nearly half of Edelman's respondents indicated that they purchased from societal businesses monthly in 2012 - up from 32 percent who engaged with companies with the same consistency in 2010.
Although businesses that show they're involved in charity work benefit from positive publicity, marketers that simply show they're in tune with their own industries can also benefit from news content marketing. To develop engaging copy, companies must show that they have unique insights about developments in their sector. Serious shoppers will appreciate consistent trend overviews, and regular reporting helps a company develop authority.
Social media builds immediate and long-lasting rapport
Content marketing is the umbrella that towers over social media outreach. Without well-written copy, social connections will disappear - and, once again, consistency is key. According to BizLaunch, 73 percent of entrepreneurs expect to see content from the brands they connect with on popular social accounts at least once a week. More, 72 percent of respondents buy from brands they follow via social platforms. When asked why small business owners follow other companies online, 22 percent cited regular publishing of interesting information. SocialVibe confirms this with its own report that shows 61 percent of consumers first consider buying products from brands they connect with online.
Build an interactive community by posting industry-relevant content on regular intervals.
As reported by BizLaunch and SocialVibe, both B2B and B2C audiences expect regular updates, and if the content is boring and stale, marketers can bet those social followers will disconnect. Build an interactive community by posting industry-relevant content on regular intervals. Interactions garnered through consistency help marketers develop rapport with their audiences, and posts that generate the most "Likes," ReTweets or +1's can guide future publications. Companies have unique audiences, so no one content type will do the trick .
Video Content introduces prospects to a whole new world
Video content grabs consumers' attention more than text-only media. According to Cisco, it would take more than 6 million years to watch the volume of video that will navigate global IP networks each month in 2016. But a lot of key factors go into creating videos that offer meaningful viewer experiences, such as length and direction - and brands that provide a consistent delivery of engaging media become recognizable entities to consumers.
According to SundaySky, short-form video designed to reach expansive audiences generates a 50 percent completion rate. In contrast, slightly longer, but personalized, video clips encourage viewers to spend 2.5 times more engaging with the files. This discovery may perplex some marketers, especially since companies often struggle to retain consumers' attention for longer periods of time. Video that is hyper-targeted for a brand's specific audience may be the solution.
Video allows brands new opportunities to show dynamic sides of their business models. When corporations build transparent and honest personas to represent their companies online, consumers become familiar with the people behind the brands' name. Organizations develop trustworthy reputations when their video content includes knowledgeable presenters or shows depth through the animations distilled in visual clips. Video marketing provides businesses the chance to show what their brands are made of, which fosters connections with prospects and builds rapport with customers throughout the sales cycle.
