Content Marketing is becoming a part of core marketing strategy for businesses across sectors and regions. 88% of B2B marketers admit to using content marketing. The field of content marketing is still evolving and there is a lot of change happening. So, here are the Top 5 game changers that will shape content marketing for small businesses in India as well as the big brands:
- Video Content will be preferred
The Cisco Visual Networking Index has forecasted that video will account for almost 70% of consumer internet traffic by 2017. According to Nielsen, 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in coming years.
There is a growing popularity of video content among st users and the same will be reflected in the content businesses and brands put out. Videos are more engaging, convey a lot in less span of time and have a greater tendency to be shared on social media. This trend of more content in video format is going to continue this year.
- Taking Matters into own hand
As more business realize the importance of a growing audience that comes back for great content, they will start building this audience themselves rather than relying on social media and other platforms.
Recent and frequent changes in Facebook and YouTube algorithms have highlighted the importance of having a loyal following even outside of these platforms. Facebook has recently made changes in its algorithms that give preference to posts shared by friends of users over those shared by brands. This means that getting to your potential customers is that much harder as the direct line of communication is now broken.
These and many more changes have made brands look for other options like mails, apps and even print magazines to directly connect with users.
- Quality Content
As the users are bombarded with plethora of content, only the ones with good quality and niche content will get their due. Nobody wants to consume bad quality content in this age of shortening attention span. Even if the content quality is good, users do not waste their time watching something to which they do not connect or agree with.
The content consumption market is now at a stage where we will see specialization of content. This means content marketers will look for and try to chase niche markets. Differentiation of content market can be on various factors like region (urban/ rural), ideologies, demographics, habits and interests etc.
This is the reason why there is increasing demand for content marketing agencies for start ups and small businesses.
- Mobile will Rule
This one is a no brainer. We have seen in the end of 2016 that Mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop Internet usage for the first time in history. In this light, all content that is developed has to suit audiences browsing on mobile. The length, tone, call to action in the content will change accordingly. A lot of content will also be distributed through mobile apps.
- User generated content
2017 will see a rise in user generated content. Product users and early adapters posting their reviews is a great example of user generated review. People are more prone to trust third party users just like themselves and hence, we see the rise of subscriptions for review channels. The role of bloggers, reviewers and YouTube stars is going to be more prominent in coming year. It is not about putting articles online anymore; but, about managing users and user influencers.
