Content marketing is a term that has been around since the early 2000s and has been increasing in popularity ever since.
It’s no surprise why: content marketing provides businesses with an opportunity to connect with their customers and prospects in a way that was never before possible.
In this article, we will explore what content marketing is and how people have changed the way they read, interact, and engage with content. We will also talk about the future of content marketing as well as give you tips on how you can create a successful strategy for your company or organization.
How People Have Changed the Way They Read, Interact, and Engage With Content
According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
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There are 3 major trends that people are using when it comes to content marketing.
Mobile first
With around 97% of US adults owning smartphones as well as rapid increases in mobile use across the globe, people are reading content on their mobile devices a lot more. The main challenge here is generating pages that load quickly so people don’t give up waiting.
Many companies have implemented responsive designs which allow websites to adapt themselves for smaller screen sizes as well as faster loading times. This could be a challenging task, but it’s worth the effort.
Video first
Content marketing has exploded on YouTube and Facebook due to their popularity with millennials. Many businesses have even started abandoning print advertising because they believe that video adverts will deliver better results in terms of ROI.
Video is here to stay so any effort made when it comes to marketing should involve video in one or more shapes or forms. Speaking of videos, high quality webinar software is quickly taking over the internet as more and more businesses are realizing the power of running online webinars through videos and the potential that this has to their bottom line.
Personalization
Content marketing is only effective when it provides the right value at the right time for relevant audiences. Personalization has been around for a while, but it’s becoming more accessible and useful than ever before thanks to the emergence of big data and artificial intelligence techniques.
Personalization can be based on location, demographics, behavioral patterns as well as many other metrics that help marketers understand their customers better than ever before.
The Future of Content Marketing
Content marketing will only keep getting more important. As we move into the next generation, it’s difficult to tell where technology may take us.
We can, however, speculate as to whether people will continue searching for information within their social networks or if they’ll keep going back to publishers and other authorities for their information needs.
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Funnels (including sales funnels) are now the new websites and the content produced on such funnels needs to be second to none. People expect high-quality as they are led from one stage of a funnel to the next one.
At this point, it’s also beneficial to mention content curation, which is the process of collecting various information from different sources, and putting it together in one, central location.
The benefits of content curation are clear. One will have access to all of these different sources in one place and this makes the job easier. As a person searching for information, you don’t have to go looking on Google and clicking through different links; you can just find a piece that was curated by someone else and use that instead.
There is plenty of research out there that says businesses need to be investing more in marketing and technology to drive their business forward. The adoption of content curation is one way that businesses are now able to do this and will continue to do so in the future.
Tips On How to Make Your Own Content Marketing Strategy Successful
Nurturing a relationship with your readers is incredibly important. The best way to build this is by creating useful and valuable content that people want to read. If you find yourself producing great content, but nobody wants to read it, then your strategy needs more work.
It’s also crucial for companies to create a style of writing which sets them apart from others. Content marketers need to create content that tells a story using the right tone so they can capture people’s attention within just a few sentences.
If you ensure that your personal brand has its voice and messaging when creating content marketing strategies, then you will be able to quickly build credibility in the eyes of consumers who are reading your publications, even if they have never heard of you before.
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Finally, your creators need to ensure that they’re only publishing high-quality work – otherwise, it will reflect very negatively on your brand. The same goes for the quality of images that go with your text – they need to be high quality.
In essence, if the work you create looks unprofessional then nobody is going to want to share it or read what you have written.
Final Thoughts On The Future Of Content Marketing
In conclusion, content marketing is only likely to improve and grow in the coming years and might be one of the only viable ways left to ensure financial freedom and achieving the goals you set for yourself.
Content helps businesses build trust and credibility with their target audiences, but it also works to strengthen relationships with existing customers. In a sense, content marketing creates value around your brand that can be used at any moment down the line when people need assistance or information about your products and services.
By keeping the above points in mind when deciding on your content marketing strategy, you will be able to ensure that the value you create is relevant and useful to your target audience.
Hanson Cheng is the founder of Freedom to Ascend. He empowers online entrepreneurs and business owners to 10x their business and become financially independent. You can connect with him here.
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