Content marketing will become more targeted in 2015. Photo credit: Patrice Pourguères
Editor’s note: This article was contributed by Isabel Wiliams of BizDB, a business directory of UK companies.
Digital marketing experts claim that 2015 will be the year of content marketing. Businesses will come to realize how content marketing can boost sales in all digital marketing channels.
2015 will see content marketing expand, gain more value, and establish itself as a must-have marketing method.
Here are 11 content marketing trends all marketing professionals should look out for in 2015.
1. Budgets for content marketing will rise
Organizations will be willing to allocate more funds than ever to their content marketing campaigns. The 2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks study reported that 58 percent of B2B marketers plan to expand their content marketing budgets during the following year.
A study by Contently showed that over a half of marketers will devote 25 percent or less of their funds to their content marketing tactics, and a quarter of them are willing to spend from 25 to 50 percent of their budgets.
Publishing quality content requires a considerable budget – we’ll see many companies commit to content marketing strategies by investing more funds.
2. Content will be more targeted than ever
In 2015, content generated by companies will be more targeted and personalized. An infographic from Business2Community shows that micro-targeting will become a leading activity used by organizations to understand their customers and connect to them in a more meaningful way, building trust and consumer loyalty that will prove crucial in the future.
Taking a cue from e-commerce personalization techniques, marketers will make sure that the distribution of their content is personalized, resulting in more targeted responses and generating real results.
3. Content marketing will go social
Many companies will rethink their content distribution channels and funnel resources into using their social media platforms for content marketing. The vast majority of businesses know that social media are important marketing channels – this report claims that at least 94 percent of them do – and they’ll strive to capitalize on that potential in 2015.
Businesses will increase paid content marketing in social media, using promoted posts in networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s quite simple: Social ads will promote the content, which will in turn generate more leads.
4. Mobile-first content
The global rise of mobile is expected to reformulate the approach towards content distribution. Kim Garst of The Huffington Post points out that 2015 will see a shift from mobile-friendly to mobile-first, giving mobile platforms priority over desktop digital channels.
It’s safe to assume that most subscribers and followers will be accessing content marketing materials from mobile devices. As a result, responsive design and mobile-friendly interfaces are musts – together with the use of images and headline optimization to catch the eye of users checking the page on the go.
5. Documented content strategy
Putting the content marketing strategy and article calendar in writing will likely become standard operating procedure in 2015. A written and fully documented content strategy and methodology has been shown to yield better effects. A recent infographic by Uberflip shows how brands with documented content strategies rated themselves highly in terms of their content effectiveness.
Furthermore, a study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute illustrated that 60 percent of marketers with a documented strategy claimed their efforts had real effects, as opposed to a mere 32 percent of those relying only on a verbal strategy. It’s clear – in 2015, marketers will be documenting their content strategy and helping their teams stay on track.
6. Advertisements and content will go together
In 2015, content marketing will provide a contextual frame for advertising. As brands come to recognize the effectiveness of native adverting strategies, such as advertorials, branded content or sponsored content, they will strategically incorporate their products or services into great content instead of relying solely on advertising. Marketers will collaborate with publishers to create valuable branded content that adds to the overall user experience and fits the publication’s context – all this while still maintaining transparency. Brands will use advertising to support content marketing initiatives. Advertising will start the process of becoming more informative and less blatant.
7. The value of guest blogging will increase
After Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, condemned guest blogging as a viable marketing solution, many thought that was the end of this form of content distribution. Apparently, he was misunderstood. He meant that using guest blogging exclusively for link building is not a good idea and will incur penalties from Google’s search algorithm.
In 2015, marketers will realize that high-quality guest blogging published on recognized platforms is not just about inbound links for SEO, but something much more important. Companies will hire professional writers to generate great content on their behalf – to build a community, increase their reach and complement their branding strategy. [Editor’s note: This guest blog is a superb example of a well-implemented guest blogging strategy.]
8. More automation than ever
Using automatic tools and other technological solutions for a better understanding and management of content strategy will be paramount in 2015. Marketers already feel comfortable using these solutions in their daily practice. Gartner predicts that by 2017, businesses will tend to allocate more funds in this area.
Improving their technologies is something 40 percent of marketing leaders admitted matters to them most at the moment, according to Forrester Research. This essentially means that content marketing, like other marketing segments, will use more and more marketing automation tools to boost ROI.
9. The rise of niche social media
Distributing content through major social media channels is a worthwhile approach, but how about trying to spread the word on already targeted and segmented platforms? Enter niche social media.
True, mainstream social networks attract a large number of people, some of whom may be potential customers, but niche social media offer the opportunity to connect with an audience that is already interested and engaged in relevant subjects, products or services.
Sharing content in niche networks will help companies to become thought leaders of their sectors, boosting brand visibility and adding to their reputation.
10. Content marketing will amp up the visual
Marketing guru Neil Patel, co-founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg, argues that in 2015, marketers should consider visualizing their content in other ways than just through infographics. Attracting more attention will be achieved with the use of new techniques like parallax, animated infographics or 3D infographics.
11. Content marketing integration
Ever since content marketing crystallized as a separate discipline, it was usually controlled by one department or one section of the digital marketing team. Not anymore! In 2015, content marketing will be integrated across company-wide levels.
Smart marketers will involve lots of individuals from disciplines ranging from SEO to sales in brainstorming sessions, allowing anyone with valuable knowledge or skill sets to contribute to the generation and distribution of sponsored content.
2015 will be a breakthrough year for content marketing – we will finally see it realize its full potential for many different marketing purposes. Closely observing how other companies deploy innovative content strategies will provide valuable clues about what’s in store for content marketing in the near future.
