The new year is rapidly approaching—which usually means a clean start and a fresh budget. It’s a good time to reevaluate your current content marketing strategy and see what’s working and what needs to be updated. Fortunately, our friends at Forbes have compiled a list of the things you need to know to shape your content marketing strategy in the coming year. Here are the seven content marketing trends of 2014.
- A Clear Definition. Content is becoming an increasingly prominent method of marketing. Nearly 60 percent of businesses use content marketing in one form or another. But outside of marketing departments, content marketing is still a relatively new and unknown concept. In 2014, however, Forbes predicts that content marketing will become more mainstream, with clear definitions and functions that everyone understands.
- Director of Content. As content marketing comes into its own and becomes more clearly defined, the days of businesses relegating it to a side project for their existing marketing team will come to a close. As such, more and more companies are beginning to hire directors of content, who are specifically in charge of organizing and implementing a content marketing strategy.
- Mobile Strategies. It’s anticipated that mobile computing will surpass desktop computing within the next two years. This means there’s an increasing need for content that can be experienced mobilely. In the next year, the marketing campaigns that succeed will be the ones that include a mobile strategy.
- Software As a Service. One of content’s trump cards over traditional marketing is the ability to track the ROI much more accurately. But it’s still not an easy proposition. There are hundreds of different factors to keep track of, often over a long period of time. So there’s an increasing need for SAAS packages that can combine all of these factors under a single platform and successfully help you keep track of your content marketing ROI.
- Failure of Marketing Automation. Whenever someone comes up with a new method of doing things, it’s not long before others are trying to do it faster and easier. There are already a number of services and software platforms that automate content marketing campaigns by acting on pre-determined cues from potential customers. Forbes predicts that these attempts at automation will result in lower quality content which functions poorly, leading to a loss of customers, rather than an increase.
- Google+ and Slideshare in B2B. Since its inception, social media has been an important part of reaching customers. But now it’s becoming increasingly important for B2B marketing strategies as well. As Google+ gains popularity, Forbes predicts it will play a more integral role as a B2B marketing tool. In addition, Slideshare allows for easier sharing of visual content—specifically slideshows, which can communicate facts, figures, and other important information in a clear, easily digestible format, making it perfect for B2B content distribution.
- Location-Based Content Marketing. Another effect of the increase in mobile usage is the ability to target customers based on their specific location. Brick and mortar stores are now able to make use of smartphone GPS technology to alert nearby customers and potential customers to special deals they’re offering. Stores not making use of location-based targeting will fall behind in the coming year.
