The Biggest Content Marketing Trends of 2017
Published on January 4, 2017
A new year brings fresh experiences, a fresh batch of resolutions, and, as always, changes to our online mediascape. Some of these shifts are astronomical, some are so small they probably won’t register for most people; but no matter their impact, your content marketing needs to be able to adapt.
Want to optimize your content creation and sharing strategy for 2017? Here are some of the biggest trends worth keeping your eye on:
1.) The Growth of Live Streaming
Facebook has been aggressively promoting live video, both in fancy ad campaigns and with its own internal algorithms. And the results have been huge: By some metrics, watching videos now accounts for one-third of all time spent online, and more than half of all internet users watch videos online every single day. On Facebook alone, daily views now top out at over 8 billion, and the platform is responsible for delivering more than 100 million hours of video on mobile alone every day.
And it’s not just Facebook! Real-time live updating is a trend that’s here to stay, taking root in some shape or form on Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. Is your brand ready for the ubiquity of live video on social media? If not, here’s our one-stop guide for getting started in 2017.
2.) A Push for VR
Virtual reality, or VR, was once considered a far-off pipe dream. Then it suddenly seemed much closer with the announcement of Oculus VR and other high-end systems. Then these promised solutions seemed to be stalled indefinitely. Until now!
2016 was the year when affordable VR solutions started to proliferate the market (we cataloged some of the most notable options here), and 2017 is the year we expect to see it explode.
Marketers have already turned out amazing VR experiences for their products, from M&Ms candies to jackets by the North Face. With a bevy of cheap VR sets on the market from Samsung and Google, and a wide array of tools making it easier than ever to capture and share immersive images and video, we may see more medium- and niche-businesses start to market with VR in the year ahead. Stay tuned.
3.) A Shift in Social Media Marketing
As we’ve discussed before, Facebook users have seen a steep decline in their posts’ organic reach over the years. For pages with more than 500,000 likes in 2016, organic reach could be as low as just 2%. We expect to see this trend continue into 2017, as Facebook puts the screws on marketers to use it as a paid marketing platform. Not willing to break out your pocketbook just yet? There are still some ways to organically extend your Facebook reach – primarily by indulging in its push for new types of content. So why not try more GIFs, live streams, and social videos in the year ahead? Not only will you diversify your content, you’ll be playing the game and getting in front of more eyes.
And as we move into 2017, remember that social media is a massive playing field that’s still growing and changing – to the point where some people are afraid to even dive in! Don’t get hung up on Facebook and Twitter when there are lots of other avenues to explore, ranging from LinkedIn (the number one source of social lead generation for B2B companies) to Instagram (which doubled its daily monthly user base in the last year).
4.) A Demand for Higher Quality
Millennials and their younger siblings are true digital natives who feel entirely comfortable online, and their parents are starting to catch up. Audiences are becoming savvier and more discriminating when it comes to the content they engage with and consumer online. Stand out from the crowd by closing the quality gap and really giving your prospective customers the kind of information and multimedia they want to see.
In addition to writing the sorts of blog content that audiences love – infographics, lists, compelling stories – plan for new types of content, from videos to white pages to webinars. Think about what you can do to personalize your content, to target your social posts, to help really provide value when you send out a marketing email.
More importantly, think about how all of your pieces of content work, and work together. What are they doing to engage audiences? How are they actively moving users down your conversion funnel? Are you actively shaping a narrative and guiding readers’ decisions, or just throwing tons of ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks? Ask yourself these questions up front, or your audience will do it for you.
It is 2017, after all.
For help launching a digital strategy in the year ahead – including web development, SEO-focused content creation, and social media marketing – don’t hesitate to drop us a line! The Geek team has a proven track record of securing superlative results for clients in all sorts of fields. How can we help make your business smarter? Get in touch to find out.
