Guest post by Martina Stricak.
Content is, always has been, and will continue to be the basis of any kind of marketing. But content marketing is constantly evolving, and today isn’t what it was back in 2010 when we were deluged with content pollution on the Internet.
Though poorly written filler SEO content is still produced, updates to Google’s search ranking algorithm have rendered it practically useless. Today, we are seeing a shift towards marketing strategies that are much more focused on storytelling and building emotional bonds with the target audience.
Leading content marketing influencers have spoken, and among their expectations for this year are:
- what really matters isn’t just words but creating experiences
- relevance and exclusivity over volume and bloated numbers
- more long-form and high-quality pieces of content
- a transition from creating branded content to building content brands
- more diversity of content formats
All of these tactics should flow from a carefully developed content marketing strategy, and this strategy should be documented.
According to research from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), while 75% B2B organizations have a content marketing strategy, only 37% of them have it documented. Respondents who have a documented strategy report higher levels of overall content marketing success than those who just have a verbal strategy or no strategy at all.
Following a well-documented strategy permits you to have all the dots connected in a way that your audience will understand. Moreover, it indicates you conducted in-depth target audience research so you know what type of content engages them on a personal level and how you can try to make their life easier.
The numbers speak for themselves: 91% of B2B and 86% of B2C marketers are planning to use content marketing in their campaigns.
Check out these findings and many other interesting content marketing trends and stats for 2018 in the infographic below, to help you to get on board and create or improve your own content marketing strategy.
Martina Stricak is a co-founder of Diversis Digital and Point Visible. She is a digital marketing addict with years of experience, who also enjoys graphic design, both @work and in her free time. And yes, she loves to travel. To travel a lot.