Content Strategy For Business: 10 Trends

On the importance of content marketing (as a component of complex Internet advertising), we talked a lot of times. But content marketing itself is a deceptive and overrated thing. If you expect serious results from it, get ready for serious work to integrate content with other advertising channels and platforms. I emphasize: with all the channels that you have already mastered – or just gathered to conquer. I’m sure your content marketers have a head on their shoulders, and the voice of your brand does not look like a clumsy “rewrite” of the identical voice of competitors. Then everything will be fine.

And to make things even better, I propose to outline perspective content marketing strategies for 2015 (as they see the resource Small Business Trends , with our additions).

PERSONS OF BUYERS

The people of the buyers are the people you want to reach first. Good content appeals to their interests, daily problems, to take into account buying patterns, fears and hobbies. These are fictional heroes, collected from real elements. With the help of web analytics, online and offline communication with the audience it is necessary to establish:

• who are all these people ™
• where and in what positions do they work
• how confident they feel at the present place
• how to use their shopping selection algorithm to create relevant content
• what are their goals, ambitions and fears
• what hugs them, and what flies by

When we published an article on the method of persons in May  , this technique was labeled “for the elect”. It was used by web developers for a long time and was successfully mastered by conversion optimizers like our friends from SalesDoubler, but the content marketers did not say much about it. It took a bit more than half a year – and the development of people marks in the key trends of 2015. Without marketing people, all the talk about optimized content is meaningless. And the materials “for everyone” work fine, but only at the beginning of the advertising campaign, when you need traffic and media weight.

Want real customers – contact specific people.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing  is almost the same as an integrated approach, in which all advertising techniques and channels work in one team. But if the goals of integrated Internet marketing for different companies may be different, then the incoming task is always the same. Creation, optimization, distribution and promotion of content that will involve the target audience – or rather, the buyer’s person – in a productive dialogue.

Inbound Marketing = Customer Orientation

What is the difference from content marketing? Imagine that content marketing is an oil painting. So, inbound is all that was left behind the scenes before and after the creation of the masterpiece. Preparation of colors, search for plot and nature. Framing, entering into an agreement with the agent and advertising the work. Finally, the setting of light, which will emphasize all the merits of the picture.

This year, all sensible brands have mastered content marketing. In 2015, the focus will shift to the presentation, optimization and advertising of the finished product.

New multimedia features

We are constantly told that blogging itself is not enough. First of all, it is dictated by the Western fashion – the content content marketing is much more severe and diverse. Very soon it will become the same in Runet, but so far all is well: steep blogs are worth their weight in gold, and they are still considered a competitive advantage.

Relaxed? In vain. Tomorrow everything can change: your competitor will hire a cool designer, start to make infographics and animation – and in two accounts will furnish all your articles. In 2015, the leader is the one who knows how to benefit from a variety of content:

• white books
• video
• webinars
• newsletters
• blogs
• podcasts
• social media (not only classical social networks!)
• guest blogging
• landing pages
• visual content (graphics, infographic, photo)
• presentations and even offline events

Returning to the artistic analogy: the wider your palette, the more colorful the result will be. Of course, you can draw and black and white canvases – but in this case you will have to be the best of the best. And this is much more difficult than mastering a couple of new formats.

Mobile Content

It’s not just about a mobile website, but social networks. Optimizing the site for mobile devices is half the battle. Your content should be optimized for mobile services, deferred reading programs and media platforms for material syndication.

A few ideas: adapt the layout of the pages of the blog for adequate parsing in Pocket and Instapaper. If you work in entertainment or news topics, pay attention to Surfingbird – this is the most powerful advisory network in RuNet, which can give huge targeted traffic without any effort on your part.

But the main thing is your content. It should be mobile, easy and “sharing”. It’s about social modules that will allow you to share not only articles, but also media. In the Pinterestura era and video hosting, this is the number one priority. Visual content should be adapted to small screens and the specifics of the operation of various devices. Basically: do not use flash and place your bet on simple and throwing elements.

Adaptive content

Adaptive content is the evolution of the mobile. Each unit of content marketing should be adjusted to the behavior of users on a particular device. Keywords: personalization, experiments with formats and platforms. For retail, it is vitally important to monitor the geek finds and integrate offline and online activity of the company.

A simple example: QR codes, which today have become the norm for many companies. This is not only a link between offline and online. This is a tremendous opportunity for creative and useful marketing at various stages of the sales funnel. QR codes do not surprise anyone, you say. That is why it is in your interest to monitor IT trends and new start-ups – and smartly test their findings in your business.

Visual content

The user loves the eyes. Visual involvement is one of the main engines of business: new multimedia formats, beautiful images and fresh ideas. At the heart of each of them is an image: a photograph, a graphic, a video. They warm up the interest and loyalty of the audience. Sometimes beautiful visions inspire more than detailed cases.

You can experience a step-by-step description of the landing page development process. This is important – but that’s not all. It is much more effective to show the finished portfolio. I do not think that your users think in terms of categories “here would be lending, which goes through three stages of coordination, testing by Turing and five editions.” He sees a cool design and a beautiful inscription “conversion rate: + 120%” – and thinks “I also want so”.

Video, infographic, memes (!), Metrics, animation – this is the top content on mobile platforms. It’s a chance to make friends with a user who is set up for entertainment. And involve him in the sales funnel (acting as a franchise, not as a brand).

Video marketing

According to Cisco, by 2017, video will account for 69% of all Internet traffic. More than a billion unique users enter YouTube every month. 64% of Internet marketers who took part in the Nielsen survey are sure that video marketing is already now one of the main advertising channels for their companies (and will retain the primacy in the near future).

Do you want to delve into the specifics of the most important trend of 2015? Read this article .

Internal content optimization

Exactly one year ago we shared with you a case on the promotion of the legal portal freelawyer.ua. This is a unique legal market for the Ukrainian market, which allows visitors to receive prompt legal assistance, and lawyers – to find new clients. But more importantly: the history of optimization of this site still seems to me the best proof that a thoughtful platform for content is no less important than the content itself.

I recommend: a case for  tripling the increase in organic traffic for a legal portal.

Mass refusal of SEO-promotion

Nevertheless, we are increasingly confronted with a situation where customers refuse or freeze SEO-promotion. In return, they focus on contextual advertising and CRO (or even occupy a wait-and-see attitude). Let’s be honest: the image of SEO in recent years has been seriously affected. Even not so: first of all the image of domestic SEO-companies suffered. Anyone who reads western blogs will notice the contrast between Ukrainian and American principles of search engine optimization.

This trend, unlike the previous ones, is by no means a call to action (they say, refuse SEO, because your competitors do so). You need to weigh the pros and cons: if you have a clear strategy for communicating with the audience, bet on it. Pump content marketing and SMM, optimize the conversion of sites, put in context. But if there is no such strategy, then the external optimization of the site is your only chance to stay afloat in 2015.

The user creates (and judges too)

User-generated content is a very promising piece for the B2C segment. On this topic, we also have an interesting article . However, next year’s issue is not how to stimulate users and learn how to use their achievements for the benefit of business.

Question of 2015: what else needs to be done to make the user become the center of your company? There is no universal advice. But there is a good idea of Seth Godin about what is the use of the power-user (the collective image of the client of your dreams).

Such a user will pay you more and help in the development of your infrastructure. He will become a lawyer for the brand. The task is to find it, to inspire it – and to give the necessary tools that will achieve its goals (and in parallel – to help you reach your goals).