Since its emergence, online content marketing has come a remarkably long way. But where is it headed?
Below, learn more about three high-level content marketing trends that will continue to unfold in 2014:
Adapting to Mobile Will Be Key
While catering to mobile users has been a fairly high priority for content marketers leading up to this year, those who fail to meet demand in this area will only continue to fall further behind in 2014. It’s a well-established fact that audiences are already consuming online information through mobile devices: Statistics show that 63 percent of adult cellphone owners use their phones to go online, according to research from Pew Internet. The projections for where mobile is set to go, however, may be even more telling. According to Mashable, projections indicate that mobile Web use will overtake desktop use by 2015.
With these and so many other statistics pointing toward the importance of mobile, content marketers cannot afford to overlook it in 2014.
Visual Content Will Reign Supreme
In the past, content marketing was primarily centered on words, focusing on blog posts, Facebook statuses, tweets and the like. While these forms of content will still remain an essential part of a solid content marketing plan, brands will need to focus more attention on visual forms of content marketing.
Just looking at the popularity of Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Vine makes this pretty plain to see. Consumers are asking for content in more visual forms, and marketers are responding. As noted in a recent survey,
When asked to identify major trends surrounding content marketing, nearly four-fifths (82 percent) of marketers believe that content is more likely to be consumed if it is visual, signifying the value in photos and video content.
In 2014, look for more content in the form of infographics, videos and photos.
Distribution Will Become a Greater Focal Point
What good is creating content if no one sees it? As content marketers are forced to fight harder and harder for the attention of consumers as more brands hop aboard the content marketing train, distribution will become even more integral to content marketing strategies.
Raidious CEO Taulbee Jackson notes in the blog post “2014 Marketing Predictions from the Raidious Team,”
Distribution will become a critical piece of the puzzle for brands once they have figured out how to source, produce and publish content on their owned media channels. There will be continued reallocation of budgets from offline and online advertising to paid content distribution models.
In 2014 and beyond, implementing strategic distribution plans for content will likely be the only way marketers will attain the ROI they seek.
