How Will Content Marketing Evolve as We Get Closer to 2016?

Content marketing has become less about trying to reach everyone all the time, and more about crafting engaging content and creating meaningful connections. As we head toward a new year, content will become even more focused, strategic and most importantly, high quality.

What should your content marketing team plan for in 2016?

1) Multimedia will be critical across platforms
Add pictures, video, even polls and quizzes to your web pages, social media and applications in order to attract users’ attention and maximize your search ranking potential. Video content has become a priority, as videos are now more likely to receive a first page search ranking than text. Media increases the amount of time users spend on your page, optimizing engagement possibilities and boosting site analytics.

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2) Data and analytics will drive content creation
With web data and analytics becoming increasingly accessible, brands can compose a more complete profile of their target audience. Google Analytics can reveal information like when users access your site, which devices they’re using and how they found you. Social media analytics, like those provided by Facebook, can tell you which content audiences found most engaging. Use this information to create content suited for your audience’s interests.

3) Mobile optimization
Your audience will soon be more likely to discover your content via mobile than desktop. Almost half of all online shopping occurs on smartphones and tablets now, and almost half of social media use is mobile. Google’s recent decision to prioritize sites that are mobile-friendly should be enough of a reason to rethink your mobile design.

4) Plug your content into the latest stories, trends and memes
Content marketers need a war room dedicated to searching across platforms; or rather, applications feeding content in real time. Use stories that are currently trending to engage with your audience by offering insight and facilitating discussion. New platforms like Snapchat and Vimeo allow brands to join the conversation with timely, custom content capitalizing on popular memes.

5) Tailor your message tightly for your specific audience
All of these trends support the larger movement toward content marketing that is personalized to brand and audience. The standard SEO formula of plugging in keywords in a webpage is being replaced by semantic SEO, which focuses more on the user’s intention than what the user actually typed. Search will become more of a discovery, so by understanding more about who you want to find you, you can create content the user will enjoy.

To stay up to date with content marketing trends, work with our team at Viral Solutions.

Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC

by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer

We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.

Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.