The Future Of Content Marketing

Searching the internet is no longer about looking up keywords and reading articles. People are using the internet in different ways today than they did a decade ago. It’s for that reason that you need to keep up with trends in content marketing.

The future of content marketing is no longer a mere race to the top of the search engine results. Instead, it’s about incorporating user-friendly content that your visitors want to consume.

Here’s a glimpse at the future of content marketing, ad the components you should be incorporating into your inbound marketing strategy.

Social Media is the New SEO

Social media is rewriting the internet entirely. In the past, consumers would develop a sense of brand recognition through means such as television ads and in-store marketing (think: Clydesdales at the Super Bowl).

Today, however, social media is an incredibly powerful way for brands to reach out to consumers, and vice versa. In America alone, 81% of all adults have a social media account, and most frequent Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

An even more staggering statistic is this: 90% of all social media users reach out to brands using the platform.

To put it very simply, if your business isn’t on social media, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for visibility. Choose a platform, and start posting today! 

Live Video is (Becoming) King

Here at DuBose, we firmly believe that content is king. However, we understand that content takes many forms. Content could refer to your blog posts, your email marketing campaigns or even that tweet you posted last Friday.

Live videos are becoming an increasingly effective part of a successful content marketing strategy. Consider these statistics:

• 81% of internet users interact with a live video each month
• 92% of mobile viewers share the videos they watch
• Live video has 300% more engagement than pre-recorded video
• Almost half of all live audience would pay for live access

So what does that mean for you? It means you should get in on the live video craze, too. It’s the fastest-growing medium; live video participation has increased 600% in the last year alone.

Live video is simply preferable to some consumers. It’s great for brand recognition, too. Customers will have the chance to interact with you and your brand, and you’ll be able to get a better feel for the conversation consumers are having about your brand, firsthand. 

Content is Designed to Help

Gone are the days when each page of your website is a thinly veiled sales pitch. Our customers have become wise to this and are now searching the internet for brands that will answer their questions.

Your business does answer a question. The product or service you sell is a solution to a problem your customers face. Use that to your advantage. Instead of attempting to sell your customers with every email you send and blog post you write, take the opportunity to give away a bit of your knowledge.

When you inform and engage your readers without selling to them, you’ll help to foster a relationship of trust. Your customers will come back to you time and time again, and you’ll establish yourself as an industry leader… not a salesperson. 

Google is Evolving … Again

Everyone wants to reach the top of the Google search results. But Google take great measures to keep on top of things. Every now and then, the company will change the search algorithm, and content marketing changes along with it.

In recent years, Google has begun to make the switch to catering to natural language searches. For instance, an internet user is more likely to ask Google, “What will happen if my dog eats chocolate?” than to simply search “dogs chocolate risks.”

So what should you do? You should cater your content to specific search terms. Focus on keywords that contain natural language – that is, as if you were speaking to a friend. Titles, topics and keywords are all a part of this natural language preference. However, don’t forget to connect relevant articles together. This is one of the main points of content marketing for the future.

Simply put, when a user searches for the answer to a question, your website will appear with the answer. If the answer isn’t found within that particular article, it should be easy for the reader to simply click a link that directs them to another on your article that does.