By now, you’ve probably started putting together your content marketing strategy for 2017. To help you round out your strategies, we’ve put together a list of the top content trends you’ll want to act on in the year to come. You’ll notice that many of these trends aren’t new. Rather, they mark a continuation that we see stretching into the future. As a result, you may already be practicing some of these strategies, in which case it’s time to look at your tactics to see how you can update them for 2017.
In-Store Mobile
More and more consumers are signing up for location-based mobile alerts that send them notifications of deals when they’re walking the aisles of a store and in close proximity to a store. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, consider Beacon technology and whether it’s right for your customers. Mobile coupon programs can help get more Millennials engaged, too.
Omni-Channel / Omni-Device
Mobile users and desktop users are the same people. Instead of thinking of theme as discrete audiences, we need to think of them as moving fluidly between channels and between devices, and then create content that flows with that movement. Our tracking also needs to follow that fluidity. In 2017, this fluid mindset needs to shape our tracking and content creation practices.
Experience Marketing
Millennials are more interested in buying experiences than things. If Millennials are part of your target audience, we can cater to this preference by creating novel experiences via storytelling, visual media, and in-person events. We can also frame our brand, products and services as experiences. Episodic content is another great way to create experiences that keep your audience coming back for more.
Influencer Marketing
Relationships have always been important in marketing—and every other industry. Thus, it’s no surprise that influencer marketing will continue to play an important role in content marketing. Take the time to create an influencer strategy that makes sense for your goals and your target audience.
Visual/Video
From Snapchat to Facebook, video is as important as ever. If you’re not leveraging this tactic, it’s time to start. Put together a visual storytelling strategy that includes a process and organization around the ongoing delivery of valuable information through visual media.
Data
Good data is going to be as important as ever in 2017—for everything from content automation to better personalization and targeting. It will continue to be important to collect data from social media channels and to align data across devices and channels. We’ll also see bigger companies employing artificial intelligence for analyzing data and creating, publishing, and managing content.
Get in touch with Filament today for help putting these content trends into play with your content marketing strategy.
