After our post yesterday about the next big thing in content marketing it’s only right we reflect on where content marketing actually is in 2015. After all, if the “old thing” is broken, why are we even talking about “the next big thing”?
As the infographic from Express Writers below demonstrates, content marketing is far from dead and buried. In fact, there is plenty to be excited about when it comes to marketing online this year, and likely for the years to come, too.
Let’s take just a couple of examples from the infographic to demonstrate why there’s reason for optimism.
Numbers don’t lie…
You can’t ignore the popularity of content marketing. Indeed, 9 out of 10 marketers use content marketing as part of their digital strategy, and 60% of marketers are engaging in content marketing on a weekly basis. What’s more, 82% of the consumers of that content find it relevant, a figure that suggests that content marketers are hitting their mark.
…but they can warn
There’s also a warning in those figures, though. Only a little more more than four out of ten content marketers feel like they are getting a net positive return on investment – and that’s a problem. To be clear:
- almost everybody does content marketing
- most people who engage with the content love it
- but most content marketers don’t perceive a return on their content marketing investment
What does this mean?
It might mean that most of the content getting read is from a small number of sites, leaving most content marketers scratching their heads. It might also mean that content marketers need to get smarter, or more efficient, when it comes to marketing their content, and hence push the ROI up.
Shorter is better
Content consumers used to prefer longform white papers – and the operative word term there is “used to”.
Today almost everyone – 95% – prefers shorter content.
Shorter content is shareable and, when well written, can get across in a couple of thousand words what might have previously taken a couple of dozen pages of close-typed text.
Keywords: Quality, Utility, Creativity.
When it comes to content marketing some things haven’t changed in 2015. Indeed, the fundamentals of good communication remain the same:
- QUALITY: Content needs to be high quality, whether curated, original, or outsourced to one of the many content creation workshops that have emerged to feed the internet’s hunger for fresh material.
- UTILITY: If content is useful it gets shared. And when it gets shared, it gets through. If your content isn’t actionable, it is going to lack the special sauce to cut through the noise and reach the reader.
- CREATIVITY: Sure, you can find people who’ll write you another version of a Buzzfeed front page story, but real creativity continues to be rewarded online. If you can harness creativity, you’ll be on a winning ride.
Check out the rest of the information and see where you stand.
16 Comments
Thanks for an eye-opening – even eye-watering – piece. Eye-watering because of the shocking statistic relating to perceived lack of positive ROI on content marketing efforts. If it’s so difficult to get content marketing right, is it really possible to say that’s where we are all headed? Or are we in fact barking up the wrong tree!
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