Last year alone, more data was created online across the world than in the last 5,000 years. Content has been at the heart of this changing paradigm; while over two million blog posts are created online across several websites and platforms on a daily basis.
However, while the abundance of content across digital spheres is something consumers delight in, it has raised its fair share of challenges for marketers and brands. This is why effective content marketing is more important now than ever before. Marketing endeavors need to have entertaining, engaging, and relevant content at their core to grab the most consumer eyeballs. Here, then, are key content marketing trends to watch out for in 2018:
Key Content Marketing Trends 2018
Tapping into the massive rural market with the mobile-ready content
Social media applications like Facebook account for a majority of this consumption by rural consumers, while the rest of their internet usage is towards consuming content such as new, videos, and music. Furthermore, OTT video applications, with their ability to offer anytime, anyplace entertainment, are also gaining more popularity with each passing day. The OTT medium presents a significant opportunity to target digital consumers with personalized, relevant content. This is something that brands can turn to their advantage by developing simple, mobile-ready content to engage much more effectively with their audience bases.
AI and Machine Learning-driven insights for content creation
The success of any brand’s content marketing strategy hinges on its ability to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time. Although customers today are more inclined to have one-on-one interactions with companies over social media or chatbots, most companies still struggle when it comes to providing effective customer service or managing a large volume of conversations on digital channels. That’s where machine learning comes in. Brands can today create unique, interactive content created to match the consumer’s profile and consumption habits based on insights gathered from proactive and predictive analysis of consumer’s data. This can not only help brands target and acquire new customers but also retain existing ones by communicating the value of products/services and resolving issues in an interactive manner. Data and machine learning, hence, will be a force to reckon with in 2018, significantly enhancing marketers’ ability to customize the content for individual consumers and optimize conversations to drive better results.
Use of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to deliver innovative content
As far as interactive delivery of video content is concerned, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will be the next chapter in the success story of technology-driven marketing across the globe. According to experts, VR and AR together will generate $150 billion in revenue by 2020, allowing marketers to capitalize on its widespread availability and optimize their content for the medium. Extended reality content that entertains and adds value will become more commonplace as technology continues to evolve. With creative and interactive graphics, videos, and apps, brands can not only ensure a successful content marketing strategy but also lay the groundwork for future experiments in VR/AR.
The emergence of Blockchain-powered content protection
Among the several possible use cases of Blockchain is the protection of content, and copyrighted material in particular. In the near future, we can expect Blockchain technology to be used to register and protect content against copyright infringement, as a public decentralized ledger will help creators and distributors to catalog and store what they create. Moreover, an important benefit of a Blockchain-powered content protection mechanism is that there will still be a verifiable copy of any original content created and stored, even after the copyright is no longer in service.
The integration of over-the-top content creation and distribution technology into the realm of higher education, e-learning, and corporate learning presents a massive opportunity for OTT technology providers. Furthermore, through partnerships undertaken with brands or through White Label services, OTT players with the capability to create advanced technology-driven solutions can help further the objectives of organizations in the market, by creating new and dynamic avenues for them to reach out to consumers in unique ways.
Conclusion
Hope this post containing key content marketing trends of 2018 helps you in boosting your business. Do share your thoughts with us.