Content marketing – Page 5

23/Oct/2017

Last week saw the release of many digital marketing statistical studies. Here we provide a summary of the most important.

Advertising spending increases across all major social media channels

4C Insights has released data that shows advertising spending on Snapchat increased by 73% in the third quarter of 2017 and on Instagram by 55%. There was an increase in advertising expenditures on all social media channels, with an average quarterly increase of 31% on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest and Instagram.

More speciality retailers offer loyalty programs than brands

Astound Commerce reported that 60% of speciality retailers offered loyalty programs to their customers compared to 22% of global brands. Also, the survey noted that 75% of speciality retailers had a mobile app, while less than 25% of global brands offer one to their customers.

Majority of UK consumers plan to purchase Christmas gifts online

According to a survey by Salesforce, 56% of UK consumers expect to conduct more than half of their holiday shopping online. Frustration with experiences while shopping at brick-and-mortar retailers appeared to be the main reason for this finding. Due to the efforts of online retailers to provide content that is effective in informing consumers, 56% of those surveyed said they knew more about products they wished to buy than store employees.

Marketers worried about the impact of GDPR compliance

Research conducted by DMA found that 15% of business still have not developed a compliance plan for the GDPR that will take effect in May 2018. In addition, 65% of the respondents thought the GDPR would hinder their marketing efforts, with 45% saying they would be “very affected” and 22% saying they would be “extremely affected”.

Almost all UK consumers think marketing personalisation is inaccurate

A study by Sitecore and Vanson Bourne has reported that 98% of consumers in the UK believe that brands do not deliver personalised experiences that are relevant, and 66% think that brands are utilising outdated personal information in their marketing efforts. In addition, 42% of the brands surveyed said they didn’t have the capabilities to integrate the personal data they collect into their marketing efforts.

Residents of developed countries more suspicious of global brands

A survey of 70,000 people in 56 countries by Kantar TNS revealed that customers in the US and the UK are growing more suspicious of global brands. Over half of consumers in Nigeria and China said they trusted brands, while less than 25% of consumers in developed countries held the same sentiment.

Advertising spending on video ads overtakes spending on banner ads

The Internet Advertising Bureau UK has issued a report stating that in the first six months of 2017, advertising spending on video ads exceeded expenditure on banner ads. Total spending on digital advertising increased by 13.8% during the first half of 2017 to £5.56bn as compared to the same period last year. However, expenditures on online video ads increased by 46% to £699m, compared to a 2% increase in banner ads to £685m.

Consumers believe global brands should work to eliminate gender stereotypes

A survey by Choozle revealed that most consumers believe that brands have the responsibility to shatter gender stereotypes, with 37% saying that brands should not use them at all. Also, 36% of survey respondents said that they had a higher opinion of brands when they broke stereotypes, and 25% said they were more likely to make purchases from those businesses.

Aimee

09/Oct/2017

Tech marketers are using content marketing more than ever before and are planning to invest significant amounts of money into the practice during the next 12-months, according to a new study published by Dimensional Research and 10Fold Communications earlier this week.

“Content is king” is a well-worn mantra in today’s marketing landscape but is no less relevant as brands continue to pivot towards high-quality articles, news and videos en masse to reach and engage with target audiences, increase awareness, build trust and drive conversions. The extent to which marketers are embracing content is highlighted in the new study, as 75% of respondents said the amount of content they generate would soar by 300% during 2017.

Content is now a core component of the marketing mix for most marketers, so it is no surprise to see that four in ten will spend $250,000 (£188,000) or more on creative and content campaigns over the next year. This investment is partly being driven by demand from consumers for storytelling through digital video, which requires higher quality creative processes to meet growing expectations.

Another key trend highlighted in the report is outsourcing. Many enterprises now call upon the services of digital agencies to deliver the best content campaigns possible. A staggering 99% of tech marketers said they use third parties for a quarter of their output, and 83% are happy with the quality they are getting from the third parties.

However, several challenges are preventing brands from reaching their potential as 44% claimed a lack of expertise on some subject matters is making it difficult to create excellent content, though this is another area where a digital agency could be of great assistance. Awareness of analytics is also growing, as 80% use basic tools, such as Google Analytics, to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

“The marketplace is constantly changing, making 10Fold research survey on content, timely and insightful. The findings should help tech marketing VPs and CMOs that are barraged with conflicting priorities build out their marketing strategies based on facts,” Dimensional Research principal, David Gehringer, said. “Based on the results of our research for 10Fold, there is no doubt that there is an insatiable demand among technology companies for content that has technical relevancy and that is delivered in a form, such as video and blogs, that is appealing to their buyers.”

Video, social media and webinars were named as the best content formats by the tech marketers surveyed, though there was more of a focus on video for top executives, which is likely to be linked with the growing investment in storytelling. Meanwhile, content calendars are now a popular resource for tracking schedules. 10Fold CEO and founder, Susan Thomas added: “Our primary goal with this research was to capture deeper analytics about content plans and budgets to help our customers and the tech community develop stronger content strategies.”

Aimee

07/Aug/2017

Content marketing continues to find favour with a growing number of firms around the world as a way to connect with their customers and establish a new audience; however, it is a complex topic and does not guarantee success. For any brand wanting to put a strong foundation in place as a way of leveraging content marketing to achieve its best potential, there are three essential requirements to consider.

Marketing executives must actively participate

The best and most successful campaigns have been conducted by organisations allocating the proper external and internal resources, including staff. Conversely, less successful marketing often occurs where content strategies are tacked on to a role as additional duties. It sounds obvious that more success is noted in cases where more resources are used, however, it is also important not to overlook marketing leadership.

In general, a chief marketing officer (CMO) cannot just delegate content marketing to a team to go and work out. To be effective, leaders must actively participate and include their personal experiences.

An executable content marketing plan is vital

Research has also revealed that success campaigns normally hinge around a well-documented strategy. And, above all, plans must include executable stages. That might sound simple, but many marketing teams have created long and impressive plans that, when undertaken, fold in on themselves.

All plans need objectives, goals and vision. They also need to be tightly integrated with other marketing work. However, it’s important that no stage of the plan hinders a strategy’s streamlining, as this will likely cause content marketing strategies to falter.

Marketers need tenacity and resolve

One of the most important things in content marketing is consistency. However, even if marketers may start out with good intentions, content consistency can fail over time. This is a problem because content marketing takes a time to become successful – often a minimum of six months is required.

That is mainly because few buyers are willing to spend hundreds of thousands on enterprise technology, for example, just because they read a blog post. Instead, it takes months of content, building trust and adding value before true conversions can be seen. This means that content marketers must have a strong sense of resolve and tenacity to keep going over many months where it might seem as if a strategy isn’t working.

But those who can keep going and come back with fresh content time and time again are often the real winners – finding customers, strengthening relationships and building trust within an industry through relentless work.

When it comes to content marketing, perseverance can be one of the most difficult things with which to deal. That is especially relevant as many organisations use relatively short metrics based on weeks, months and quarters – not necessarily the biannual or yearly dates required for content marketing.

Content marketing strategies continue to evolve and become highly complex undertakings, however, for those able to maintain determination while incorporating executive leadership and executable plans, there is every chance for success.

Aimee

31/Jul/2017

Content marketing has become a go-to tool for companies to kick-start their branding. However, strategies have evolved a lot over the past decades as the Internet, social media platforms and consumer expectations have changed. Therefore, what once worked may no longer be as effective.

Aside from content curation, marketing strategists must also think about how they’ll distribute material to gain maximum exposure. There are four key ways of doing this that, in 2017, remain proven ways of attracting and retaining customers.

Leverage virtual communities

Virtual communities remain a proven way for getting eyes to content. For any company, it’s vital to publish material where it’s most likely to be seen. Over a half of the world’s entire population now uses the Internet, so it’s crucial to have an online presence. However, simply marketing on the Internet isn’t enough.

Instead, brands must identify the various niches and communities where their target audiences hang out. An effective strategy is to establish a brand somewhere like Reddit, Hacker, Quora or Inbound.org. Such communities can be used to find like-minded individuals who will be attracted to the content a brand is sharing. However, it is important in any virtual community to actively engage in discussions for the best results.

Market with the help of influencers

It might sound obvious, but industry influencers can help drive success for content, so it’s important to get leading individuals onboard. This isn’t a new strategy, but it’s proven to be very effective. For example, an Insight Pool study found that 54 per cent of women might purchase a service or product after seeing an influencer promote it. Meanwhile, 88 per cent of people said they trust online reviews just as much as friend and family member recommendations.

In an era where many people use ad-block services and skip straight through YouTube adverts, leveraging influencers to do some of the promotional work is extremely powerful.

Spread content across multiple websites

A wider audience can be reached by repurposing content to publish on multiple websites. It’s essential not to simply cut and paste, but to tailor content to each platform. And when this is done right, it can be very successful. LinkedIn and Medium are ideal places for republishing content where links to a website can be included.

Utilise advanced email marketing skills

Email marketing can be very effective as it offers a direct link into a potential consumer’s inbox. However, it’s vital that the right content is published and distributed. Advanced marketing includes not only sending material to current subscribers but also working hard to reach new audiences and build subscriber numbers.

There are two key ways to do this; influencer and cross-posting. Firstly, brands can reach out to influencers by using tools like BuzzSumo to track an industry’s top sharers. A list of influencers can then be developed, and companies can reach out to these individuals. Meanwhile, content marketing strategists should also seek to cross-promote material in the newsletters of other industry specialists.

Content marketing in 2017 needs more thought than ever as consumers become more aware of the common tactics advertisers use. However, by adding value and using the right distribution strategies, brands can get their content in front of audiences that will appreciate it.

Aimee

10/Jul/2017

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been creeping into everyday life for some time. Many businesses around the world already use AI in various operations, including analysing consumer voices in call centres and streamlining backroom administrative tasks. Now, however, deep learning and AI is being used within marketing efforts to boost efficiency and ensure strategies are as optimised for success.

Current data on AI’s use for content marketing strategies gives a diverse picture. On the one hand, 57.1per cent of marketers in the U.S. said it was unlikely they would use AI in their content marketing plans this year. However, this leaves a wide proportion of people open to using such modern technology as part of their strategy. For example, of the 1,019 global marketers questioned by BrightEdge and Survey Monkey, 31.4 per cent said that AI would be used to flesh out content marketing plans during 2017. An additional 8.7per cent revealed they are quite likely to use AI, while 2.8 per cent said they are already using AI as part of their content efforts.

The numbers seemed to suggest that AI is becoming increasingly popular with businesses. In recent research, for instance, eight in every ten U.S. senior marketers said they fully believe consumers are ready for AI and, as a result, are more confident in its use.

In another survey, NewBase questioned 1,019 marketers around the world on the various technologies they expected to become a priority over the coming year. The April 2017 poll revealed that 30 per cent would be leading with AI. The figure is a significant increase on the previous twelve months when only 13 per cent of marketers responded in this way. Additionally, 24 per cent also said they expect Augmented Reality (AR) to become a priority, compared to just 18 per cent in 2016.

In addition to these trends, there are signs that some business and content marketers are planning to move away from other areas of technology. For example, marketers questioned on their opinions of future technology seem to be turning away from the Internet of Things (IoT). While 51 per cent of people had said it was a priority in 2016; this had fallen to just 35 per cent this year. The same is true of wearable technology, social media software and commerce. These are all sectors that have fallen on the priority list as marketers concentrate on newer areas such as AI and AR.

In many circumstances, the trend indicates that marketers and businesses are focusing on newly emerging technologies – possibly to get ahead of the curve and beat the competition. For example, NewBase said that some modern tech, such as drones, robotics and voice assistants, are believed to be hot new areas of interest for the coming year. These were not even included in 2016’s survey, but have been mentioned by marketers throughout this year.

Overall, the data suggests that AI is to continue taking a larger role in content marketing and, indeed, business as a whole. Therefore, those developing new strategies would be wise to include this technology in their plans.

Aimee

26/Jun/2017

Content marketing has become one of the most important go-to advertising strategies for modern businesses, regardless of their size. For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as start-ups, this form of marketing can offer great dividends for those undertaking campaigns correctly because anyone (as long as they have the right insights and approach) can create a successful strategy that resonates with consumers and target audiences in a way that boosts loyalty and buying potential.

Content marketing is a strategy used to curate and promote material with an end goal of boosting traffic, forming a business relationship, increasing the awareness around a brand and increasing the level of trust between the company and potential customers. Content includes videos, podcasts, blog posts, audios, emails, newsletters, infographics, tutorials and more. Material can be used to educate prospective customers or current clients, and this often leads to a larger audience. Finally, more customers are attracted, and start-ups can generate better revenues.

Expert Rick Eliason, a consultant for online user experiences, said: “Content marketing is important to every single business operating on the web. It sounds like a horrendously large undertaking but chances are you are already doing it without realising.”

In the modern era, an increasing number of firms are moving away from the traditional cold pitch approach. Instead, the material is being use to attract and inform clients of products and services before they make a purchase. In fact, recent data has revealed 86 per cent of business to customer and 89 per cent of business-to-business marketers are now using content strategies. Seventy per cent of respondents conceded that this approach is now their most successful.

However, SMEs and start-ups need to remember that content marketing is not a quick fix. It takes some time to build loyalty and trust, and the initial momentum can be hard to achieve. It’s for this reason that identifying a target audience is so important. It enables businesses to start positively, actually pushing their content towards the right prospective customers. It’s also important to start early because previous data shows it can take six months to a year for positive results to be shown.

The digital world has many ways for SMEs to reach customers, whether this is via Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram or many of the other available platforms. Video content is currently in high demand, with live video in particular finding attraction. However, to maintain a live video strategy, companies need to curate a stream of high-quality material. It’s estimated that 74 per cent of customers find live video boosts their understanding of a service or product, while 80 per cent of viewers admit they remember these advertisements. That fact is crucial for any start-up.
So, going forward in 2017, SMEs and start-ups should continue to take advantage of content marketing to level the playing field between them and larger competitors. In addition, for those able to leverage their content in the right way, there are many positive gains to take.

Aimee

19/Jun/2017

The phrase ‘content is king’ has been bandied around for years, yet it now rings truer than ever, with businesses needing to prioritise content marketing if they’re to engage with and inspire their target audience. With modern consumers being more demanding, savvy and empowered than ever, content will remain at the heart of marketing in 2017 and beyond.

Understanding content marketing

Content marketing cover a broad spectrum of practices but it is generally thought of as a marketing strategy that places emphasis on creating and curating valuable, high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience. The end goal is to engage consumers, boost brand loyalty and, ultimately, increase the bottom line.

Over the past few years, content marketing market has evolved a lot, and marketing strategists can no longer rely on keyword stuffing to improve search engine rankings. Now creating entertaining, shareable, authoritative content is the key to success.

Content trends in 2017

As the year has progressed, several trends have come to the fore. By utilising these, brands can optimise strategies to give them the best of succeeding. For example, 84 per cent of online consumers say they now trust reviews just as much as recommendations from a friend. It stands to reason, therefore, that if a firm can get the backing of a celebrity or industry influencer, better consumer awareness and connection can be gained.

Native advertising – advertising that resembles editorial content but is intended to promote a product or service – is increasingly being used because consumers are so accustomed to banner and display advertising that they fail to notice them. This means native advertising is now essential for brands to be noticed.

Mobile content is also becoming more popular amid predictions that 50 per cent of devices in use around the world by 2020 will be smartphones. It is important for businesses not to miss out on this growing audience and to utilise mobile marketing to engage with it.

A level of automation is also now being used in content marketing to streamline campaigns. Though it’s unlikely content creation will be automated any time soon, methods to save time and improve efficiency throughout the content marketing process can greatly help overall results, with research suggesting that companies utilising automation see a 451 per cent rise in qualified leads.

Tools for SMBs

For small and medium businesses (SMBs), content marketing offers the chance to meet larger competitors on a level playing field by optimising campaigns some of the many excellent tools now widely available.

One of the best is Kajabi, an all-round content advertising tool that is mobile responsive and helps firms develop file downloads, membership sites, online courses, training portals and more. The Clearvoice platform helps firms simplify their content strategy from management to distribution to measurement.

Content is set to remain on its throne for the foreseeable future, but it must be curated in a strategic and efficient way to yield results; firms that take the time and effort to do so can expect great returns.

Aimee

12/Jun/2017

Getting enough eyes on content can be tough. After all, most businesses now have a content marketing strategy, which has increased the amount of content available to prospective customers.

With this increased competition, it’s important to develop new ways to get content seen. One way of doing this is by incorporating a sense of urgency into content, which enables it to gain a higher level of visibility.

Research has found young people spend up to nine hours a day on social media platforms, whether that’s on a computer or mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. This time is usually broken up into smaller periods, often of only a few minutes while waiting for something or taking a quick break.

Because of this, content is often put into the ‘maybe later’ pile if it doesn’t seem important. This is where urgency comes – it provides a way to get prospective customers to immediately access and digest content.

Urgent content

There are various pieces of content that naturally falls into the ‘urgent’ category. News, for example, is tied to current events by its very nature, giving it immediate appeal.

Content that reveals common mistakes has a degree of urgency, as neither consumers or businesses like making mistakes and, if they don’t read the article, they may feel they are leaving themselves at risk of continuing to make errors they don’t realise they’re making.

Likewise, content based on revenue optimisation and cost-saving tap into this sense of urgency, as the audience wants to know how they can improve their financial situation sooner rather than later. Immediate-action content is also seen as urgent as it taps into the audience’s desire for immediate answers.

Make your content more urgent by following these three steps:

Optimise headlines

Almost 60 per cent of all content shared via social media is never accessed, making headlines a crucial element in encouraging engagement.

Most social media users read headlines and immediately make their mind up about the content without reading it. Therefore, while the quality of content is important, there must be a sense of urgency in headlines to encourage the target audience to engage with it.

Utilise trigger phrases

An easy way to increase the sense of urgency around content is to use the right language. By incorporating words like ‘today’ or ‘now’, especially in headlines, will increase the likelihood of content being read and shared. The wording should convey that users will gain instant reward by consuming the content.

Use compelling imagery

Content marketing strategists should put as much time and effort into optimising imagery as they do producing copy and video – not only within the publication, but for the headline thumbnail too. Strong colours make images stand out, drawing attention.

Boosting the urgency of content can have a dramatic effect on its visibility, and see engagement with published material increase. Ultimately, this will increase the audience, which can potentially be converted into customers.

As with all content marketing tactics, the results of urgent content campaigns should be carefully measured to ensure they are having the desired effect.

Aimee

30/May/2017

Content marketing has become a go-to strategy for many businesses in the digital age, with brands choosing to create engaging and promotional material to share with their followers.

However, for any content marketing campaign strategy to be a success, it is vital to have seven key pieces of information.

Set a goal

For any strategy to be successful, a goal is required. Strategists will have many objectives throughout a campaign, but content marketing should focus on the top priority.

Though most firms will be looking to attract new customers and, as a result, make more money, it’s important to dig deeper than that. For example, does your brand want to increase website traffic? Or perhaps boost product awareness? Specificity is important.

Know your target audience

One of the worst ways to start a content marketing campaign is by not knowing the target audience. By knowing who the content is aimed at, the right kind of content can be produced. It will also ensure it is published on the platforms where it is likely to get most engagement and enable it to offer a unique angle that will attract the target audience.

Understand the competition

Research into competitors and the strategies they use is also essential. Search engines are a great way to quickly discover similar companies and brands. Once you’ve done that, it doesn’t take much to identify the ways in which a competitor’s own content marketing is conducted.

Key questions are how are your goals different? Do your target audiences match or overlap? And what differentiating factors could make your strategy fresh and appealing?

Work out which mediums to utilise

There is a vast array of ways to distribute content, from email newsletters and blogs to social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Though there’s no need to limit campaigns to a single platform, it is important to recognise the differences between each so content can be tailored accordingly. For example, content that works on Pinterest is unlikely to come over well on LinkedIn.

Set a message

Rather than simply producing content for the sake of it, identify a key message or feeling that all content produced for that a campaign should have. This includes not only visual stimulus, such as typeface and imagery, but the emotional tone.

Costs

As with all forms of marketing, content marketing has associated costs, and these should be thought about when planning strategies. Budgets could factor into how broad a campaign becomes or what sort of content is produced.

Return on investment

Though return on investment (ROI) can be a challenge to identify, it is important for brands to have an idea of projected returns before embarking on a content marketing campaign.

Put simply, the ROI could be how much the company wants to gain from the campaign; for example, how many new customers should be gained or how much additional revenue should be generated.

These seven pieces of information are essential to give content marketing campaigns the best chance of success. And, by taking the time to research, brands reduce the risk of an expensive strategy not providing the desired ROI.

Aimee

23/May/2017

Social media continues to be extremely powerful when it comes to content marketing. This not only holds true for content published on social media platforms, but the sharing of content published elsewhere, such as blogs.

As such, it’s vital for content marketing strategists to master the skill of leveraging social media platforms to their advantage. There are three key steps to achieving this – grabbing people’s attention, showing change and delivering messages with specific details.

Draw readers in quickly

The internet is vast, and there’s always another website to browse or another social media account to check. Therefore, content marketers must grab people’s attention quickly. This means written content needs to have a snappy headline and opening sentence. The best openings offer surprising examples, uncanny twists and utilise quirky verbs.

For example, it might open with a personal story to engage readers and keep them reading to find out what happens. Alternatively, writers can add a twist to something commonplace, drawing in people that want to know more.

There are signs that long-form content is becoming increasingly important, especially on sites such as LinkedIn and Medium. However, readers still need to be hooked, so the opening remains key.

Show how things change

Once readers are hooked, it’s essential to keep them reading. Delivering human stories in which the protagonist is transformed helps to do this.

An example of this is Bernie Sanders’s America Beyond presidential campaign video, in which an impoverished young boy does poorly at school, but when allowed to go to college he flourishes and ends up becoming a teacher and supporting others.

This campaign kept people’s attention because it made it clear how the protagonist’s life was changed, embodying the campaign’s promise.

Deliver messages using specific details

The internet is heaving with content, much of which is near identical, and social media has allowed everyone to have their say and publish content. This means there are so many blog posts and listicles and selfies that nothing truly sticks. Therefore, it is essential to offer real, authentic stories to truly resonate with readers.

Prioritising specifics might seem counterintuitive, especially for brands trying to reach a wider audience. However, the more focused content is, the more likely it is to stir the feelings, emotions and memories of readers. For example, Arizona State University attracts people to its medical research with one simple sentence: “What if we could detect diseases before symptoms even appear?”

Brands gain followers through the accumulation of small yet memorable moments. It might take more than a single status update for a user to be converted, but gradually, over time, the firms that are best at using social media build draw users in with authenticity and shared human experiences.

People don’t respond well to marketing lingo or clichés, especially young people, but storytelling can draw them into your vision and form a sustainable connection with your products and brand.

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