Content marketing is still in its infancy, but some practices already have gained favor and others have faded away. Below are some of the expected trends this year.
Crowdsourcing for Content Creation
Crowdsourcing will be hot in 2012. AOL's purchase last year of the Huffington Post, which has relied heavily on crowdsourcing for content creation, marked a turning point. Suddenly, it became a valid business model to tap into people's willingness to create content for free or for low pay in return for online exposure. Now, companies of all sizes are eager to try such crowdsourcing to generate content.
Watch for consumer crowdsourcing on social media to be extremely popular, too. On Facebook, companies will continue to invite followers and consumers to upload photos and videos and tag themselves as friends. Also, we'll see more contests inviting people to upload images and videos to Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and other sites, showing them experiencing brands. With crowdsourcing, a company gains brand exposure by leveraging the power and reach of the crowd rather than spending money to create content itself.
Content Curation, Aggregation and Syndication
Content curation also will be hot in 2012, but content aggregation and online syndication are losing some heat. With the release of the Google Panda Farmer algorithm changes last year, the practice of simply aggregating links and republishing content gathered from across the Web lost much of its usefulness to website owners and businesses.
Related: Why Content Is Still King When It Comes to Lead Generation
However, as a door closes, a window opens. In the world of content marketing, that window is content curation. The success of sites like the Daily Beast that find and share the best online content has put content curation in the spotlight. Unlike aggregation and syndication that simply republish links or content, human beings select what they consider the best content in their areas of expertise, share links to the original content and add their own commentary. It's such added value, along with convenience, that is giving content curation momentum.
Brands as Media
Brands publishing content in a manner similar to media companies will be hot in 2012, but using the social Web for traditional marketing is out.
More companies are beginning to understand that social media sites and tools aren't the place for their usual marketing pitches. Instead, companies realize they need to think like publishers, not marketers, to connect their brands with online audiences. So this year, informative editorial material, along with sporadic marketing information, will define branded content online. Look for brands to use more video and mobile-friendly content, too, in response to the growing number of smartphones and tablets.
Related: 10 Tips for Better Content Marketing
Content Marketing Integration
Silo marketing is out in 2012, and complete marketing integration is in. There has never been a more pivotal year for companies to take off their blinders and fully mesh all aspects of their marketing--online and offline, traditional and social.
All marketing initiatives in 2012 should feed off one another, surrounding consumers with content and experiences from which they can select how they want to interact with the brand. Whether Facebook contests, mobile campaigns or simply in-store signage, all roads should lead back to a single brand promise and a central online destination, such as a company website or blog.
With marketing integration comes a greater need for performance tracking. Watch for companies of all sizes to leverage social-media management and monitoring tools such as HootSuite, SproutSocial and Radian6.
Bottom line: Content marketing will continue to evolve. Stay focused on the trends described above, and you'll have a solid foundation to adapt to the inevitable changes.
Related: 10 Ways to Turn Your Blog into a Lead-Generation Machine
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Comments:
It sounds like for the enterprise company, outsourcing content curation as a role might be a necessary and reasonable option.
Definitely content curation has taken off as of late, but I think I would have liked to have seen more about the importance of building social influence (something touched upon in the section entitled "Brands as Media"). Check out this article that talks about how content can be used to drive social influence for businesses: http://www.siteprebuilder.com/content/social-catalyst-one-blog-post-ten-thousand-twitter-followers
Thanks Susan. I think you really hit the nail on the head. 2012 will be a huge breakout year for content marketing. Brands are realizing that the best way to have a positive presence in social media is to go to the source, content. Great read!
Great article. For Brands and Media to be successful in the areas of content curation, crowdsourcing & "brands as media", there is a need for platforms that are better than the traditional blogging platforms that will let the editors make choices of topics and articles based on popularity, social trends and emerging ideas.
Insightful points, Susan, that should give new hope and direction to those that have felt blindsided by all the Google Panda Farmer algorithm iterations. Content writing is not dead; it has just evolved to meet the changing requirements of a dynamic marketplace. Thanks for sharing such creative ways for content creation.
Absolutely, Wayne! My mantra these days is, "Integrate or Die!" Content and social media are just tools in your marketing toolbox. They shouldn't stand alone. Integration is imperative.
Thank you, Henry. :)
Hi Danielle! You're absolutely right! I call that useful and meaningful content "shareworthy" content. It's the content that is so amazing that people want to share it, talk about it, and drive a kind of word-of-mouth marketing buzz that companies could only dream about 10 years ago!
I think the danger will be forgetting the importance of creating original, meaningful content that the target audience wants and needs. The most successful content marketing in the long-term will include a balance of highly-selective curated content along with amazing original content.
Susan, great points. All three of these trends can be leveraged together to make marketing cohesive and efficient. If we start from the top, the fact that marketing has to be integrated, we have one person or a small team making these decisions. Hopefully, the campaign goes so well that the team can't cover all the responses they're getting. So they shift some of the work to content curators, who manage crowdsourced writers and contributors. I think we'll see quite a few businesses, content managers and bloggers who will switch from blog writers to curators, and more teams of writers working on a blog. I talked a little about my own experiences shifting from a writer to a curator on our blog here: http://blog.textbroker.com/2011/12/28/taking-a-blog-from-baby-to-business/
Great read Susan. It certainly is a time to leverage content and the mediums that allow us to communicate, share and discover it. For most companies it is also about finding the sort of content that is useful, informative, educational, fun and packaging it in a way that is enticing. I think we have moved way beyond the e-newsletter. I am looking forward to seeing new content that gives us a reason to connect with a brand or company. Here is my article on some further ideas. http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/technology/website-content/content-marketing-for-small-business
Thanks to Susan for sharing this valuable information regarding content marketing. The way that you have explained about the content marketing is very impressive to read. Nice post. Keep updating.
Thanks Susan. I believe what you wrote in the quote below is going to be the foundation for many years to come. I have noticed it emerge the last few years and now the IT and Business teams will be required to work together even more. " Silo marketing is out in 2012, and complete marketing integration is in. There has never been a more pivotal year for companies to take off their blinders and fully mesh all aspects of their marketing--online and offline, traditional and social."
For promotion of content and to engage people with own product, one should choose blog, article and press release method. As press release will be helpful to make more people known about the product and will attract more people. Where as blog and article method will be helpful to get engagement of visitor to the site and also will attract more people by promoting blog & article on social media profile.