Content Marketing Apocalypse - Survival Guide for 2016 and Beyond
Have you heard the news!? The sky is falling! Life as we know it is about to radically change! Content marketers everywhere are shaking in their shoes and curling up into little balls of sweat under their desks. Writers are terrified. Content marketing is dead.
If you believe the hype flying around on the internet in recent weeks, you might certainly start to panic, thinking the cornerstone of your marketing campaign is about to crack in half, sending the whole structure tumbling down.
Things are not as dire as they seem, however. Take a few deep breaths and let's walk through and unpack this together. You can still make your content marketing productive and worthwhile for you, you just have to look at a few things differently.
Rethink Click Bait
In the beginning of a boom like content marketing saw, savvy people are able to capitalize on the trend itself, even if they don't have a knack for the trade. Mobile devices became run of the mill, and the masses were clicking on every single thing they could to distract from the ennui of waiting for a train. An endless stream of slideshows, listicles and articles having little if anything to do with their headlines ensued, and the people clicked. Hits and exposure were achieved. Marketers rejoiced: we had a FORMULA!
Consumers tend to get more sophisticated as a trend evolves, however, and many are now wise to the game of subpar backlinking, misleading or insane headlines, and regurgitated information. Companies should give some thought to the types of consumers they value the most and whether or not they are the type likely to click on dubious looking or sounding links.
Do you want to be a site that gets metric tons of hits but leaves users annoyed, never to return, or would you prefer to be the type of place that people refer friends to for cutting edge information? Be a hub, don't be a rub.
Value is the thing that gives readers the warm and fuzzies. Value is the quality that will keep them interested and feeling positive about your site as a thought leader. Because of this, it's worth experimenting with the concept of producing truly unique content that forwards fresh ideas written in a legitimately informative and entertaining way.
Visual images are a must, more so now than ever before. Cooperating with others who are creating video and photos can often provide a networking 'in' for valuable potential backlinking opportunities with authority blogs, sites and personalities as well as give you something visual to share.
Get Interactive
In a perfect world, your content marketing will build a community of potential and current brand loyalists who are a nice warm market for your products and services. Source that community for content ideas! Employ the use of hashtags and contests to get users relating to your site or company and see what they are saying. These are topics you can explore in your content that you know your readers already have an interest in.
Take a tip from a Harvard guy: "Interactive Marketing refers to the evolving trend in marketing whereby marketing has moved from a transaction-based effort to a conversation." John Deighton at Harvard. Don't just use your users, engage them. Get in on the content marketing game by participating directly in the comments section of social media. Polls are another great way to get a conversation going with users; they'll feel like you care what they have to say (everybody loves that!) and you'll be sourcing useful information at the same time. This can even be more effective than your email list, depending on the situation. In this way, interactive marketing is more like a handshake between two parties than an isolated high five directed at the company.
Infographics and memes can deliver a lot of value bang for a small package, to your readers and your visibility. Images are engaging by nature, and viewers are more likely to respond to them. If you have your finger on the pulse of issues your audience gets fired up about, and you create a unique graphic expertly encapsulating info they can use, they are very likely to share that graphic with their social network, tag their friends, or see it as a way to make a quip or dig with their social circle.
Social media is like a billboard where people share content that reinforces their world view, or even how they want to be seen by others. Meet that need with targeted images and use that to your advantage. If your audience loves Pepsi, don't make memes about how wonderful Coke is. Instead, try something funny, or extreme, or previously unknown or articulated about people who drink Pepsi. Your audience will relate to it and disseminate it for you.
Tell Stories
Perhaps we are growing uneasy with the shallow consumption of media because it is so pervasive, and looking for something deeper. Without delving into pop-psych and whatever the reason, stories are more appealing to readers than other types of content, and working content marketers and experts anticipate that trend will continue. Storytelling doesn't have to remain isolated to just written content. Just think about the Sunday comic format for a perfect example of how images can also tell a story.
Before I explore that, it's time for a harsh reality check. Your keywords might be killing you. You need them for essential things like ranking, but they are so often stilted, annoying and aggressive to readers. They can make an article sound impersonal, unemotional, and that's the opposite of evocative communication. You have to weigh the benefit of well placed keywords and the flow of your content, because readers are noticing.
Back to the art of telling a good story. Before you can tell it, you have to find it. Leave your salesperson brain at the door and think like a journalist or PR person for a moment. What is the thing about the moment or concept that people will care about? What do you have to share about it that is meaningful? How does that relate to your company's mission statement or value system?
Branding ideals are at the core of corporate storytelling and can help you find your story. Whatever makes you, your site, or your company tick should get reinforced in some genuine way in as much of your content as humanly possible, including customer service interactions. Start viewing your communications with your audience from this perspective.
Be sure you are walking the walk that backs up your talk, because authenticity is a big part of the appeal of a good story. Stories are more thoughtful, holistic and multifaceted than announcements, which is what a lot of content marketing has dissolved into being. Remember who you are, remember who your customers are, and talk to them like a trusted member of your community. You want them to believe you share their world views in a meaningful way.
The Bottom Line
Are you seeing a trend in this discussion? Marketers have to lose the smarm and relate to consumers to combat their growing apathy and skepticism. It's time to talk with your audience and stop talking to them. Content marketing isn't dead, it is simply evolving, and there are real opportunities to not only connect with your audience better, but to be a better marketer.
Most of these ideas aren't new, they've just been ignored in the crush of traffic online. You have a unique opportunity to go back to basics and innovate at the same time, and it's going to be exciting to see where these changes take us.
Embrace the change, it's great for you.
If you believe the hype flying around on the internet in recent weeks, you might certainly start to panic, thinking the cornerstone of your marketing campaign is about to crack in half, sending the whole structure tumbling down.
Things are not as dire as they seem, however. Take a few deep breaths and let's walk through and unpack this together. You can still make your content marketing productive and worthwhile for you, you just have to look at a few things differently.
Rethink Click Bait
In the beginning of a boom like content marketing saw, savvy people are able to capitalize on the trend itself, even if they don't have a knack for the trade. Mobile devices became run of the mill, and the masses were clicking on every single thing they could to distract from the ennui of waiting for a train. An endless stream of slideshows, listicles and articles having little if anything to do with their headlines ensued, and the people clicked. Hits and exposure were achieved. Marketers rejoiced: we had a FORMULA!
Consumers tend to get more sophisticated as a trend evolves, however, and many are now wise to the game of subpar backlinking, misleading or insane headlines, and regurgitated information. Companies should give some thought to the types of consumers they value the most and whether or not they are the type likely to click on dubious looking or sounding links.
Do you want to be a site that gets metric tons of hits but leaves users annoyed, never to return, or would you prefer to be the type of place that people refer friends to for cutting edge information? Be a hub, don't be a rub.
Value is the thing that gives readers the warm and fuzzies. Value is the quality that will keep them interested and feeling positive about your site as a thought leader. Because of this, it's worth experimenting with the concept of producing truly unique content that forwards fresh ideas written in a legitimately informative and entertaining way.
Visual images are a must, more so now than ever before. Cooperating with others who are creating video and photos can often provide a networking 'in' for valuable potential backlinking opportunities with authority blogs, sites and personalities as well as give you something visual to share.
Get Interactive
In a perfect world, your content marketing will build a community of potential and current brand loyalists who are a nice warm market for your products and services. Source that community for content ideas! Employ the use of hashtags and contests to get users relating to your site or company and see what they are saying. These are topics you can explore in your content that you know your readers already have an interest in.
Take a tip from a Harvard guy: "Interactive Marketing refers to the evolving trend in marketing whereby marketing has moved from a transaction-based effort to a conversation." John Deighton at Harvard. Don't just use your users, engage them. Get in on the content marketing game by participating directly in the comments section of social media. Polls are another great way to get a conversation going with users; they'll feel like you care what they have to say (everybody loves that!) and you'll be sourcing useful information at the same time. This can even be more effective than your email list, depending on the situation. In this way, interactive marketing is more like a handshake between two parties than an isolated high five directed at the company.
Infographics and memes can deliver a lot of value bang for a small package, to your readers and your visibility. Images are engaging by nature, and viewers are more likely to respond to them. If you have your finger on the pulse of issues your audience gets fired up about, and you create a unique graphic expertly encapsulating info they can use, they are very likely to share that graphic with their social network, tag their friends, or see it as a way to make a quip or dig with their social circle.
Social media is like a billboard where people share content that reinforces their world view, or even how they want to be seen by others. Meet that need with targeted images and use that to your advantage. If your audience loves Pepsi, don't make memes about how wonderful Coke is. Instead, try something funny, or extreme, or previously unknown or articulated about people who drink Pepsi. Your audience will relate to it and disseminate it for you.
Tell Stories
Perhaps we are growing uneasy with the shallow consumption of media because it is so pervasive, and looking for something deeper. Without delving into pop-psych and whatever the reason, stories are more appealing to readers than other types of content, and working content marketers and experts anticipate that trend will continue. Storytelling doesn't have to remain isolated to just written content. Just think about the Sunday comic format for a perfect example of how images can also tell a story.
Before I explore that, it's time for a harsh reality check. Your keywords might be killing you. You need them for essential things like ranking, but they are so often stilted, annoying and aggressive to readers. They can make an article sound impersonal, unemotional, and that's the opposite of evocative communication. You have to weigh the benefit of well placed keywords and the flow of your content, because readers are noticing.
Back to the art of telling a good story. Before you can tell it, you have to find it. Leave your salesperson brain at the door and think like a journalist or PR person for a moment. What is the thing about the moment or concept that people will care about? What do you have to share about it that is meaningful? How does that relate to your company's mission statement or value system?
Branding ideals are at the core of corporate storytelling and can help you find your story. Whatever makes you, your site, or your company tick should get reinforced in some genuine way in as much of your content as humanly possible, including customer service interactions. Start viewing your communications with your audience from this perspective.
Be sure you are walking the walk that backs up your talk, because authenticity is a big part of the appeal of a good story. Stories are more thoughtful, holistic and multifaceted than announcements, which is what a lot of content marketing has dissolved into being. Remember who you are, remember who your customers are, and talk to them like a trusted member of your community. You want them to believe you share their world views in a meaningful way.
The Bottom Line
Are you seeing a trend in this discussion? Marketers have to lose the smarm and relate to consumers to combat their growing apathy and skepticism. It's time to talk with your audience and stop talking to them. Content marketing isn't dead, it is simply evolving, and there are real opportunities to not only connect with your audience better, but to be a better marketer.
Most of these ideas aren't new, they've just been ignored in the crush of traffic online. You have a unique opportunity to go back to basics and innovate at the same time, and it's going to be exciting to see where these changes take us.
Embrace the change, it's great for you.