7 Content Marketing Trends To Watch In 2018

Content marketers love to use various forms of content – instructional videos, white papers, blog posts, webinars, and e-books. But this is not all. New content formats are arriving along with new technologies all the time. Marketers, therefore, need to constantly adjust with the new content marketing trends. So, without wasting any time, let’s just explore the most important content marketing trends we need to look out for in the year 2017:

1) Storytelling

Storytelling is going to become an integral part of your each and every content marketing effort in 2017. So, do not create content just for the sake of creation! Instead, engage your target audience with a story revolving around your brand. This will not only help you to establish a steady relationship with your consumers but will also take your content marketing efforts to a whole new level.

2) Live Streaming

The popularity of live streaming is only going to increase in 2017. Therefore, SnapChat, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live will keep the content marketers more than busy throughout the year. Their user-friendly platforms will provide the perfect foil for launching product related events, tutorials, tours, and of course product briefings.

The presence of recorded video and the role that it plays will still continue in the middle of all this, but its influence over the consumers will reduce to a great extent.

3) Virtual Reality

Virtual reality related technology will reach a new high in 2017. In fact, some of the organizations have already started using VR technology in order to promote their premium products. For example, North Face (an organization for outdoor clothing). This company has successfully used the technology to showcase its products. Although quite expensive at the moment, VR still has all the potential to become a very powerful medium at the hands of content marketers for various types of services and products in 2017 and beyond. However, because of its expensive nature, there’s every possibility that medium and small-sized businesses won’t be able to use it in 2017.

4) Native Advertising

Native advertising is all set to replace push advertising! In this context, it’s important to mention that the year 2016 was dominated by ad blockers. And this trend is likely to continue in 2017 as well. However, there was a time when all forms of online advertising such as pop-unders, paid ads, pop-ups, and banners dominated the world of internet. But for the general internet users, it proved to be an extremely unnecessary distraction. Many people still argue that page views dropped significantly as a result of excessive online distraction. The business of content marketing suffered due to this as well. However, online advertising is not going away just like that. Instead, it’s going to evolve in 2017.

5) Rebirth of Email Newsletters

Email newsletters have always been an important tool in the hands of B2B marketers. Content marketers also love to share valuable business information with their clients through email newsletters. Now, if you were thinking about newsletters, or even a slightly different type of newsletter, then the year 2017 is all probably going to be a very good time for it. This is mainly because open rates for email have gone up considerably in recent times. So, the buzz of an email death doing the rounds in the past four to five years is not happening in 2017. Instead, you can bank on it.

6) Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is definitely going to be a big thing in 2017. So, content marketers can bank on it as well. However, please be careful at the time of selecting your influencers. For instance, always verify their activity level and legitimate reach capacity before making your final decision.

7) Interactive Content

Finally, the popularity of interactive content is going to increase by leaps and bounds in 2017. So, keeping this in mind, the content marketers must put their focus towards interactive presentations or quizzes which are bound to catch the attention of the web visitors.