It’s that time of year again -- the time of year that motivates each
of us to set grand resolutions for how we’ll improve over the course of
the next year. While many of these resolutions will slip off of our
radars by the second or third week of the new year (check out your local
gym toward the end of January), some of the strongest among us will
rise to the occasion and make 2016 their best year yet.
Related: It Takes a Lot More Than Enthusiasm to Make Those Lofty New Year's Resolutions Reality
After reviewing comprehensive reports about 2016 content marketing trends
and the articles that analyze them, I’ve noticed a few key areas into
which these big trends fall. In an effort to help you become your team’s
content marketing hero, I’d like to share the top trends in these key
areas that you should take into account when setting your content
resolutions for the new year.
Content quality
Algorithm updates will reward high-quality content over spammy, keyword-stuffed content. If first-page search results are a goal for your marketing team, it’s
time to put traditional SEO tactics -- such as keyword stuffing and
excessive backlinking -- to rest. Google’s algorithm updates are
continuing to reward content based on its value to the readers who are
searching it, not based on how many spammy tactics content marketers use
to get it in front of audiences. Instead, focus on consistently
creating high-quality, engaging content that delivers value to your
audience to see success in SEO and your content marketing efforts as a
whole.
Ad blockers will challenge content teams to create more valuable content.
As if algorithm updates alone weren’t challenging us to prioritize
quality, the rise in ad blockers will put more pressure on content
marketers to create content that earns itself a place in front of
readers -- a place that isn’t bought in the forms of native ads or
sponsored content. Sure, we’ll need to work harder to create content
that’s truly engaging (and not a press release disguised as a guest
post), but this is good for everyone, as it will ultimately make our
content better.Related: 5 Marketing Changes Small Businesses Need to Make in 2016
Team structure
A strong content team will need more than just a writer.
Just like the purpose of your content team extends beyond solely
creating content, the members on your team must have responsibilities
beyond writing it. The content team members
who are essential to a successfully executed strategy are an editor, a
content strategist and a distribution specialist. These roles allow your
team to create fantastic content that aligns with your business
strategy and lands in front of your audience through targeted
publication and distribution.
The most effective content teams will meet at least once a week. Content Marketing Institute (CMI) reported in its annual B2B Business-to-Business (B2B) Content Marketing report
that 61 percent of the most effective teams meet at least that
frequently. And this makes sense -- content doesn’t work in a silo.
There needs to be regular communication among members of your marketing
team (and other departments such as sales and account management) to
keep everyone accountable for projects, test new tactics and effectively
monitor progress.Complementary technology
Proprietary technology will drastically improve content quality and its creation processes.
CMI also found in its report that 88 percent of B2B marketers are using
content marketing, and a number of open resources have become available
to help these marketers create content better, faster and cheaper. But a
trend we’ll see more of in 2016 is companies investing in custom
proprietary technology over open-use tools.At Influence & Co., we’ve created custom software
that allows us to create, distribute and analyze content in a more
streamlined manner. It does everything from improving our
knowledge-extraction process to enabling collaboration among our
internal team and clients to analyzing data on specific articles. It has
helped our team improve the quality of our content and the processes we
use to create it, and I predict we’ll see more companies doing the
same.
As you and your team sit down to make your 2016 content marketing
resolutions, I hope you’ll keep these trends in mind for a successful
new year. Good luck!
source: entrepreneur.com