Editor’s Note: This post, 5 Innovative Content Marketing Tech Trends, is by nDash community member Molly McHugh, a former web developer turned freelance writer. To learn more about Molly, or to have her write for your brand, check out her nDash profile page.
You’re brilliant at content strategy. You know the latest SEO techniques, and the keywords you choose to highlight consistently put your articles ahead of your competitors in the SERPs. But are you ahead of the game when it comes to new trends in video, personalization, publishing, influencers, and analytics?
To remain competitive in 2018, you need to be. And the time to start implementing these new tech trends is now. Read the below to find out how and turn yourself into a content creation wizard that won’t be left behind.
#1. Livestream Facebook Video
Wave your magic wand and zap the live video button on your Facebook page. Start to talk and let it roll… for up to 15 minutes for maximum effect. Research on Facebook live videos by Buzzsumo found that “interactions increase the longer the video lasts, until about 15-16 minutes.”
According to Statista, 78% of Americans watch videos online, and by 2018 79% of internet traffic will be video. By 2020 it is predicted more than 232 million Americans will be clicking the play button and viewing videos online.
That’s a lot of eyeballs. Is your content marketing strategy ready for them? Quality and original content are still crucial, but video is the new king. Initially rolled out in 2015 for celebrity pages only, live stream video is now accessible to anyone with a Facebook account.
Tips and tricks to successfully use real-time video include the following:
- have a catchy title
- address people by name
- respond to comments as you broadcast
- ask your viewers to subscribe so they will get notifications of upcoming videos.
You can broadcast from a smartphone or a PC. There is a live video link on all Facebook profile pages. From a business page, you need to click on ‘Publishing Tools’ at the top of the page. Then on the left sidebar, click on ‘Video Library.’ Then click the ‘+ Live’ button to start recording your video.
Key Points About Livestream Facebook Video
- Before implementing live videos, have a solid long-term plan mapped out. Be personable and strive for authentic connections with viewers. Keep recordings under 15 minutes long.
- Start a company Facebook page if you do not already have one. Begin introducing videos as soon as possible and keep a regular schedule.
#2. Personalized Services
According to the Forbes webinar “Publish or Perish,” marketers who deliver personalized web experiences are getting double-digit returns on performance. You want that too.
In 2016 Salesforce Research surveyed 7,037 consumers and business buyers for their “State of the Connected Customer” report. Two-thirds of consumers said they would consider switching brands if they were treated as a number rather than a person. Sixty-four percent expect companies to interact with them in real-time. In order to deliver content, your target audience wants you to need to know what that is.
What are they interested in?
Gather information from surveys, focus groups, feedback on your website, comments on live videos, loyalty programs, and purchase patterns.
What do your social media followers like and comment on?
Companies with large budgets can use sophisticated business intelligence software to gain insights.
To effectively deliver personalized content, create customer personas from the data. Then use this information for personalized emails, direct ad campaigns with video, targeted landing pages, social media interactions, and sales offer sent to mobile devices.
Key Points About Personalized Services
- Devise a strategy that aligns with your brand message. A personalized experience must be delivered consistently across all brand channels, such as in-store, online, social, and mobile devices.
- Personalized messages need to be sent by a real person. According to a study by Market Land, personalized emails deliver six times higher transaction rates.
#3. Media Publishing Approach
The move to brand publishing from using traditional models offers many advantages. You can reach your audience more quickly, have control over all aspects of the process, and scale as you see fit in areas that show the most engagement and potential ROI.
Shawn Burns, VP of Digital Marketing of Schneider Electric, is quoted as saying: “I could take a meeting every day from a marketing technology vendor. Instead, I spend time with our customers, looking at what they are doing and how they consume and value content as part of their decision-making process.”
All content must be easily viewable on devices. Mobile now represents 7 in 10 digital media minutes, and almost one in eight U.S. internet users are mobile-only. And to tailor your mobile-ready messages for each persona, there’s a machine to help you.
Machine learning content management tools can store user-generated and branded content in a central location and help marketers dynamically produce the right content for the right customer at the right time. Every aspiring wizard needs a little extra help from time to time.
Key Points About Media Publishing Approach
- Social media is a publishing platform. Content should be consistently posted by a real human and respond to the needs and wants of followers.
- In-house writers are not enough. You need a multi-talented team with video production and illustration skills able to create and optimize various forms of content specific to each channel.
#4. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has been around for more than a century, and content marketing is gaining importance. It falls in line with the push for greater personalized experiences. Demand for and the value of influencer services is increasing.
There’s a ramped-up fight to appeal to targeted customers more effectively than the competition. Popular online personalities with 100k to more than a million loyal fans that are willing to share your message help achieve that goal.
Innovative new tech trends in this area include: tracking key performance indicators, using marketers who can deliver comprehensive analytics that assesses audience behavior, and artificial intelligence to identify influencers with the most engagement and success with sales.
To compete with Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories, which are popular with influencers, Facebook launched a new video platform in August 2017 called “Watch.” It contains original programming and video channels for celebrities.
Key Points About Influencer Marketing
- Start to identify and build relationships with influencers. As influencers become more commonly used, their power to influence may dwindle. Consider using an expert as an alternative.
- Problem-solving artificial intelligence tools can identify influencers with the most engagement on specific topics as well as predict and monitor campaigns.
#5. Precision Analytics
Precision analytics helps content marketing wizards like you create more accurate buyer personas and provide more meaningful personalized content. Artificial intelligence tools can provide insights into customer preferences and predict future customer behavior.
The below is quoted from the article: “5 Ways to Use AI Technology in Marketing in 2017.”
“Algorithms can sift through even more data to provide insights and develop a lookalike customer based on the habits and data of hundreds, or thousands, of customers who are just like you. That leads to more personalized ads, better delivery, and improved performance for your campaign.”
These machine-based algorithms help you to know when to reach your prospects, the right time to read them, and what channel to use to elicit the most favorable result.
Key Points About Precision Analytics
- Artificial intelligence allows a company to build detailed personas by tracking audience profiles and analyzing large amounts of data.
- More accurate and extensively-defined personas allow for more effective personalization efforts leading to a better customer experience along the buyer’s journey.
These five tech trends, when implemented effectively, will add the magic touch you need to be an effective content marketing wizard in 2018 and beyond.