Content marketing is a fast evolving industry, and 2016 will have its share of changes and improvements to the way business owners handle their online marketing endeavors. In the happy and not so distant past, your online marketing dominated if your website produced the largest volume of high quality content in your industry. Although quality, and quantity are still an important part of any online marketing campaign, today businesses must also take into consideration their connections, format diversity, and the ability to connect content with an audience across multiple mediums. Generating the content and publishing the content is now only the tip of the iceberg. In 2016 you better know how best to spread that content around if you want great marketing ROI.
New Social Media Publishing Options
This new trend was started by Facebook when they introduced “Instant Articles,” but now Google is ready to roll out their version as well. Instant Articles was basically Facebook’s solution to the realization that articles which were being shared on the platform were getting more visibility than articles which were being published on their native publishing sites. Instant Articles and other versions of the same service, will allow publishers to publish their content material instantly on the platform. Expect other social media platforms to follow suit with this great content publishing simplification.
Expect to Get More Visual in 2016
Content in the upcoming year will demand more visual medium options. One of the main reasons for this is because wireless connections are becoming more powerful and more accessible, giving users the capacity to access pictures and videos better than ever before, even on mobile devices. While the written content market becomes more and more text heavy, users are getting impatient for faster ways to get your message. Visual content can perform the job more quickly and efficiently especially in a mobile setting. Expect this shift to create a bigger demand for videos rather than written content in 2016.
Customized Content is Coming
Users are already becoming accustomed to tailored news feeds and search results which cater to their personal digital habits and preferences. With the revolutionary innovation of The Oculus Rift, which will finally be available for large scale purchase in 2016, an entirely new landscape for content and marketing opportunities is arising. However, in this new landscape users will demand a high level of customizable and interactive content which marketers have rarely encountered before. There is really no way to predict how Oculus Rift and other virtual reality innovations will change the marketing landscape, so 2016 promises to be a “watch and see” kind of year.
Competition Will Increase
Despite the fact that the content market is practically saturated already, competition is still predicted to increase in 2016. New technologies such as algorithms and more sophisticated formats are making online marketing easier than ever for business owners. Although during the honeymoon this appears great, the end result will be a flooded market. When that happens only the truly great content, the sensational content will get any real visibility or credibility. This means that quality is going to be more essential than ever in 2016. Only the very best will survive and see any kind of ROI for their online content marketing endeavors.
Freelancers No Longer Needed For Simple Content
One of the biggest, and perhaps scariest developments for freelancers in 2016 will be the increased use of journalistic algorithms in the creation of simple content. Robotic algorithms are already being used to generate simple content on topics such as weather and sports. However, the technology behind these algorithms is increasing every day, so it is only a matter of time before this technology is capable of performing more sophisticated and important tasks which freelancers are doing now. Freelancers have enjoyed a few years of being the most cost efficient go to suppliers of day to day content, but starting in 2016 and building over the next few years, there could be a shift in this. The solution will be for freelancers to up their game, their credentials, their education and their performance so that they are able to land jobs with clients who are producing the best high quality, “human” content in the future.
Sarah R is an avid reader of all types of fiction and non-fiction. She has sold book reviews to clients who need specific content articles on specific titles.
