“Content is the King” – we are used to saying for years. Without question, the same is applied to content marketing 2018! Moreover, content now is more important than ever. There are hardly a few digital marketing tactics that can stand alone without content. The challenge is to follow all the rapid changes that content marketing goes through and be able to monetize them for the benefits of your business.

On the way of heading to 2018, let’s have a look at content marketing trends that need to be looked out attentively!

Original Content

Yes, originality of your content is still above the fold. Bets are big on trustworthy and consistent content in 2018. We already know that such tech giants as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon plan to invest huge on buying original content from brands and media in the coming year. This means betting on original content is something worth to spend efforts on. Even if you don’t know yet where the original content will exactly stand in your Content Marketing Strategy for 2018, you can already start building it. Believe us, there will definitely be lots of options to monetize trusted content, either from your customers or big corporations.

Content Marketing Team Roles Merge

We believe 2018 will be the year of restructuring content marketing teams as we know them, especially in companies with big marketing departments. Be ready to witness no more distinctions straightaway! Hiring good writers is not really sufficient anymore. Content is so diverse, interactive and converged now, that it’s all about multi-tasking media. Moreover, it’s about the skills of mastering those media to create a truly attractive, customer-centric and competitive content. In other words, duties and roles are expected to shift dramatically. This will come with a lot of challenge for marketing leads in 2018. Content marketing teams will have to take a media publishing appeal. You might need to hire people with video editing, content optimization, content editing and content promotion skills. Pretty tough challenge!

Live Video

Live video continues to grow and towers above the pre-recorded video. We all see how it enhances engagement and activity of followers. Facebook says users tend to watch live videos 3 times more than a taped video. Besides,  Facebook video drives a far more reach than images or text do. On top of it, live video has a huge advantage over the traditional one – it’s interactive! Users tend to comment and engage more with live videos. No matter what your business is, you can take a question live on air and spur a discussion. This will not only increase your social media engagement but also create a stronger personalized relationship with your customers. What a chance!

Smart Content

More than ever before, 2018 is going to be the year of tying up the bond with your customers. Extremely personalized and strongly targeted content – a cornerstone of your content marketing strategy, will be the key to measure the success. “One-size-fits-all” type of approach is outdated.  The so-called smart content suggests a micro-level of relationships now. Only creating individualized messages drives real performance and brings change.

Customers Are Your Influencers

Influencer marketing is still growing. Surveys show that people tend to trust a recommendation more than a brand. Nevertheless, what we are witnessing, is that influencer marketing is also expanding. Actually, your customer is the biggest influencer now! With personalization of content, a customer is the one to share a feedback, to criticize or advocate for your brand. So be keen on treating each of your customers as the biggest influencer. People don’t believe brands that throw ads at them. They want transparency. They want to be treated as a peer. And that’s what businesses should keep in mind while heading up to 2018.

Where all of these will lead, we don’t know yet. One thing is certain: start working on a strongly targeted, original and smart content already now, and you will never lose the battle!