The top five content trends you need to prepare for now

Content marketing has evolved in leaps and bounds over the past few years. Technology, the ever-changing media landscape, and also consumption habits have all had a major impact on how content is delivered to consumers.

For even the savviest of marketers it can be difficult to keep up with new trends, let alone develop strategies to exploit them, all the while bracing for the next wave of change that is inevitably just around the corner.  

The next wave of content marketing trends will see us move beyond content creation to the part content plays in the whole marketing cycle, how it’s delivered and when (and also how) people interact with it.

Here are some of the future trends in content marketing you need to look out for.

1. Content for every stage of the purchasing cycle

Research shows 88% of consumers conduct research before making a purchase by consulting an average of 10.4 sources of information – that’s a whole lot of content.  

This indicates the importance of delivering quality content to consumers at every stage of the purchasing cycle. Understanding the customer’s purchasing journey will enable you to correctly tailor content to influence behaviour at certain stages of the buying process – from initial discovery, engagement and trust-building, to take up of offers and repeat sales. Investment in quality is essential to stand out in this crowded landscape.

2. Don’t underestimate video

By 2015 video is predicted to account for 57% of consumer internet traffic, which will be four times more than regular web browsing, according to Cisco. Other stats to consider are video is six times more effective than print at engaging a consumer and, after viewing a video, a consumer is 84% more likely to buy your product.

What this screams is marketers should be investing more in video content. Even now consumers are starting to expect regular video content, which means brands need to create an efficient production model to cater for the high volume demand for video.

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