2017 Content Marketing Trends (Infographic)

We’re just about half-way through 2017 (can you believe it?!) and content marketing shows no signs of slowing down. It continues to grow in popularity for businesses and prove that it can revolutionized the marketing landscape. The process of creating valuable content enables companies to connect with their target audience, build brand loyalty, generate quality leads, and bring in more revenue.

The eight biggest trends in content marketing, according to CJG Digital Marketing are listed below. Some are spot on, others are doh! moments, and the rest have yet to be proven.

1. Documented content marketing strategy –  This one is a must! Folks might take issue with this, but for the length of this blog let’s all agree that ‘content is king.’ Many brands, however, fail to write down (and then follow) a content marketing strategy. Documenting is is just as important as implementing it. Writing down your strategy provides an overview of business goals and helps your team stick to a plan.

2. Visual content – As we said last year, any experienced marketer knows that the more visual your content is, the better. Blogs, ebooks, white papers et al still prevail but it’s the GIFs and infographics that draw people in. Search engines are getting better at analyzing images and brands are beginning to create higher quality images to engage their audiences. Get creative to break through the clutter!

3. Niche-specific content – It can be so hard to figure out what to write a blog or article on. Everywhere you turn on the internet people are talking about the same things. Marketers are moving towards creating niche-specific text content. Compete with people’s shrinking attention spans by writing posts about specific areas in order to serve smaller groups.

4. User-generated content – Content such as comments, tweets, or images created by a brand’s audience can be utilized to establish trust. Last year user-generated content became a staple and more brands are taking advantage of it in 2017.

5. Content promotion – Brands are increasingly promoting their own content through paid channels. Marketers used to focus a lot of their time on creating content but now we realize how important it is to promote, promote, promote! In order to get said content in front of target audiences, brands turn to paid promotion.

6. Video content – Video is a big, valuable content marketing tool, and is only getting bigger and more valuable. Social media has made it easier than ever for people and brands to create videos. Read up on video marketing and specifically live video.

7. Influencer marketing – This is by no means a new marketing strategy but in the past few years we’ve seen it really take off. Brands who want to establish trust with their audiences tap the power of influencers to boost reach and generate leads.

8. Virtual reality – Last year was supposed to be VR’s big year. It continues to gain more traction as companies look for ways to boost customer experience and brand storytelling (a central component of content marketing).

Check out this infographic for more details and stats on how to make the most of your content marketing efforts in the second half of 2017.