Content marketing has taken a bold turn to become one of the dominant methods of digital marketing online. According to Forbes, 60 percent of businesses are participating in content marketing. Even more astounding, 93 percent of business-to-business marketers have begun including content marketing as a significant portion of their marketing plan.
2015 is set to be a banner year for this development, solidifying the movement that has been gaining momentum for the past several years. The financial industry in particular will be pushing forward the boundaries of the type of content available online. In that spirit, here are some the trends that are predicted to define the upcoming year’s content marketing strategies.
The Rise of Native
Native advertising has advanced along with the internet. Thanks to social media sites and viral content sites like Buzzfeed and Mashable, the line between advertisement and engaging content has become blurred to almost nothing.
In 2015, that line may all but disappear. Companies like Goldman Sachs have penetrated venerable publications such as the New York Times. Geico has been publishing viral sponsored content on Buzzfeed and Mental Floss for several years with increasing ROI. The rise in popularity of social media sites like Instagram and Tumblr have created venues for posts that slide in with almost perfect camouflage alongside user created content.
Soon, marketers will have to make less effort to get eyes to fall upon their content as users become naturally drawn to the seamless native publications.
Educational Content
Content marketing is as much about providing information as it is about entertainment. E-Trade has recognized this necessity, and they have responded by retiring their baby mascot. The “it’s so easy a baby could do it” branding was deemed no longer relevant because of its oversimplification of financial mechanisms. In his place is Kevin Spacey.
Spacey is able to not only provide charisma and star power for advertisements on YouTube, but he also was the keynote speaker at this year’s Content Marketing World conference. His authoritative persona helps communicate the direction that content marketing is going in.
Offering educational content increases the likelihood of your materials being read and shared. This strategy also builds a bond of trust with potential clients, solidifying a brand image and luring repeat visits to solicit your content as a reliable resource.
Viral Video
Humor has long been a tool of viral content marketing. Weird, quirky videos are more likely to be shared to elicit laughs among friends and family members.
With the rise of educational content, the videos have the potential to proliferate your brand recognition in ways that are directly useful to clients. An informative post that is several hundred words long can be condensed into a quick video. By explaining concepts concisely, clients are apt to click, watch and share the videos among friends.
Short videos are especially practical considering the rise of mobile use. Cisco has predicted that mobile videos will rise to be over 69 percent of all mobile data traffic by 2018. Embedded videos and Vine-style short clips will soon become larger players in the content marketing environment.
With these trends in mind, your financial brand can be poised to tackle the New Year head on. Always remember that useful, relevant content will drive traffic and viewership far more than simply rehashing your slogans. This strategy will aid your marketing department through 2015 and beyond.