With the world becoming more and more dependent on the internet, content, in all it’s different forms, is taking the world by storm.
In virtually every industry you will find content is becoming more of a necessity for the survival of that industry rather than just a tool. Whether it be blogs, informational videos, social media marketing, article writing, white papers or any of the various types of content available today, customers want information. When you give them valuable, practical information they will eat it up like a hungry kid after a game of football.
Now, the question is where is content creation going. If you want to be ahead of the game you need to know what’s ahead so you can be there before the competition.
Let’s take a look at what the future of content creation holds.
Authoritative Content takes Over
In terms of SEO, while keyword stuffing is a thing of the past, keywords may lose their relevance altogether as time passes and search engines become smarter. People have always wanted an authoritative source to give them information but now with millions of different sources available on the internet, it is more important than ever to have credibility. When you can show that you know your topic through well defined, technical content, customers will show their appreciation by trusting you. This trust eventually converts to sales.
For content writers knowing the topic will be what drives them to the top of search engines like Google. Simple research into topics and following the trend won’t be enough anymore. Expert knowledge will be critical to creating an impact on search engines. Collaborating with experts will become more and more the trend for the pages that want to rank well on Google.
Graphs, charts and statistics all show authority on a subject matter. These along with long form content (roughly 1800-2000 words) will be the sweet spot for content writers.
Also read: Goal Oriented Content: The Key to Successful Content
Value, Value, Value!
Businesses create value for customers through products or services. However, that’s not enough these days. With the age of the Internet comes the age of free information. And the people providing highly useful free information are moving up fast.
Content is a great form of value which can be done at a considerably cheaper cost. For example, you have a company that sells wine. Start a blog on different types of wine. Give recommendations on which wine would go best for what type of party. Or perhaps you create a Facebook group for wine lovers through which members interact and eventually discover your brand leading to sales.
While developing an idea for content is easy, creating the content isn’t always as simple. You need to think about the needs of the customer and what benefits your company can offer them. So, if you are selling insurance you can showcase some of your clients and how your insurance kicked in right when they needed it most, saving them from a major hassle. Educational content and brand awareness are the keys to developing a strong following.
Also read: Every business is unique, it has a body and set of minds
Interactive Content
User’s attention spans are decreasing day-by-day and your content will have to keep up.
The average attention span is roughly 6-8 seconds leaving you a tiny scope for catching and holding the viewer’s attention.
Content will have to pull the reader into its world and have them interact with this world. There are many ways to go about this such as infographics to fun quizzes to short video clips. Anything that makes the brain do more than just read. If you widen your horizon, there are also a lot of opportunities to work with influencer marketing, experiential marketing or even Metaverse these days – as a part of your overall marketing strategy.
Adding different types of content to your strategy is the simplest answer to this problem. Each type of content can be tailored to fit your business and it’s image. Don’t shy away from trying new things because it may not fit your company.
The Era of the Machine
AI is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives and it’s no different for content. Currently there are companies out there using AI to analyze content and even do A/B testing.
Some of the tools gaining popularity are SparkToro and Clearscope. These tools are used to find out more about customers searches and to optimize content with keywords respectively.
While machine generated content will take time to enter the market, the smart content manager will keep an eye out for these trends as they take place. High quality content will only come from humans over the next several decades but the machines learn quickly.
It’s only a matter of time before the smaller masses of companies take on the use of machine generated content.
While we may not be aware of every trend coming up in the next few years, it is important to stay up to date on the basics. What do you think will be trending in the near future? Share your insights with us.