A change has taken place in how people consume content and engage with brands. Today’s consumers are Web-savvy, mobile-enabled sifters who devour content via a multitude of mediums from blogs to videos to webcasts. To capture the attention of consumers, many businesses are turning to content marketing, which includes a wide array of vehicles for delivery and, more importantly, consumer engagement.
Content marketing enables businesses to cast a much wider net in their attempt to reel in new consumers. Content Marketing Institute’s “2015: Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends—North America” survey found that B2B marketers use an average of 13 tactics. Many marketers, however, use far fewer than 13 or use some too infrequently to make a significant impact.
With 2015 right around the corner, many organizations will be looking to expand their use of content marketing to include new tactics to help improve engagement, boost lead generation and generate ROI. With that in mind, here are some of the vehicles that will be trending next year:
Videos
Video marketing is growing faster than any other digital medium, and for good reason; the vehicle boasts the highest click-through rate of any digital medium, according to research from Business Insider. Why? Because videos are among the best tools for creating engagement, offering a personal touch by letting the consumer connect “face to face” with a member of the C-suite or a product manager. Videos can also be integrated with other tactics like interactive polls or blog posts. Last but not least, videos are eminently shareable through social media and email marketing campaigns.
Webinars
Perhaps the most underrated marketing tool, webinars are a great way to offer consumers and peers the chance to connect in a lively interactive way. In-person events are highly effective, but they are also costly and require extensive planning. Webinars are a great alternative, as they let you respond to questions in real time and invite audience members to become part of the experience. This tactic is also a great lead generation vehicle, as an informative, high-quality media event entices consumers to sign up, thus giving your sales team an opportunity to add contacts to their databases.
Podcasts
Not long ago, podcasts looked like they were falling out of favor with marketers, only to make a roaring comeback over the past several years. One of the most attractive aspects of podcasts is that they allow you to leverage other events and examine them more closely. For instance, you can post a recorded interview from a trade show as an audio blog, or discuss a recent trade publication article with co-workers. Podcasts can also be used as vehicles for thought leadership. For example, you can give your podcast added gravitas when you interview members of your C-suite about what they see as emerging trends in your company’s space.
They Are All Important
Of course, these three vehicles are not the only tools poised to make a big impact in 2015. Infographics, for example, saw the biggest jump in year-over-year usage for 2014 according to CMI, and will likely grow again this coming year. High-quality blogs and social media posts—both of which keep you in constant contact with consumers and improve SEO—remain critical for any company.
What all these vehicles have in common is that they help make your brand more accessible to buyers. In other words, you need top-shelf content to put your best foot forward, since you never know who is looking closely at your imprints.
To learn more about how to jump-start your content marketing strategy for the New Year, be sure to attend our webinar on December 16th. To sign up, click here.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
Whitepaper 
