In this week’s podcast episode and blog post I‘ve decided to get my crystal ball out and share my top 5 predictions for online content marketing in 2018.
Plus, since my focus is ALWAYS on content repurposing, I also share my top content repurposing tips with all 5 predictions.
Let’s jump straight in…
#1: Brands & Small Businesses Will Invest In More Diverse Content
I think we’re going to see business and entrepreneurs creating much more varied and diverse content than they ever have before. They will start experimenting with video, audio, visual content, animations, and I think we’ll see more content creators venture into virtual reality and augmented reality.
There is going to be so much more emphasis on finding a way to get highly targeted messages to the right people in the right formats and in the right places for them.
Directly, we’ll see businesses hiring more diverse talent into their organizations – I’m talking writers, video editors, audio specialists, graphic designers, people with skills in animation, content managers, content publishers…etc. The investment in talent will either be in-house, outsourced, or (most likely) a mixture a both. Plus, of course, considering using services like Content 10x services!
Content Repurposing Tips: If you're looking to diversify your content in 2018, look at how you can do this by repurposing. Don’t reinvent the wheel – find your best content and look at how you can repurpose it from one format to another. E.g. if you are looking to create more written content, and already have lots of podcast episodes, why not write-up the episodes into articles, create video animations, infographics...
#2. There Will Be More Focus On Voice / Audio Content
With Alexa, Google Home, Siri and the whole ‘Internet of Things’ – one day, part of our everyday life will involve asking devices for answers rather than typing into our phones/computers/tablets etc. Today, voice search isn't perfect, and it could certainly improve in accuracy and relevancy... but I'm sure over the next 5 years we'll see big improvements. I think 2018 is the year where more people in general will consume audio content, and businesses start to put it onto their agenda. In fact, some businesses will most likely jump in earlier than they really need to.
Furthermore, voice search is currently free but I doubt it will be forever. I think businesses will want to find ways to get noticed on voice search before it goes the way search engines and social media have gone, where it is largely a case of ‘pay to play’ for businesses to get noticed.
Content Repurposing Tips: Review your existing content and see if you can repurpose it into audio format. That could be creating audio files to go onto your website, or it could be creating podcast episodes for iTunes, Spotify…etc. An example of how you can repurpose into audio is taking the audio from your videos and turning them into podcast episodes. This is exactly what we do for our clients with our Video 10x service and it's becoming more popular than ever before!
Let me a share a video trailer, which is based on my podcast, but adding text and graphics overlay (I share on YouTube, Facebook etc too).
#3. There Will Be A Lot More Focus On Authenticity & Transparency
In the ‘fake news’ era, the need for authenticity and transparency in online content has never been greater. People are becoming more alert, more suspicious and more apprehensive about what content they choose to consume and believe. As such, I think businesses are going to attach a heavy significance towards ensuring that their content is human, transparent, authentic and there will be a big focus on trying to build trust with their audience.
Content Repurposing Tips: Review the content that you create and ask the question “is there an extra thing that I could do to add more authenticity?”. For example, take your weekly blog post and do either a Facebook Live or Instagram Live video where you talk about the topic of the blog post, putting yourself on camera helps to build trust. Or, you could even do a live Q&A about the topic, thus showing the depth of your knowledge.
#4. There Will Be A Focus On Refreshing & Repackaging Existing Content
I think that we’re going to see less focus on wanting to report on the next big thing, and on the trends and shiny objects etc, and there will be more focus on what audiences have responded to in the past and how that can be focused on again. We’ll see content creators going back to their most popular content and refreshing it, possibly repurposing into new formats – and realizing that this is a good thing to do. It’s not a lazy approach, it’s a way of acknowledging what your audience WANTS and giving it to them. There will be more focus on depth of content as opposed to breadth.
Content Repurposing Tips: Repurpose your content!! Don’t always focus on the next thing that you should be talking about. Instead, look at what you can repurpose. For example, if you recorded a video a year ago, and it’s still highly relevant, why not re-introduce it to your audience (edit and refresh it if required). Your audience will likely appreciate seeing it again, plus, your new followers may never have seen it before. Also, you can repurpose the video into a blog post, an infographic, a SlideShare presentation…something new because we all like to learn in different ways.
#5. Instagram Will Be The Social Media Platform Of 2018
I think more entrepreneurs, small businesses and brands are going to start using Instagram. It’s no longer a ‘millennial platform’ – that ship sailed a long time ago.
It’s a visual platform, so obviously geared towards visual and video content. Instagram introduced Stories in 2017 (a way to share photos and videos with your followers and they disappear after 24 hours). Instagram Stories is Instagram’s take on Snapchat, except many people say it’s better than Snapchat. Personally, I never got into Snapchat, but I LOVE Instagram Stories!
Coming back to prediction number 3, I think Instagram Stories present a great opportunity to build transparency with your audience, because you can show ‘behind the scenes’ of what goes on in your business, in your life, and really build the human connection that your audience desires.
Instagram is a very positive and fun place (most of the time!), and if businesses use it correctly, they will find it a great place to engage with their audience.
Content Repurposing Tips: Look at ways that you can repurpose the content that you are creating into visuals for Instagram, and make the most of Instagram Stories. For example, turn your YouTube and Facebook videos into short clips for Instagram Stories. Why not head over to Instagram Stories and talk about your blog posts and podcast episodes on the day that you publish them.
To Conclude
There you have it, my 2018 predictions. Of course, they are just my views, I may be right, I may be wrong…only time will tell!
I’d love to hear your thoughts, please comment below, or send me a message on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Whatever you decide to focus on in 2018, I hope it’s a wonderful year for you and you achieve all that you set out to!