Six Content Marketing trends to keep an eye on in 2017

In 2016, 62 percent B2B companies consider that they have (significantly or slightly) improved their content marketing practice. This is a reflective figure that makes new marketers orient towards the most effective, but also the most trendy, techniques of Content Marketing. Here are six techniques on which you should reflect on in 2017.

Video is an attractive format

We have an amazing statistic, which will guide your content strategy over the year: it is expected that 74 percent of the traffic on the internet will be generated… by video. Ultra-engaging, easily shared and integrated into social networks, which makes it potentially viral, the format of the video has beautiful days ahead. With or without sound, motion-design or customer interviews, short-term for a quick impact or longer format to bring background content … the format is malleable, to fit any type of content marketing strategy.

Influencers make your Content Marketing visible

Knowing how to capture the great influencers followed by thousands of Internet users is a bit like touching the Grail. What they post and comment is gospel for many of their followers. If one of them shares your content, it is guaranteed success!

It is nowadays the most effective method of disseminating its content with impact, in BtoB or BtoC. A study of TapInfluence and Nielsen proves that influence marketing created a Return on Investment (ROI) of 11 times higher than traditional advertising. You must also target the most influential influencers to promote your products or services, with a target ready to follow his advice. With the proliferation of “stars” from Instagram, Facebook or even YouTube, the promotion price from an Influencer is now much lower than before in most sectors.

A truly documented content marketing strategy

Creating content is good. Formalize a strategy to create it, and document it in concrete tools, it becomes essential in 2017! Computer graphics tells us that 41 percent of B2B content marketers have a strategy in mind but not on paper. This is unthinkable if one really wants to have a clear view of the lead generation goals on which to align its creative efforts. Here is the B.A-BA to absolutely create in 2017, if not already done:

A map of your contents, to know especially if you are currently addressing all the stages of maturity of your targets
A Content Marketing Framework, or a year-round plan that allows you to determine who will be involved in creating your content, when, and for what purposes

Snapchat is an ultra-dynamic network and a true magnet for prospects

The latest addition to the long list of social networks, Snapchat is undeniably the trend of recent months. Before you even send your communications on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, use Snapchat as a teaser! “Snapchaters” like to have access to the information in preview. The goal is to entice your contacts. Because they will not be able to transmit your photos, GIF or videos, you have to make them want to encourage their friends to take an interest in the page of your company. To encourage them to share, be original, young and ultra dynamic! That is the biggest job. Challenge your teams’ creativity and your designers-editors to find the “punchy” right tone.

With Snapchat, you can tease your new communications, your next webinar, a special event and much more … A major advantage, you will be able to judge in preview the impact that your campaigns could have. If the number of subscribers to your account increases … bingo! The prospects will rain.

Additionally, you can convert your blog to snap. To make your blog posts even more impactful, make them consistently snaps. Again, be creative! Choose a photo or a GIF that reflects the angle of your article with originality, and take care of the wording you are going to put on it. You can also transform your articles into video. This will maximize the spread of your blog, promote it and attract more leads. The more snaps you make, the more likely you are to attract visitors to your blog! Moreover, thanks to Snapchat’s stories, you can create compilations of snap items. These albums have the characteristic of lasting more than 24h. A Snap Story is the set of your snaps of the last 24h collected in an album.

Launch a successful localized email marketing strategy

Email marketing is more than never in the news in 2017, with more than 269 billion emails sent every day. Unfortunately, according to Email Monday, of these 269 billion only 22 percent of e-commerce e-mails are opened. This is significantly lower than the 34 percent opening rate driven by other types of emails. It is also important to note that on emails opened by consumers, 45 percent are made via a mobile device. So much so that email marketing is becoming synonymous with mobile marketing.
If your company’s email campaign is unsuccessful and you find yourself in the 78 percent of e-commerce emails finally sent in spam, you will definitely want to rethink your strategy. From creating to updating your campaign, focus more on local marketing could be the answer you were looking for.
There are many good reasons that suggest a radiant future to local (or even hyperlocal) email marketing.

Sales and content represent a perfect marriage

The choice of the formats used for the diffusion of your content must be the object of your attention and be correlated with the objective fixed. You want to increase your sales by removing the brakes of your customers and to provide reinsurance elements? Prefer “rational” media such as fact sheets, case studies or interactive demonstrations. Also, take care of your product sheets and insert a rating module by the users.

At the same time, opting for a strong and constructed editorial strategy favors targeting your audience, personalizing your message and interacting with your current and future consumers on social networks. This strategy actually contributes to creating an emotional connection with the consumer, thus promoting loyalty to the brand. Unlike traditional advertising, which can only arouse a desire to buy, content marketing covers all stages of the sales process: from zero moments of truth to after-sales.

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