Getting Ahead of Changing Content Trends with James Winter

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The marketing industry is constantly changing, especially when it comes to content. If you want to make it long term, you have to stay up-to-date on those changes. This week, we sat down with James Winter of Brandfolder to learn what trends are currently taking content marketing by storm and how to take advantage of them (and any others that become big) for your business.

Biggest Trends in Content Today

At the moment, there are two major trends in content that James recommends keeping in mind as you work on your content marketing strategy. The first is the decreasing shelf life of content. This can be anything from videos or photos to GIFs or whitepapers. It doesn’t just mean written content.

In today’s mobile world, people are constantly looking for the most up-to-date information. To perform well on different online channels, your content assets need to be regularly refreshed, and in many cases, evergreen. This translates to a need for higher production of assets, meaning you can’t always get away with only producing one piece of content for every one of your social channels. To stay relevant, you have to create relevant content. This means paying special attention to the shelf life of each asset.

The second trend to be aware of is the rise of video. YouTube is no longer the only platform where video performs well. In fact, it’s quickly become a solid strategy for reaching consumers and fostering engagement for your business. In many cases, including Facebook and Instagram, ads that contain videos are prioritized over those with only photos or text. The same applies to simple posts that contain videos. This is because videos invite users to engage much more than just words or a photo can do. People relate more to businesses that are relatable. Video helps make your company more relatable by putting a face and personality to it.

Although these trends are currently taking the content world by storm, it’s important to keep in mind that they can change at any time. This is where staying aware of the direction marketing is headed comes into play. The most successful companies are on the cutting edge of content and other marketing strategies, as well as SEO and Google’s algorithm focus.

There isn’t one particular location you can look to for up-to-date information, but there are still a number of ways to say on top of the changing landscape. These are the two James recommends looking into if you want to stay on top of trends.

Staying Up to Date On Changing Trends

The first place you should look for up-to-date information on current marketing trends is the list of podcasts for your niche industry. Podcasts are great because they’re timely and you can rest assured the information contained in recent episodes is relevant to what you’re trying to do.

The second location you can look to for relevant information on changing content trends is your network. This can include people you know personally, as well as experts in the industry who you only know by their content. And if you have trouble finding the right people to follow, James is happy to offer some suggestions. Just reach out to him via Twitter or LinkedIn.

The Bottom Line

If you’re still a little reticent about the importance of staying atop current content trends, here’s the bottom line: The creative your company creates is responsible for 85% of your ads’ performance, as well as a large portion of how your website performs overall. If you have the right creative for your content assets, you’ll be that much more successful than your competitors who have fallen into the trap of “over-wordsmithing” and a subpar reliance on relevant, relatable content.

Don’t be afraid to prioritize the new trends you learn about from podcasts or your network. You never know how much they can help your business in the long run. On the other hand, the biggest mistake you could make besides not creating relevant content is diving into too many new tactics at once. Be sure any new trends you choose to follow with your content are good for your audience and industry. Just because something works for another company, doesn’t mean it will work for yours.

KEY INSIGHTS

• Podcasts and members of your network are great methods for staying up-to-date on changing content trends.
• When implementing new tactics in your content marketing strategy, don’t dive into too many at once.
• Content can be anything from video to whitepapers. It doesn’t always have to be written.

JAMES’S TAKEAWAYS

• The creative you choose is responsible for 85% of ad performance.
• The rise of video is a major trend to keep in mind when creating content
• Staying on top of changing content trends is important if you want long term growth in your business.

MORE FROM JAMES

• The Brandfolder Website
• James’ LinkedIn

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