Good and unique content that suits the wishes and needs of your target group is incredibly important and indispensable within your marketing strategy. However, this content can be distributed in many different ways. In addition, the wishes of your target group also change continuously. It is, therefore, a good idea to keep a close eye on the content marketing trends for 2018 and to adjust your strategy accordingly.
According to Marketingonline, a Dutch website, there are 8 major trends in content marketing that require your attention in 2018:
- Live stream and other real-time content;
- Digital content marketing tools that make your life much easier (blogging etc.);
- From mad men to math men (the use of data for content marketing);
- Micro-influencers;
- Growth hacking;
- Advertising shifts from desktop to mobile;
- Virtual Reality;
- Artificial Intelligence (automating content processes, chatbot);
As a webinar expert, we always love to see webinars reflected in such trend lists. If you look at the trends, you can check off the first three main content marketing trends if you’re using webinars.
# 1 Live stream and real-time content
Many big brands, such as Amazone and Heiniken, regularly use live stream or real-time content in the form of webinars. More and more major brands will use live streaming, for example, to announce special offers, product introductions, and exclusive news. Webinars have been successfully used by marketers for years. Among other things, the live aspect, as well as interactivity ensure that webinars are effective for marketing. As a webinar expert we see the demand for webinars for live stream and real-time content grow, and according to Marketingonline this demand will increase further in 2018.
# 2 Webinar as the ultimate content marketing tool
Content is king and that won’t be any different in 2018. Webinars are becoming increasingly popular because webinars are in fact the ultimate tool for (real-time) content. Webinars are live and interactive. You will not only get the opportunity to demonstrate your product or to bring exclusive news, the viewer will also be given the opportunity to ask questions. This ensures that you get interaction with your viewers, a great way to engage your target group. This makes a webinar the ultimate content marketing tool.
In addition, with webinars, all contact with your desired target group will be online. Your (potential) customers, therefore, don’t have to go to a physical event to create interaction. This saves long travel times and high travel costs.
# 3 From mad men to math men
The number three trend is the use of data for content marketing: “from mad men to math men”. Using data and figures to adjust your content marketing strategy to attract your target audience will be very important in 2018. And what is better suited than webinars? Everything is measured during a webinar. For example, the most popular day and time of signing up to the number of viewers that participated interactively.