Content marketing strategies of 2018 are not guaranteed to work in 2019. As search engine algorithms, user behavior, and technologies change, marketers have to change with the time or they fall behind. Below are a few content marketing strategies that will put you ahead of your competitors this year.
Brand collaboration as a Marketing Strategy
A good example is Uber’s collaborative content with Spotify and Pandora. You could do a social media “takeover,” a trade-off podcast interview, or collaborative case studies/research.
Brand collaboration is essential due to today’s volatile and dynamic market conditions and changing government policies. Customer choices and preferences and ever-growing competition are making doing business without support an exercise in futility.
Today’s customer is aware and enlightened on market conditions and has alternatives and options to choose from, meaning brands that can offer innovative products stand to win.
Chatbots and AI
The future is chatbots and AI (both human-made and artificially created). It is realized the growth in chatbots thanks to advances in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). According to a recent Spiceworks study, 40% of large companies will be using chatbots or/and “intelligent assistants” by 2019 as a component of their overall content marketing strategy.
However, there has been low uptake of these technologies (which allows you to take advantage of them before the market is saturated). A 2019 CMI & MarketingProfs report found that only 4% of B2B marketers are using AI. Only 7% are using chatbots.
AI and chatbots allow for automation of your marketing campaign. Not only will these software free your time but will also give you greater accuracy.
How are chatbots and AI used in content marketing?
Chatbots are computer software that is programmed to interact with humans conversationally. These are the little command boxes you see pop out of nowhere on the screen when you visit a website. Chatbots help lighten the workload of your live agents, especially when it comes to performing mundane tasks and gathering helpful information to assist in future human interaction.
AI-based chatbots have replaced the scripted or fixed chatboxes. Machine learning is an arm of AI, and it allows chatbots to learn and improve over time. AI-based chatbots use natural language, and most of the time you will not notice you are not talking to a real person.
Focus on the client -Content Marketing Strategies without the Sales Pitch
In 2019 your content should be more about the client and less about you. Many people are still making the mistake of self-promotion in their content, be it sales or social media content. In an Economist Group report dubbed “Missing the Mark,” 71% of buyers said they were turned off by sales pitch-like content.
A 2018 CMI & MarketingProfs survey showed that only 54% of B2B marketers were using content to build loyalty and “delight” existing clients/customers. The study showed that 90% of the most successful B2B marketers pay more attention to their audience’s informational needs compared to their own promotional/sales message.
Social Media Content Strategy
One of the most effective ways of focusing on the customer is social media marketing. Marketers have increased social media year on year, despite concerns about Facebook and other social sites deploying algorithms that limit organic reach. Also, marketers aren’t too concerned of Google saying social signals are not an SEO ranking factor.
Social media marketing (SMM) is effective because of the sheer numbers (such as Facebook’s 2.32 billion MAU (monthly active) as of December 31, 2018). And the fact that you interact with clients and get feedback in real time is a huge plus. It’s obvious the sharing capabilities of these platforms, among many others. With social media, you will be interacting directly with your customers. You will be able to take their views and recommendations for future product development.
Make Blogging a Key Part of Your Content Marketing Strategies
In 2019, blogging will continue to play a significant role in the buyer’s journey. Blogging will be one of the content marketing strategies that help you focus on the customer. A 2018 Demand Gen Report dubbed “Content Preferences Survey Report” showed that 71% of B2B buyers consumed blog content in the process of making a purchasing decision in 2018. The findings show an increase from 66% the previous year.
Today’s marketers rate blog articles as the most effective format for spreading awareness. Whitepapers are useful for influencing consideration, and case studies for changing a decision.
Tracked your marketing metrics as this is the only way you will know whether the content marketing strategies are working. There are many free tools available.
Our team is happy to learn more about your online goals and to help create a content marketing strategy. Call 516-883-3851
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