1. Make People Laugh
Adobe’s annual report, Rules of Engagement for 2016, listed humor as the #3 rule for engaging content marketing, as entertainment and humor can “really help brands connect”. 70% of global consumers say that humor makes companies more relatable, but only 14% of companies create content that is entertaining. Even more interesting is that “making people laugh” was identified as one of the top reasons audiences share content.
2. Think Beyond the Blog
Blogging words and pictures alone will not satisfy your content-hungry audience. Plan to differentiate with more unique, interesting and valuable content, such as webinars, infographics, eBooks, podcasts, video blogging on YouTube, et cetera. Consumers nowadays have much lower patience thresholds for information, also known as “TLDR” (Too Long, Didn’t Read). Videos and other visual content are much more digestible and attractive to those impatient readers, and are easily shareable.
3. Improve Your Content Quality
Google’s algorithms are continuing to evolve and improve, and will continue to penalize what it recognizes as “spammy” content: that which is backlinked excessively, or stuffed with too many keywords. Focus on inbound marketing to connect your audience with targeted, high-quality content. For more ideas on how to do this, check our our free guide to building Buyer Personas:
4. Be Multi-Screen Friendly
It’s no longer only about mobile-friendliness, but multi-screen friendliness. Also referenced in Adobe’s Rules of Engagement for 2016, 83% of global consumers report engaging in multi-screening, using 2.23 devices at the same time. As for content design: 65% of those same consumers rank display as the most important aspect when it comes to content experience, and 54% listed overall good design, such as appealing layout and photography as most important. These numbers show that multi-screen display and design are critical to keep your audience happy and engaged, even when they are looking for information and are tight on time.
As you sit down with your marketing team to create your annual content calendar, we hope you keep these trends in mind: your audiences are constantly evolving, so your content and the presentation of it need to be as well. Also, tools like WordPress can help make content publishing even easier; if you’re not currently using WordPress and are thinking of making the switch, check out our free eBook, “Why WordPress” to find out if it’s the right choice for your business.
