5 Takeaways From Content Marketing World 2019

Keeping up with the constantly changing digital landscape is a challenge for marketers. Most know that developing custom content is crucial for success, but even the most seasoned marketing professionals are learning all the time.

That’s why we always put the Content Marketing World conference on our calendar. G2 revealed their five key takeaways from this year’s event. Here’s a quick recap in case you missed it:

1. Do you need to change your approach to storytelling?

Creating content is all about the art of storytelling. That’s probably not news to you, but can you be sure you are telling the right story? Customers are inundated with information, so it’s not enough to tell your story from a branding perspective, you need to prove to them that you can solve their problems in a timely, cost-effective way.

Your stories need to focus on the customer, not how long you’ve been in business. This means getting to know the customer and regularly updating your customer profiles. That way, you can give them the content they want.

2. Social media may not be around forever

Facebook is the juggernaut of social media, and other platforms try to emulate its success. But the data shows Facebook’s user numbers are in decline – the platform has lost 15 million users in the US since 2017 with that number constantly increasing. And issues surrounding data privacy and ad demonetisation aren’t exactly boosting the platform’s appeal either.

Marketers who rely on traffic from social referrals are at the mercy of the algorithm. Focus on your own media channels in addition to social media. Creating email newsletter lists and driving traffic organically will help protect your company from the inevitable fall of social media.

3. Just because it’s content, doesn’t mean it’s content marketing

We all want our media to be faster, sleeker and digital. But with so many tools to reach audiences, the risk is that you are pulled into non-content marketing content (e.g. event signage, brochures, and direct mailers).

Marketers have to learn to say no and spend their time wisely. Stand up to leadership requests for unnecessary projects and make sure your content marketing team is working on content marketing, and content marketing alone.

4. New digital marketing jobs are appearing all the time

Many jobs in digital marketing didn’t exist 10 years ago – vloggers, data scientists, UV designers and podcast producers, to name a few. Companies need to innovate and not rely on their legacy – the slew of startups eager to take down the establishment should be testament enough to that.

Even if your company has been around for 80 years, if it can’t give customers what they want, your authority falls by the wayside. Stay agile, think like a startup, never rest on your laurels, and constantly innovate and adapt.

5. Shortcuts are a false economy

The internet is a noisy place to be. Just look at the stats. 4.6 billion pieces of content are produced daily. 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. And more than 4.4 million blog posts are published every day. Put simply, your customers have too much information. But getting to your customers first by any means necessary can be destructive. Adopting shady ad-buying techniques is not clever marketing and can lead to poor content decisions. Plus, customers know when they’re being marketed to.

So, avoid the worlds of black hat SEO tactics, link-buying, and purchasing competitor keywords, even if you think it can get you onto the first page of Google. Instead, think about your long-term content strategy and focus on keeping your content honest.

If you’re looking to kickstart your content marketing strategy, Stopgap can help you find the talent you need for long-term success. Get in touch with the team today.