Six Trends to Follow to Keep Your Brand Relevant
You love your brand. Weeks, months and years of researching your audience and working with your marketing team has brought it to a point that makes you proud. You’ve optimized based on SEO keywords, you’re learning your audience day by day and you’re seeing solid engagement through digital marketing. The work done in the past has borne fruit in the present. But is your brand ready to take on the future of engagement? Taking advantage of the latest trends in the brand and content marketing space is of the utmost importance. Audiences grow and change, your brand must do the same. Before scheduling another social post or publishing on that blog, make sure you are checking out some of the best ways to keep your brand at the forefront.
Artificial Intelligence
More than a clichéd way for science fiction movies to breathe life into robots, A.I. is the future for marketers. Compiling and making sense of data can be a painstaking process, one made easier by A.I. and analytics. The service may not be accessible for every organization currently, but if the opportunity arises, don’t hesitate! These tools work effectively to gather information about your audience while freeing up valuable time for using this data to improve your content strategy.
Which leads us to a very valuable question…
What is Your Strategy?
An essential part of brand communication has fallen by the wayside. In fact, 63% of organizations do not have a written content strategy for their brands. Its importance cannot be understated. A well-planned and firm strategy for your brand’s content makes planning, implementation. and evaluation run smoother. Audience segmentation, personalized content and ROI assessment are more meaningful processes for a brand when accompanied by a strategy. Data and strategy should be the bedrock of all content decision making and will help your brand become more effective with its communication.
Get Cozy with Micro-Influencers
They may not be a Kardashian, but their endorsement is just as valuable. Positioning your brand with a micro-influencer is a worthwhile endeavor – as long as they are the right micro-influencer. To find who to align your brand with, ask one simple question: what is our brand’s lane? Whatever niche it may be, there is someone driving opinions to your potential audience. It’s time to do your homework and find out who that someone is. Build a relationship, and not only have your brand visible on their platforms but have them drive traffic to yours. Invite them to write a blog post or takeover your organization’s social for a day and watch as their followers start to follow you.
All Eyes on You
Mobile devices and large screens are staples for Generation Z and as data speeds rise, attention spans shorten. What type of content is attracting the most engagement in the Mobile Age? Visual! Videos and images are a clever way to connect with your audience and quite literally keep eyes on your brand. While it does not need to be a full-scale Hollywood production, it should be compelling. The challenge is how to visually represent the values of the brand and make that connection with the target audience. The way this challenge is tackled is different for every marketing team, but it is a challenge that should be tackled all the same. Consumption of visual media is trending upwards; make sure your brand is there along with it.
Alexa, Tell Me About Voice Search
SEO is a weapon in every marketer’s arsenal, but how many marketers are thinking about its evolution? While the keyboard is not exactly a relic of the past, the mindset of only optimizing for the written word is. Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri are very capable ways to search the vast sea of content that is the world wide web. For the foreseeable future, content marketers should be asking how will our brand’s content appear to someone searching from their Amazon Echo or Google Home?
Answering this question can open all kinds of new doors in content creation, which leads us to…
Create Across Different Media
To take an opportunity, you must be willing to take on its risks. Content is king, and it is increasingly difficult for brands to ignore different ways to publish brand-related content. Your brand’s content should be as varied as your audience. Traditional digital marketing tactics will continue to reign in the social media age, but it’s time to take the next steps to disseminate your brand’s image. A back-to-campus livestream, a travel podcast, and empathetic stories from consumers are all ways to spice up your platforms – and keep your audience on their toes as well. If potential positive results from a new media format are backed up by your content strategy and data, go for it!
Brand and content marketing are ever-changing fields, as evidenced by many of these new trends. Integrating some of these new ideas into your current brand content strategy may not be simple right off the bat. It may require some adjustment, unlearning and growing pains. But the good news is your brand is in great hands: yours! Because you love your brand, and you are up for the challenge.
Brand marketing and content marketing is evolving. Remain relevant with trends like artificial intelligence, influencers, voice SEO with Alexa and more.
