Information in this blog post was obtained from Hootsuite, ContentMarketingInstitute and SproutSocial.
It is April 6th, 2024, and the time of writing is 19:34 in Athens, Greece. As the sun sets gently over the Athenian riviera, the waves gently come and go, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.
Whilst staying flexible in your Content Marketing strategy may seem a far fetch from a picturesque Western European destination, they have more in common than you might initially expect.
We’re going to break it to you: there isn’t that much you can control about the future of your Content Marketing strategies. We can already see the furrows between your eyebrows. What? But why? My social media calendar is in place. I know what socials my audiences use, and at what times.
Well yes, but TikTok was released in September 2016. By October 2018, it was the most downloaded app in the United States. No social media strategy would’ve accommodated for the mass adoption of a new social media platform, born (seemingly to most users) out of thin air. So, whilst we can’t wholly predict where our customers may be in two years, we can invest in creating content that will likely still be relevant regardless of the timestamp.
With so much up to chance, staying versatile is key. As ContentMarketingInstitute reminds us, having a team with dynamic and creative mindsets that is willing to experiment is key to staying on top of social media trends and topics. This is especially true when it comes to Content Marketing, for both B2C and B2B audiences. As a Content Marketer, you have to continuously ask questions of yourself and your audience (Hootsuite).
A massive part about being creative is being able to step into your customer's shoes (as best you can).
What are their interests? Their hobbies?
Where do they hang out, both virtually and in real life? (Hootsuite).
Do they know about us, or are they at the top of their consumer journey (Awareness Stage).
Consumer demographics relating to age are fairly simple to track; after all, they age the same rate as the rest of us. Their habits, platform preferences and hobbies are constantly changing though. A marketing team that is dynamic and willing to move away from a previously-successful plan that has stalled is far more likely to enjoy continued success than one that is stuck in their ways and unwilling to experiment (ContentMarketingInstitute).
Hootsuite encourages marketers to try different techniques to see what works and what doesn’t. That isn’t to say you should be blasé with your content strategy, but your testing strategy could let you stay one step ahead of the game simply by trying different content formats. For example, Hootsuite predict excellent ROI on 2-5 minute videos, and whilst of course this is dependent on where and who you are marketing to (a 5-minute video is probably more suited to Youtube than 'X' (formally known as Twitter), but the only way to find out for certain is through trying it out (mixing up dates and times). You can then track it through an analytics tool, and survey your audience if they are receptive enough.
ContentMarketingInstitute neatly describe this process as a 'test-learn-adapt' mindset. Cross-pollination across internal teams (sharing ideas and content formally and informally) is strongly suggested so that teams are not siloed and don't compete against each other. Being willing to trade ideas, best practices and what worked with different audiences between organizations is a massive asset for corporations, especially wide-ranging Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Too often teams keep performance enhancements to themselves for egoistical reasons of wanting to be the best performing team in their company (e.g. Marketing Communications won’t communicate with the Social Media team about successful campaigns, etc.) and command the biggest budget.
Sometimes a lack of communication can be innocent, such as the sales team will fail to mention a big win with the Marketing team, who will then not pass that information to the Content Marketing wing, and so the supply chain of information breaks down and no-one benefits. That’s where flexibility and an open mind comes in. Other times. you have to chase down content, it won’t always fall into your lap. A full social media calendar doesn’t necessarily indicate a successful one, especially if what you have planned isn’t specifically created for where in the marketing funnel you are targeting (i.e. what part of the journey your consumer is on).
Sprout Social adds to this sentiment by stressing the importance of curating content that is evergreen. Evergreen content is like hitting the jackpot every time you need it - it's exactly what someone is looking for, at any given point. Whilst this sounds almost too good to be true, publishing evergreen content does mean that you can see the benefits months or years after the initial publishing date. However, It’s easier said than done. People need to be fed content that they feel is worthwhile going back and exploring. It can be tricky to craft content in a manner where it isn’t time-sensitive (i.e. loses relevancy after some time).
ContentMarketingInstitute suggests embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a potential collaborative tool that should work alongside and not against a marketing team's efforts. It is completely natural to feel some initial resistance integrating a tool that has only really become publicly accessible in the last two years and carries with it a great deal of baggage from media. It seems not a day goes by without alarm bells ringing about the need to control AI before it (seemingly) replaces all our jobs and renders us redundant. Luckily enough, we don't seem to be heading for a Brave New World-esque reality just yet, and so Content Marketers should be encouraged to work through any growing pains and use the platform as an effective additional resource.
ContentMarketingInstitute and Hootsuite both agree on one key principle for being successful with content marketing: your brand identity needs to be on point. Great brands such as Apple have remained stalwarts in their success regardless of where their audiences shifted their social media presence to. Content Marketers need to be well versed in their company’s branding strategy and maintain a close relationship with their branding team to keep a united front. So, whilst it is great to be flexible, your brand needs to have credibility behind it too. One of the best ways to keep credibility and elevate brand image is by being consistent. Hootsuite stresses the importance of brand colors (or colors, depending on your brand guidelines) and tone, but succeeding in this space goes beyond that.
What do you stand for?
Companies don’t always have to take a stance, but sometimes they should. Sprout Social recommends you identify your audience’s wants and needs and we agree, but we think you need more than just a good product. Sometimes, you need to stand for something more, such as diversity and inclusion, even if it means alienating some consumers (ContentMarketingInstitute). This requires being open minded and keeping a constant eye on regional, national and global news. Your team is flexible, it’s open to new ideas and projects and there’s a fairly good chance it is diverse too. Tap in to this diversity, use the fact your colleagues may be from different backgrounds and may have a different angle that you overlooked. This can be as simple as being aware of a piece of global news that another team member may have not been aware of and tweaking your content strategy ever so slightly to reflect this as such.
It may seem like a small adjustment, but as social media becomes ever so congested with content, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. Being able to tap into a trend on TikTok could be the difference between standing out and fading into the background. The same can be true for more serious geo-political issues. This flexibility will lead to Thought Leadership opportunities (WE took a stance when others didn’t) that will translate to brand equity that will last beyond the rise and fall of social media platforms and various topics and trends.
It is April 6th, 2026, and the time of writing 19:34 in Athens, Greece. The sun is barely visible through a cluster of menacing, grey clouds. The waves carnivorously devour each other, smacking against the seashore with growing anger. Second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.
Much like the wind, waves, and mother nature, there is some, but not much, we can do to predict the behavior and evolution of our audience’s preferences. They are, after all, both based on largely extrinsic events.
Likewise, whilst we can forecast into the near future, we cannot predict the weather in two years’ time. What we can do however is take care of the necessary foundations to make sure our projects stand the test of time. Whether it is a river dam or a meticulously planned Evergreen Content Marketing strategy built to navigate the choppy seas of social media, we can still build with the future in mind.
Resources:
A guide to B2B content marketing in 2021. (2021, April 8). Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/b2b-content-marketing/
23+ Content Marketing Skills You Need | Content Marketing Institute. (n.d.). Https://Contentmarketinginstitute.com/. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/skills-content-marketer-success?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=cmworld&utm_campaign=cmwblog
Clarke, T. (2019, June 26). 14 social media best practices you should follow in 2019. Hootsuite Social Media Management. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-best-practices/
Comments