What Does Content Marketing Look Like Now?

Content Marketing. It’s very easy to agree with this, especially with the role that social media has and will continue to play in the SEO, traffic and authority of our web properties.

But what exactly should we be doing to make sure the mix we are using for our content marketing initiatives is as potent as we’d like it to be?

The shape of content marketing in 2014

The three buzzwords characterizing content marketing in 2014 are quality, multi-channel and social. Google’s Hummingbird update, along with the ongoing Panda and Penguin purges have left little doubt that in order to win with content, it’s going to have to be good, visual and able to be shared widely.

It’s no longer as simple as having a mobile or social media strategy: it’s all about being able to be found on any size or type of screen or device. With more active mobile devices than adults in this country, we’ve definitely passed the tipping point!

So what types of content are best these days?

Some content is worth far more than others. Today’s ability to secure a reach far beyond your site’s borders has seen to that. Let’s look at four types of content that wins in 2014.

Longer form content – It’s clear that Google is favoring quality long form content and rewards it with authority and rank. This can take the form of not only longer blog posts and articles, but reports, whitepapers, webinars, and even Kindle ebooks.

Videos – With roughly half of all web traffic going to videos, and that number rising for the foreseeable future, it’s clearly time to market on video if you aren’t already. The cost of video is hardly an issue anymore, and you are missing out on opportunities to tell your story online to a vast, ravenous audience.

Visual Content – This can be in the form of imagery, shared visual content (Pinterest, Instagram) and especially infographics. Neil Patel of KISSmetrics has revealed that by spending $600 per infographic over the last two years, (47 in all to the tune of $28,200) KISSmetrics has raked in 2,512,596 visitors, 41,142 links, 41,359 Tweets and some 20,859 Likes. This is traffic and leads that would have cost more than $800,000.

Tools and software – If you have the ability to create a free tool that your audience would find useful you run the risk of being swamped by visitors! This benefits you in many ways, from skyrocketing your trust and authority to long-term, heavy traffic. This one deserves some thought!

Content marketing in 2014 isn’t merely about blogging more, it’s a melding of what your audience is attuned to doing with their time and interests. Time to plant your content marketing strategy directly in that path!