What’s Next for Content Marketing?

I often write about content goals, strategy and measurement, but today I’m going to look at something much more fundamental, and focus on quality.

As a content marketer I keep a handy Google Doc where I jot down examples of organisations, brands and media which are transforming the world of content and redefining what content might mean in the future.

I refer back to this list when I’m in need of inspiration — especially when considering new ways of developing content that can help tell the Indeed story in a more interesting and compelling way.

Although, the media industry has been greatly disrupted by technology over the last 15 years, this disruption has led to unprecedented levels of innovation. And while there are examples of brands, such as Red Bull, GE and HubSpot becoming something akin to media companies, the truth is media companies are still much better at creating content than brands.

I believe the future of content marketing must become more visual, immersive and engaging. In my mind business caught up with where the media was in terms of content, but the leading media companies have once again stolen a march.

Take a look at these three sensational examples of storytelling from world renowned media outlets. They show just where brand content can, should and in my mind, must go:

• BBC – The Reykjavik Confessions
• The Guardian – Firestorm: The story of the bushfire at Dunalley
• NY Times – Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

You cannot help but be blown away by these stories and view them to the end. They are captivating, and are in themselves newsworthy and highlight what’s next for content marketing.

Interestingly, this new type of high quality, rich and expansive content, although being driven by media outlets, lends itself more to the business world. All good brand content marketers will know the topics they will be covering for the next 12 months, whereas media are increasingly ruled by speed. Creating this sort of content can only be done long after events have happened with lots of time and resource — two things brands increasingly have more of than news outlets.

If you’re a content marketing team looking to lead an industry, you must be thinking along these lines. In the future, successful content marketing teams will have studios creating long form content like this all year round, which is then supplement by the daily creation of short form and responsive content, such as social media posts, blogs, infographics and videos.

There’s lots of room for fresh thinking in content marketing and it is my belief that it can and should be re-imagined along these lines.