The Evolution of Content Strategies

It’s no secret that traditional news networks have been suffering in the last 10 years. Many have seen complete overhauls of their news release strategies, and others have been eradicated entirely.The world is increasingly connected by mobile devices with online capabilities, and the power afforded by instant news feeds on the internet is proving too great to match.

Though YouTube and early news sites such as Yahoo! News were landmark operations for their time, current internet behemoths like BuzzFeed have now set the standard for content release, with Snapchat and Instagram filling their own niches.

One of the greatest changes in content strategies is how they’re perceived at corporate level. Most media organisations now have a team dedicated to content and the marketing of information. These factions drive business growth and increase the size of the customer base, whilst promoting the brand identity according to plan. We’re watching content marketing evolve from a tactic to a full-fledged business model.

The sheer number of brands and companies now engaging in content marketing is breathtaking. Now that content marketing has been proven to work, it would be an oversight of any organization worth their weight to avoid drawing a strategy for their content, whether it aligns with their brand image or exists separately to their products.

Thanks to Google’s study on the Zero moment of Truth, companies must try to either tell their own story or allow the external environment to do it for them. Content strategies now dictate how a brand’s story is told, which explains the greater attention that is now paid to the competition between large businesses. Every brand must permeate their niche in their own way, taking notice of those around them attempting to fill the same space. Another side effect is the leveraging of paid media like influencer marketing and native advertising.

Algorithm changes by Google have dictated many of the rules surrounding content production, since all digital content is indexed according to their infrastructure. The principles of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) have permeated the culture so deeply that it would be considered an oversight to avoid it in a content strategy. With SEO being taught professionally and now being a viable career path, Search Marketing is a larger driving factor in content strategies than ever before.

Aside from search optimization, content strategy awarenesshave slowly become ingrained in everyday society.In 2014 the LEGO movie was released, which was arguably the first feature-length large-studio film that also served as a brand marketing effort.In 2016 a feature documentary about digital trends was released. The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing chronicles the rise of digital content in film format, and was one of the first visual medias to do so.

Today, the presence of content is an unavoidably central component to pop culture. We can expect further evolution in marketing strategies as digital culture continues to sink its roots further into everyday global culture. Areas to watch would be virtual reality, many devices of which are being released and rehashed in 2017.