Content marketing is doing all the heavy-lifting for businesses, these days.  Not surprisingly, there has been a significant uptick in the adoption of various content marketing techniques both by small and big businesses. So, it comes as no surprise, when news report suggest that content marketing industry would be worth over $400 billion by 2021.

New tools, newer technologies, and fresh perspectives are helping content marketers of every stripe to put a new spin to their obsolete content marketing tactics. And, with more and more content being produced and published with each passing hour, the bar of quality content is rising, as brands become more desperate to grab more user eyeballs.

To cut to the chase, content marketing is on every CMO’s radar. So as the industry becomes more mature, look out for these five trends that could dominate the way companies create and consume content in 2019.

#1. Marketing is Becoming Synonymous with Content Marketing

Content marketing, if anything was always a side-project. It was done in spare time, once the traditional online marketing projects and responsibilities were taken care of.

That said, it’s not the same anymore. Sure enough, in the past, conversations with the customers was always a one-way street. That is: we spoke; they heard. No more! Successful brands have started realizing that content marketing is a two-way street.

A two-way communication helps earn trust, build a brand and, more than anything else, generate traffic and good quality leads to the site.

In short, marketing means content marketing these days. It’s the cornerstone to effective marketing, which will set them up for success.

#2.  Blockchain for Decentralized Distribution of Content

As it turns out, sharing and distribution of content have never been easy.  However, with the intervention of Blockchain technology, things might change for the better. Blockchain startups are working towards decentralizing the web and offer better distribution. A project dubbed “Project Atlas” is incentivizing users to help host and distribute content. This encourages wider participation and, in turn, better uptime and downloads. So, if you are looking for top blockchain companies to streamline your content marketing efforts, check out GoodFirms comprehensive and curated list of some of the best-rated blockchain companies, globally.

#3. Greater Customer Experience through Content

Customer success these days mean offering more value to the customers from your products and services. In this age of hyper-personalization, businesses need to look over and beyond making sales and moving onto the next one.  They need to focus on offering more and more value to customers and even developing stronger relationships. Enter content marketing. Well written content shows buyers the best use of companies’ products and services and inspiring customers them to go for them. 

#4.  Content Generated by Machines

Many of the machine-learning projects are educating machines to do creative work these days. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise when we see machines writing horror stories and even songs. In fact, some of these AI are being used for mainstream publication purposes. For instance, the Washington Post is using automated storytelling to write news articles. Other newspapers are also employing AI to generate news updates.

#5. Webinars and Live Videos

If you think you have heard too much and more about video marketing, brace up. As per Animoto report, 64% of consumers will make purchases after seeing a branded video on Facebook. The demand for videos will continuously grow with videos predicted to account for 82% of the global internet traffic by 2021. Another crucial research by Aberdeen revealed that marketers who use video witness 49% faster increase in their revenues over those who don’t.

Going by the widespread use of videos in content marketing, if you are planning to integrate video into your marketing plan in 2019, make sure you keep these two points in mind:  Mobile-friendly and Engaging and Unique content.

Video marketing offers a huge opportunity in 2019. So don’t forget to figure out how to optimize videos for your business in 2019. If you want to optimize your videos for content marketing purposes, check out top digital marketing companies listed by GoodFirms expert.

#6. Making the Most of Social Media

Today, almost all businesses are using social media for promotional purposes. So, if you are new to social media, start with Facebook first and foremost. Believe it or not, Facebook dominates the social media world. And, it’s considered to be the best platform for customer engagement.

Also, tap into other platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. But then, base it on your clientele needs. Instagram is no doubt growing in huge numbers, but then, it’s LinkedIn that’s witnessing biggest user increase, achieving 145% growth in 2018.  Besides LinkedIn, people are using a couple of other social media platforms as well. So, make sure, your content marketing plan covers all these platforms.

Wrapping Up

2019 will be the year of content marketing.  Lukewarm content approaches will no longer work. So brands, no matter what, need to keep updating their strategies and follow all the above-mentioned tactics to take their business and marketing efforts to the next level in 2019.

No, this is no exhaustive list.  Go on and add to this list in the comments below.

Author Bio: This is Jennifer Warren, a Content Crafter for GoodFirms – a review and research platform for mobile app development, web development companies and more. The company publishes research reports on a time to time basis, the latest one is on PPC  Management Research.