Marketing is an industry that is constantly in flux. Rapidly advancing technologies mean that small business need the ability to adapt in order to thrive. But, you might not always be up on the latest marketing trends or how to adapt them to fit into your business.

The good news is that you don’t need to know everything about marketing to survive. You just need to know the direction of one very important marketing tool.

Content Marketing.

2018 is set to bring exciting changes to the content marketing. These changes are designed to create more engagement and build brand trust. How can your small business tap into the power of content marketing in the coming year?

Start by paying attention to these 3 hot content marketing trends.

Content Becomes More Personalized

As a small business, you know that producing content for your website and social media profiles is essential for remaining competitive in today’s business market. Let’s face it, people, and by that, I mean potential leads, are going to judge you immediately by what they see across those platforms.

Your website and social media outlets are representations of your business that are on call 24/7, 365 days a year. What image are you putting out there, and how you are you customizing it to target your audience?

Consumers are looking for a more personalized experience in 2018. They want to be engaged by content that feels like it was created specifically for them. Personalize content helps them understand what it is about your business that addresses their needs, and not just those of the general public.

Most importantly for small businesses, customized content encourages visitors to act. This might not be in the form of an immediate conversion, but rather a serious of interactions that build their trust in you, and leads to long-term, satisfying relationships.

Here are three things to keep in mind as you create customized content for your small business in 2018:

  • Value: Does your content offer something to the viewer? To create value focused content, it is crucial to understand the exact market you are targeting. Generalized content offers little value to anyone, where customized content can be generated so that your target audience gains something from the experience.

Custom content should leave the viewer feeling that they have learned something, solved a problem or were at least entertained.

  • Consistency: Forming relationships with customers is very much like forming friendships. They usually don’t happen upon the first introduction, but through a series of meetings. What if you were trying to form a friendship with someone who seemed completely different each time you met.

You would be hesitant, would you not?

This is how potential customers feel about your brand when you are inconsistent with your image or your message. Don’t keep mixing it up. Find your target audience, appeal to them and remain consistent in your customized approach.

  • Relevance: Your content needs to fill a need, answer a question or entertain for it to be viewed as relevant to your target market. If you don’t customize to approach your target on at least one of these levels, they will choose to opt out and choose one of your competitors that provides more relevant content almost every single time.

Watch Video Outperform Other Formats In 2018

Want to know the secret to the future of content marketing?

Look no further than video. Video is the fastest growing, in demand type of content marketing of 2018. Small businesses need to heed this trend and learn how to adapt it to target markets.

Video is hot right now because it provides an opportunity for viewers to immediately feel more connected to your brand. As a small business who is working on building their image and trust in the community, video is a critically important content marketing tool.

Need proof?

According to this Forbes article, there are a half a billion people watching videos on Facebook every day. That’s right. Half a BILLION. Every. Single. Day.

Add to this that experts predict that over 80% off all consumer internet traffic will be video based in as little as 4 years, and you can clearly see why video is being coined the must have marketing tool of the coming year.

You have two choices. Adopt a video content marketing strategy, or watch your small business get left in the dust.

Video content should, of course, be marketed directly towards your target audience, but the main video trend you want to keep an eye on in 2018 is the how live content will dominate pre-recorded content across all platforms.

80% of viewers say they would rather watch a live event than read a blog, and 63% say that live events increase a business’s favorability rating. These are big numbers, and they deserve your attention.

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How do you plan to optimize your video marketing strategy in 2018?

Visual Content Becomes Mandatory

For a couple of years now, we have been hearing how augmented and virtual reality technologies are going to change the face of the marketing game. In 2018, we actually begin to see this happening. Does this mean that you need to jump on board with AR, even if it doesn’t fit the needs of your small business?

The answer is no. You should never push your marketing strategy to fit a mold that doesn’t apply to you. However, it is important for small business to look at why AR and VR are becoming more main stream in the marketing industry.

They appeal to a visually stimulated audience.

Whether its images or video, visual content drives engagement. Just look at these two graphs.

Rates of Facebook Post Engagement

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If you aren’t using visual content to market your small business, you are missing out on creating the engagement you need to create the conversions that will lead to your success.

Are You Ready For 2018?

The new year is almost here, and with it the opportunity to make your small business more profitable and more successful. Content marketing is your go to strategy for turning your business goals into realities.

Are you ready for 2018? I sure hope so, because with the right content marketing strategy, you are looking forward to your best year yet.