Content marketing has quickly become the default strategy for search engine optimization. Some businesses get it, most don’t. Those that don’t get it will quickly be left in the dust along with the nearly 55% of American small businesses that don’t even have a website.
The serious competitors out there, approximately 60% of all businesses regardless of size, are employing some manner of content strategy. Some are more successful than others.
The trends are there and the future looks well laid out to those that are prepared.
- Companies have begun to focus on exactly what content marketing should be. Most have dedicated teams and many, especially smaller businesses, have made the investment in outsourcing their SEO and content marketing strategy. No longer can a company have a splayed policy regarding their SEO. The successful business is integrating it as part of their overall operations.
- Budgets are increasing and different forms of content marketing are being deployed. It can include blogs and articles as well as email campaigns and video. Video will become more dominant as the future continues to play out.
- Google continues to be the 600 pound gorilla in the room. Content marketing must keep up with algorithm changes and Google’s future strategies. Again, outsourcing has become the go-to strategy for many businesses as SEO and content strategy becomes more complex and time consuming.
- Some companies are looking to take short cuts with attempts to automate their content. It is doomed to fail miserably on many accounts. Efforts to automate their content marketing inevitable produces lower quality content and a disjointed overall strategy. These businesses risk their integrity, and their bottom line, in an effort to save a few pennies. Also, if you are mot optimizing your site and your content for mobile devices you will, undoubtedly, be left in the dust. More and more people are accessing their information through their mobile devices especially their cell phones and tablets.
- This huge shift in mobile use is actually huge news for brick and mortar businesses. As more people search for products and services on their mobile devices, a retail location can benefit from direct foot traffic into their locations. In addition, if your business is strictly a B2B situation, your content marketing strategy must begin to migrate to and include Google+ in your social media strategy. The future predictions suggest that Google+ will soon overtake Facebook for business marketing.
The future of content marketing is clear and it is becoming entrenched. For smaller businesses, the strategy also seems clear that outsourcing their SEO and content marketing efforts will be more cost efficient and profitable in the long run.
SearchPro Systems
2024