A trend – a general direction of which something is developing and changing. Now the question is, do we follow it, or do we make it?
2015 has been a year of pithy vlogs, garish but funny videos and user generated content. Brands have been digging deep into what we as consumers think and feel, ensuring content conveys empathy, realism and education.
Businesses are spending more time and money than ever before on generating content. Agencies are no longer just ‘one thing’, they are specialists in everything. Your traditional PR agency now needs subject matter experts, industry experts and real people ‘producing their content’ otherwise they’re going to ‘follow’ rather than ‘make’.
So what’s actually happened this year that will have an impact on 2016? Aside from the flurry for a fear of flying or the #PigGate hole in one?
Video will be the major source of media that consumers use to engage with peers and brands. This includes B2B. Customer appetite for video (even low-res, real-time video) is insatiable. If you have a video, you have audio. If you have video, you have text. If you have video, you have photos. But it doesn’t work the other way around. In 2016, video will be like plants without light. Content will die even faster if not positioned in the right place.
Participation – Brands and businesses will form invaluable relationships with consumers. Investment will be made in content co-creation with industry experts, bloggers, Vloggers and the general public. Selling a service will come primarily through investing in ‘real people’ who can educate ‘real people’. ‘If you want your content to be great, ask your community to participate!’
Less is more – Brands will ‘always be on’ however avoid thrusting every key message through peoples feeds. Social networking will become more social, and brands will focus more on quality rather than the frequency. If there is nothing to say, don’t fill the gaps with loud noise.
Integration – We will see an exponential growth in re organisation of teams. Sales will become social, brand managers will be bolder and CEO’s will become wiser. Customer experiences will be the forefront of marketers minds. Working together as a team, as a business and most importantly as a community will improve results.
Excited about 2016? Just remember content is king, context is queen and distribution is reality but remember you need a diverse empire to build it. #Boom