What To Expect in Content Marketing in 2015

[responsive]ContentMarketing[/responsive]Camille Padilla Dalmau seized a brilliant opportunity last month to hear straight from the source what to expect next year in content marketing.

“During the Contently Summit last week, I weaved my way through a sea of content marketers during happy hour and interrupted their sips of Peroni to ask their content marketing predictions for 2015,” Dalmau wrote in Contently.

“Some of these marketers have been in the field for some time, while others are just starting to get familiar with content marketing. Nonetheless, they all had some pretty interesting predictions for 2015.”

So what can we expect to see happening in the content realm?

“We’ll be adopting content performance metrics that align to very specific business goals beyond brand awareness,” according to MetLife’s Audrey Gray.

This is not only a salient prediction, it’s also sage advice. Any time you post a piece of content, you should have a reason, a clear tie to your business goals. Just being “out there” is no longer good enough, as we must have a clear voice and clear message in our work.

Lauren Coulston at JP Morgan Chase echoes that sentiment. “There will be more of a focus measuring and proving success,” she predicts.

And that measurement and focus will move away from exposure, posits Raunak Munot of Group M.

“One impression doesn’t do anything, you need to reach people multiple times to move the needle,” he explains. “In social, sequential messaging will become imperative and success measurement will move beyond engagement rate alone.”

Moving beyond engagement is key, as anyone who studies the sales funnel knows. And that’s why the current debate about meaningful circulation figures remains crucial. Advertisers are becoming increasingly aware of the need for meaningful measurement and a way to clarify value of the advertising they purchase, whether in digital or print media. The same goes for editorial content. It’s not enough to simply be seen; content must be acted on in meaningful ways.

Content marketing continues to be a solid strategy, and easily adaptable across a magazine or catalog’s platforms. We predict a more thoughtful approach to content creation, reuse and cross-platform adaptability, as we find new and more effective ways to tie our marketing strategy into our business goals.