Kook Content – The Blog

Content marketing would be much easier if it somehow existed in a vacuum, wouldn’t it? A system that would work well today and will still work well in five years, and if you continue to tweak and refine it long enough, you will eventually stumble upon the “perfect” strategy.

Unfortunately, however, content marketing does not exist in a vacuum. It is constantly being shaped and forced to evolve with new technologies, new platforms and increasing online noise and consumer demands.

The only way to stay effective as a content advertiser is to proactively anticipate these changes and adapt your strategy to suit them. The next five years should be interesting, challenging and exciting for content creators, strategists and marketers everywhere.

Video content will become mainstream

Yes, this one has been around for a few years now, but here’s the thing; when it comes to online content, most people are lazy, fact! Instead of reading a blog with 2000 words of a post, they would much prefer to watch a 20-minute video.

And, given the choice, between video and written content, most people would choose video every, single time.

Since everyone today has a smartphone and a decent camera on their phone, it’s super easy to get up and work in minutes.

Additionally, there are video editing apps to help capture, edit and publish videos very quickly and easily. It turns everyone into a content creator, should they wish.

What better way to create attention-grabbing content quickly, rather than writing long posts?

Writing still remains

While I think that video is the future, writing isn’t going anywhere in five years. (Thankfully, or I’d be out of a job!)

However, long-form, text-only content is not going to work on its own.

The way forward will be a mix of text and multimedia.

Today, retailers focus a lot on the text, which will add to the years of written content, and blog posts will still be a major marketing tool.

Motion graphics

I see big brands competing for moving graphics.

Motion Graphics will be like 21st-century graphic design.

Explained videos, on-board animation, promotional videos that use motion graphics will be the de-facto standard for brand and product promotion, much like television was 10 years ago.

Virtual reality integration

2021 looks to be the year that offers the next big breakthrough in virtual reality technology.

Oculus Rift, one of the most anticipated VR technologies, will be released along with dozens of other competitors sponsored by social media brands, computer technology companies and video game publishers. Also, Oculus Rift is owned by Facebook, so it’s almost certain that they have something big in the works together.

If the technology gets any reasonable level of reception, it is almost certain that VR-powered posts and content on social media will quickly become the new norm.

How this will prove to content retailers remains to be seen, but expect it to create waves.

More interactive elements

Today’s average web user is understandably selfish; they are used to search results that are tailor-made based on their previous searches, social news feeds that are customized based on past behaviours and requests, and other forms of personalized experiences that suit the individual.

Over the next five years, new media and technologies will make it easier for content marketers to produce and publish content that is somehow tailored to the individual reading it, and users will no longer tolerate “mass-produced” content.

Conclusion

No matter which channels come and go, the audience will always be important.

Focus on the audience, and you won’t go far wrong.

What do you think? Is there any other content creation ‘trend’ that you can see emerging over the next five years? Let me know in the comments below.