What’s In Store for Content Marketing in 2013?

The Content Marketing Institute last week released 2013 predictions, where more than 80 marketers (including yours truly) weighed in on where the discipline was going in 2013.

Some predictions we heard over and over again:

  • Journalists will have a new home in the corporate or agency environment.
  • Visual content ramps up in the form of video and graphics.
  • Creating content for mobile is key, along with other multiscreen options.

My take on the emerging themes from the survey:

  • Great business content that’s on par with big publishers will be key.
  • The way we want to receive information is changing from the device (mobile) to the medium (visual) to the delivery (concise).

Here’s the report on SlideShare. Scroll down for hand-picked predictions plus my take on them.

Journalists Predicted to Be Big Players in Content Marketing

We heard a lot of predictions in the CMI report about the demand for journalists, and how they will now have a home in the corporate or agency environment due to the brand publishing explosion.

Sarah Mitchell Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

If the predictions are true, businesses will be putting a high value on writers – trained writers – and especially those that can use objective writing as in journalism, as well as investigate the company to find the stories and then go tell them.

I loved Paul Conley’s take on the future of brand journalism, and I think it’s a highly likely scenario:

Paul Conley Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

And while the journalist skill set in a company’s marketing and publishing department is a fantastic addition, it doesn’t necessarily mean a successful content marketing department.

Businesses should turn to journalist skill sets as a viable options for well-written content and storytelling, but those journalists may not have the digital marketing strategy to execute content marketing on a full scale.

Which is why I see it a little differently than Jason’s comment below:

Jason Falls Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

 

My prediction is that businesses will need a healthy mix of skills sets on the content marketing team – publishing, journalism, editing, analytics, SEO, social media, writing, user experience, design and videography, and other Web marketing disciplines.

In fact, here’s my prediction from the CMI report:

Jessica Lee Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

At the helm of all those skill sets I mentioned previously should be someone who understands how all the moving parts fit together within a healthy digital marketing campaign; someone who can speak to the strategy and make sense of all the data to balance the content production with the business goals and audience.

This is similar to what Nicholas Kinports is saying:

Nicholas Kinports Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

I particularly loved the following prediction because in order to be successful, businesses need to define what content marketing means before they go after it:

Justin Lambert Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

How We Create Content Is Predicted to Change

Several marketers predicted the way people wish to receive and produce content is changing and will continue to do so. Many statements had to do with the rise of video production and visuals, as well as more sophisticated execution of those types of content.

So just as journalists will be in demand, I say graphic designers and videographers will continue to have a home as the need for visual storytelling becomes more and more important.

Then there’s the rise of mobile consumption of content. Many predictions talked about the devices people will use to consume content, which means content needs to be responsive for multiscreen use.

Ian Lurie Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

Tom Bishop Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

And on top of it all, you have waning attention spans. One of my favorite predictions by Roger Parker was on simplifying the message:

Sarah Mitchell Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

I also agreed with the predictions on Slideshare being a driver of content consumption. Think about it: Why wait until you have a presentation that you’ve unveiled to an audience? Any topic you have in your head can fleshed out in a PowerPoint, and the succinct nature caters to thin attention spans. Could slide decks be the new blog post?

In a prediction by David Dunworth, he talks about visuals trumping the written word as a form of learning. I would add to that comment by saying that I believe we are going to have to take into account various personas and learning styles to cater the content deliverable (words, visuals, video) we present on the same topic.

David Dunworth Prediction for Content Marketing in 2013

All of this is to say that the way we think about creating our content will need to change, from the way our text is laid out, to the type of content we create and the way content is written and delivered, where simplicity, entertainment, ease of use and engagement could trump in-depth, how-to content for the purposes of authoritative content.

Does this mean that the entertainment factor will trump thought leadership in our content production? I guess we’ll find out …

What’s your prediction for content in 2013? Weigh in in the comments below!

Jessica Lee is the founder and chief creative for bizbuzzcontent Inc., a marketing boutique that focuses on digital content strategy and professional writing services for businesses.

See Jessica's author page for links to connect on social media.

Comments (11)
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11 Replies to “What’s In Store for Content Marketing in 2013?”

Unique ontent is the first step of any webpage quality and also needed for other SEO Tasks. I agree with Jessica that Journalists can easily get jobs in corporate world as Content creator & editor.

Hi Jessica,

You can’t imagine my delight when I googled the CMI content marketing predictions for 2013 and found this post. Thank you so much for featuring my prediction in your blog – the rise of the web journalist. I’m excited by the influence journalistic practice will have on marketing.

You bet, Sarah! It was a great prediction and we are already seeing clients hire journalists as part of the Web marketing team.

For Content Marketing; I think a low quality content will more damage. Over promotion content or any page will be noticeable & will be put in spam like in twitter & facebook. Social Media signal will get more weight. Signals will be most valuable and will play a vital role.

Search engines demand for unique and original content. Content is given high priority in search engines. So in future more stress will be given towards it.

Hi Jessica:

I don’t think it’s just that. Even the lowest-paid workers here have laptops these days, and there’s no/little tax on these items in order to encourage it. Not really sure why but mobile is huge.

Very interesting factoid, Patricia!

Creating mobile friendly content in 2013 is essential. More and more people are browsing on a mobile device and for many it has become their primary way of engaging with online content. People want information quickly and will seek out other options if a web page doesn’t load properly on their mobile device.

Interesting, Patricia. Probably due to the fact that the population mostly has mobile access to Internet, not PCs or laptops, would you say? Thanks for your comment.

Interestingly the Middle East region seems to be embracing mobile marketing, and therefore mobile content, even more enthusiastically than the rest of the world. Now, many forward-thinking companies are already scrambling to organize a good supply of great content that will shape their brand and establish their presence. For many local companies, their Facebook page is actually more important and far more effective than their website.

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