2016 was another year to look forward in term of content marketing. Lets have a look at some of the content marketing trends that are an extension of 2016 and will continue to drive your business in 2017.

Content marketing is an integral part of digital marketing. It involves creating and distributing valuable content across various digital marketing platforms. With digital marketing foraying into new areas, content marketing will play even a bigger role in 2017. Lets have a closer look at some of the content marketing trends that may be useful for your brand.

Top 7 Content Marketing Trends to Watch in 2017

Content marketing can take several forms. Some of the relevant forms that you already know about are: guest blogs, case studies, info graphics, webinars, and whitepapers.

Although you may be aware of many relatively lesser popular content marketing styles, it is very important to know how to use them for building your brand. A closer look at this upcoming content marketing trends will give you a better idea.

1. Mobile Comes First, Second, and Third: If you happen to read some of the recent articles on content marketing, you will notice how they acknowledge the trend of mobile content marketing. The concept of content marketing is providing relevant content to the audience, no matter where they are. With more people taking it to off-the-shelf apps, mobile content marketing is going to gain momentum in 2017. This means content marketers should be prepared to address the growing dependence on mobile platforms.

2. Interactivity is a Key to Success: Do you know what the biggest challenge is for any digital marketer or a content marketer? Reducing attention spans. They have to work hard to keep their customers on the website or blog for a long time. Interactive content is the best way to captivate a prospective customers attention and keep them hooked to a brand. A recent study by The Content Marketing Institute suggests that interactive content can hold the attention of a customer than a plain and static content. Hence, content marketers are trying to incorporate polls, quizzes, surveys, assessments, and short videos for captivating and retaining their customers.

3. Email Marketing is Alive and Kicking Around: How this qualifies for a 2017 content marketing trend? Our answer is email marketing is not dead. Today, businesses understand that their prospects love email newsletters. This is why they are busy designing and rolling out attractive newsletters announcing discounts, special bonuses, and holiday greetings. If executed properly, email newsletters can bring big returns in the form of leads.

4. Native Advertising is not considered a Fad Anymore: The term native advertising refers to any paid content that appears on the website. Although digital marketers always had a hard time to make people notice their advertisements, native advertising may give them some relief. It helps display value-driven content without disrupting the user experience. The native advertising is slowly becoming an integral part of the web content. A recent study conducted by Business Insider suggests that native display ad revenue in the US will skyrocket to $21 billion in 2018.

5. Live and New is Hot and Going to Be More Hotter in 2017: Video content is not new, but it is going to gain more prominence in 2017. Today, digital marketers are experimenting ways to include videos on their website. You might have noticed Facebook emphasizing on live videos, whereas it also highlights video contents on viewers news feeds. With Snapchats vertical videos gaining attention, 2017 seems to be a great year for re-purposing your content through videos.

6. Augmented and Virtual Reality is No More a Futuristic Trend: You will agree if we say that augmented and virtual reality is not a futuristic trend, but a hot current trend. In 2016, you have seen the success of Pokemon Go. This is a clear indication that virtual reality and augmented reality is already here!

7. Shoppable Content will continue to Rule the Roost: With the tribe of online shopaholics growing each day, shoppable content will continue to be in demand. Many digital media platforms have already incorporated options that encourage impulsive buying. For example, Pinterest has recently introduced Buyable Pins, which makes over 2 million products instantly available for customers to choose from. Similarly, Instagram has introduced the Shop Now Option, which allows customers to purchase through third party apps such as Like2Buy. With every major and lesser-known online platform trying to convert itself into a big storefront, content will assume the role of a shopkeeper trying hard to keep the customer engaged!

Already we have seen several innovations in content marketing in 2016, which means 2017 will be an extension. It is becoming important for businesses to adopt the above-mentioned trends to stay in the business. Be aware, that content marketing is a very vast field, so you need to adopt few trends, if not all.