THE FUTURE OF CONTENT MARKETING
SEAN STANLEIGH Managing Editor, Globe Edge Content Studio
JON BANACK
Managing Director, Marketing and Creative Agency
L O O K I N G A H E A D 3 - 5 Y E A R S
Our contributors:
ROBERT ROSE
CONTENT
MARKETING INSTITUTE
GEMMA RAINER
THE CONTENT
COUNCIL
LAUREN SHIRREFFS
2SOCIAL
LAURA KALEHOFF
HEARST
CONTENT STUDIO
JOHN LUTE
SCRIBBLELIVE
A few facts to get us started: $775 billion Expected size of global advertising marketing in 2021
40 billion All-time YouTube views for branded content as of 2015
4.8 billion Mobile phones on the planet
3.2 billion Likes and comments on Facebook. Every day.
3.17 billion Number of Internet users
2 billion Social media users worldwide
71,000 Brand mentions during the Adidas #MyNeoShoot campaign
800 Years required to watch a day’s worth of Snaps
Mobile first
The here and now
Video/360/VR
Native advertising
Data & data
analysis
Paid social
Drill down on your audience
Build deeper relationships
Learn who wants to hear from you
and when
Establish trust
Consider experiential events and other live interactions
AUDIENCE KPI
RETENTION & LOYALTY
PAGE DEPTH & NUMBER OF POSTS READ
The new data
ORGANIC &
REFERRER TRAFFIC
SCROLL DEPTH
CROSS PLATFORM
COMPARISON
VIDEO
COMPLETION
CLICK FRAUD
DEVICE
BREAKDOWN
IN-SCREEN IMPRESSIONS
DIGITAL TRENDS
The death of homepages Articles are the new landing pages, especially as mobile web takes over. The walled gardens of Google, Amazon and Facebook grow in influence.
Facebook 100% video
Social is visual
Twitter pivots or gets marginalized
Snapchat holds a large niche
Instagram and Instagram Stories dominate
Evolution of messenger apps Messenger apps are direct pipelines to consumers, with chatbots and more sophisticated data collection becoming new tools for brands
Influencer networks
pivot
Strategy over size
Increased vetting
Follower quality over quantity
Greater allegiance for better pay
Smart Home devices get their ads on
Google Home and Amazon Echo will increase market penetration, meaning more sophisticated sponsored brand messages involving data-driven placements and AI interaction
VIDEO TRENDS
Video grabs content marketing share
Dominant platform, higher time spent
Huge growth of augmented reality (AR)
AR and VR technology becomes cheaper, becomes more streamlined and ubiquitous
Weak content dies a quick death
The end of TV commercials
Expensive
Fragmented and decreasing audience
Fastforwarding
Netflix
Increasing use of ‘brought to you by’ within content
The rise of web
commercials
Conversion
Short and impactful
Contextual
Cost-effective
Greater reach
Cards Against Humanity
The self-proclaimed game for “horrible people” created a fake Super Bowl ad that ran web-only, gaining a large amount of coverage for very little budget.
SPOTLIGHT:
Super Bowl Potato
Live streaming grows up 360 and VR have added a new dimension to live streaming, but across the board, live streaming is seeing more mid-roll ads, higher viewer interactions and more conversion methods.
National Geographic
The Chatbooks mom pushed all across social media with a strong conversion message. Sixty-nine million Facebook views also don’t hurt.
SPOTLIGHT:
360 Live Stream
eSports eclipsing traditional sports Fans spend an average of 421.6 minutes/month on twitch.tv, while live tournaments and eSports cafes across Canada have seen huge growth
Red Bull SPOTLIGHT:
Though Red Bull Battle Grounds is specifically a tournament for popular games StarCraft II and Dota2, the brand has also sponsored at least seven other e-sports tournaments.
Battle Grounds
INDUSTRY TRENDS
More internal content studios
“Marketing will pay for itself”
Dollar Shave Club SPOTLIGHT:
The men’s grooming brand has also operated its men’s lifestyle magazine MEL since 2015, making the pivot from retailer to thought leader.
MEL Magazine
Bolder integrations (or lack thereof) Content marketing that has nothing to do with a brand
MailChimp
MailChimp’s absurd videos with titles that rhyme with MailChimp are great for positioning the company as a service that likes to stand out.
SPOTLIGHT:
Mail Shrimp, Kale Limp and Jail Blimp
Paid social changes social media marketing Organic social disappears, while paid becomes more expensive.
Chatbooks
The Chatbooks mom pushed all across social media with a strong conversion message. Sixty-nine million Facebook views also don’t hurt.
SPOTLIGHT:
Chatbooks Mom
The new distribution New generations become tougher for traditional marketers to reach as social-only, on-platform content increases.
Umbra SPOTLIGHT:
The home design and accessories brand has capitalized on Instagram’s home-décor community with picture-perfect home inspiration.
DISRUPTION
#martech Hundred of players, all driving innovation at brands, media and agencies. Expansion of labs and hubs, with larger conferences and more meetups
A I
INNOVATION
B I G D ATA
TECHNOLOGY
5Crowd SPOTLIGHT:
A tech-powered marketing agency that crowdsources and automates marketing creative
Neuromarketing More affordable equipment allowing brands to understand facial expressions, emotional responses, and even blood flow.
iMotions
Biometric sensors reveal what a person is looking at, what they’re feeling and how intense that emotion was.
SPOTLIGHT:
Facial, Skin and Eye Tracking
Blockchain Encrypted transactions tie actions together through location and identity verification. Consumers can choose whether to give up privacy.
ENCRYPTION
Provenence
Blockchain technology helped the tech company track physical products and verifieda)ributesfromorigintopointofsale,andintheprocesshelpedpromotesupplychaintransparencyandethicalsourcing.
SPOTLIGHT:
Tracking Tuna on the Blockchain
Mass media shift No longer just ‘what can you create?’
T Brand Studio
T Brand’s acquisition of marketing agency Fake Love in 2016 has allowed it to expand into offering unique, tech-powered live experiences.
SPOTLIGHT:
Kia Cadenza
New platform strategies
Autonomous vehicles Amazon Drones
Wearables
Under Armour SPOTLIGHT:
A fitness app available for wearables not only provides a service, but also promotes the Under Armour brand.
mapmyfitness Drag & Drop Image
Drag & Drop Image
Drag & Drop Image
Going global Bigger campaigns with wider reach
Marriott SPOTLIGHT:
The hotel chain now has locally-focused studios around the world, all of which work to provide real-time content across social platforms.
M Live
Conversion
More emphasis on brand awareness,
lead generation and loyalty
University of Waterloo
SPOTLIGHT:
UWO sought out video company Vidyard to create videos that auto-personalize with prospective student’s names, instantaneously creating dozens of 1:1 conversations.
Recruitment
Newsroom approach Less intrusive brand messaging with deep, investigative-type stories for brands
General Electric SPOTLIGHT:
GE has continued to fill its branded website with interesting, tech content on a daily basis.
GE Reports
INSIGHT CONTENT CREATIVE
Globe creative agency
Contact us Sean Stanleigh @seanstanleigh Globe Media Group globelink.ca Globe Edge Content Studio globeedge.ca
@theglobeedge