1. 14 Content
marketing
predictions for
2014
PRESENTS…
EXPERT
EDITION

2. How will content marketing
change in 2014?
Don’t just take our word for it,
find out what the experts think!

3. Customer experience
The tactics have changed, but the customer philosophy hasn’t.
For all the changes in channels, tactics and business models, there has
been one constant: your customers have always wanted to feel that
they mean more to your brand than the revenue they represent, and
they expect to be treated accordingly.
With more data at our fingertips than ever, it’s tempting to take the
empathy out of a customer experience and treat prospects, leads or
evangelists based on the potential revenue they present. But
customers know when you’re treating them like a line item. The
challenge for SMBs in 2014 will be to leverage data without
dehumanizing the customer experience.
Brent Leary,
Co-Founder and Partner
of CRM Essentials, LLC
Prediction source: http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/dreamforce-sales-crm-predictions
Learn more about Brent

4. Content technology
We are seeing a lot of technology and start-ups in the content
marketing space. There are tools for curation, CMS, reporting engines,
editorial workflow, calendaring and platforms that try to do all these
things.
In order to increase ROI, brands need to figure out the right mix of
creation, curation and syndication and build a team of people who
really understand how to think and act like a publisher. Once that is in
place and working like a machine, it’s time to build the kind of
platform that can scale and sustain growth into the future.
2014 will see brand content marketing teams that take on the look
and feel of real newsrooms including the technical platforms to
support that.
Michael Brenner,
Vice President ,
Global Marketing, SAP
Prediction source: http://www.b2bmarketinginsider.com/content-marketing/9-questions-on-
content-marketing
Learn more about Michael

5. Amplification
Content promotion will have a seat at the table with content
marketing.
At present, content promotion is an afterthought for many
marketers. However, as the internet continues to get bogged
down with more branded content, marketers who want their
content read will start to deploy more earned and paid
distribution and promotion strategies.
Chad Pollitt,
Online Marketing Specialist
Prediction source: http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/10-digital-
marketing-predictions-2014-0679020#esSq0OlT1OwQj7Pz.9
Learn more about Chad

6. Content marketing
needs to grow up
Content marketing needs to be measured by conversions not engagement.
In 2014, we need to move away from measuring our content marketing
with soft engagement metrics such as retweets, shares, linkbacks and
Likes, and start having adult conversations about ROI.
Brands exist to make money, and whilst engagement may make your
marketing team feel warm and fuzzy inside, it counts for nought if your
content marketing cannot be shown to demonstrably ‘move the needle’.
If brands are serious about becoming publishers, they need to adopt a
publisher’s commercialism. Publishers and media outlets have lived and
died on the strength of their content generating sales, not engagement,
and it’s time brands followed suit as well.
Andrew Davis,
Author of Brandscaping,
Marketing Specialist
Prediction source: http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/63847-2014-the-year-content-
marketing-finally-grows-up
Learn more about Andrew

7. Social media
will diversify
Pinterest and Instagram have become popular, like other giants of social
media. It is a reflection of how social media is diversifying and how it has
become part of our daily life.
Next year it will only get bigger as the number of visitors to social media
sites will get bigger and bigger. In 2013, as many as 93 per cent of
marketers said that they used social media for their businesses and that
figure is bound to be higher in the coming year.
Therefore, in 2014 businesses will have to establish themselves on several
social media networks to remain in touch with their customers to build
their brands on these very popular sites. Also, LinkedIn and Facebook
allow you to pay for ads on their sites. So, more marketers will use paid
advertising on the social network. Apart from time, investing cash into
these sites to enhance awareness of your brand, reach and social signals
will be a good idea.
Alan Smith,
Web Developer and
Internet Marketer
Prediction source: http://socialmediatoday.com/alan-smith/1918461/digital-marketing-
techniques-for-2014
Learn more about Alan

8. Mobile marketing
With the prediction that mobile will overtake desktop usage
within the next two years, not incorporating mobile into a solid
content strategy is no longer an option. Google’s recent rollout of
its new algorithm, Hummingbird, along with the complete
revocation of keyword data from Google Analytics, reinforce this
prediction.
Creating content that can be read ‘on the go’ will become
increasingly important, which means mobile-friendly formatting,
shorter and more actionable blog posts, and considering which
devices your audience will be using to access your content.
Jayson DeMers,
Founder & CEO of
AudienceBloom
Prediction source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/10/08/the-top-7-
content-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/
Learn more about Jason

9. Measurement
I predict that 2014 will see the rise of better measurement tools
that don’t just track clicks and likes, but actual engagement in the
form of discussion, shares across multiple platforms/channels
and actions as a result of those shares.
Currently, it’s too cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming
for a marketing team to micromanage the analytics for every
single piece of content to see how it performed – so companies
simply don’t invest in it.
Sherice Jacob,
Web Developer and
Online Marketing
Specialist
Prediction source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/content-marketing-2014/
Learn more about Sherice

10. Google Plus
Google+ will increase in significance. Google+ is still underrated as social
network. Useful advantages like authorship mark-up or junction to the
search engine stress the ongoing growth of Google+. Since 2011 they do
everything to strengthen their own platform.
And because it will be the fastest-growing product in the history of
Google, this trend will increase. From a content marketing view, Google+ is
better suited for exclusive content than other social networks. The
possibility to use Google+ as blog provides the opportunity to build topic-
specific communities.
These communities can be used to put the company website into the
centre of attention. All external channels are aligned to this, also really
important content happens only there. This leads to more reach and brand
building.
Björn Tantau,
Online Marketing
Specialist
Prediction source: http://bjoerntantau.com/en/5-important-content-marketing-trends-2014-
11112013.html
Learn more about Björn

11. Video content will
continue to reign
Currently, one in three millennials watch mostly online video and no broadcast
TV at all. I believe it, because my 12-year-old likes to spend hours on the couch,
in front of the TV, on his phone watching videos on YouTube.
Most millennials grew up with online video, so they’re incredibly comfortable
with the medium. They also like to create or consume it collaboratively, sharing
choice clips with their friends on social networks.
So in 2013, we saw Instagram – now the second most popular social network
amongst teens – play into this rising trend, with the launch of its new video
capabilities. (Sorry, Vine.)
In 2014, we will see this phenomenon explode further. The signs are all there.
Take for example Facebook’s recent failed offer to snatch up Snapchat for a
whopping $3 billion. The piping-hot social network – which lets users share
short video clips (along with text or images) that only last for a few seconds –
has a user base that is mostly aged between 13 and 25.
Jeanette Gibson,
Vice President Community,
HootSuite
Prediction source: http://blog.hootsuite.com/5-social-media-predictions-2014/
Learn more about Jeanette

12. The job market for content
creation is set to explode
Whether in-house or agency based, one of the top marketing jobs of
2014 is tipped to be director of content, with many writing, video
and editing jobs set to open up as the year continues.
Indeed, in HubSpot’s Fifth Annual Review of Inbound Marketing, the
company states that the top marketing job of 2014 may well be
director of content, and they aren’t the only ones making the claim.
Andrew Jessop,
Online Marketing Specialist,
Copywriter.
Prediction source: http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/online-content-
marketing-trends-watch-2014-0680878#etR1AZwm1BUgh0QY.99
Learn more about Andrew

13. Big data
I believe that 2014 is the year that the smoke clears on big data. To this point,
it’s been little more than a buzzword. And to those of us with smaller
budgets, merely a pipe dream. But with the amount of money being thrown
into data and customer personas, it will soon be something even the smaller
companies will be able to take advantage of.
So what does this mean? It means getting to know a lot more about your
customers. It means knowing what they do online, where they shop, what
they do for a living, who they spend time with and what they want to get from
you. It means more ability to segment your marketing into buckets and target
the messaging, design and offers to individuals or small groups, rather than
showing everyone the same thing. That will lead to a greater response, and
more efficient marketing.
Zach Heller,
Online Marketing Specialist
Prediction source: http://www.business2community.com/marketing/marketing-trends-2014-
0691545#9sQBIbDWEFOt626R.99
Learn more about Zach

14. A bigger focus on the user
One of the biggest challenges that many organizations face is
tailoring their content to match viewer values and interests.
However, 2014 may show a larger effort being made to engage the
audience on various platforms.
This means including polls and responding to any criticisms or
questions presented across the social media platforms. Businesses
may start investing more in this area in order to provide enhanced
interfaces while also using analytics tools to better optimize their
content. By creating consumer-centric material, it will significantly
boost customer satisfaction, which may be reflected in the overall
profitability of the company.
Leslie Jenkins,
Senior Marketing Manager,
Fonality
Prediction source: http://info.fonality.com/blog-0/bid/147610/Three-Content-Media-
Innovations-for-2014
Learn more about Leslie

15. Optimise and socialise your
digital marketing for 2014
If you want your marketing to be great in 2014, you must
optimise, socialise and integrate.
The pivot from routine and mechanical to more inspired and
meaningful is found through the customer journey. Balance
customer insights with unique stories and content experiences
that guide customers from attraction to engagement to
conversion. Help customers pull themselves through the buying
cycle with information they want and enjoy.
Lee Odden,
Founder TopRank Online
Marketing
Prediction source: http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/11/optimize-socialize-digital-
marketing-2014/
Learn more about Lee

16. Nothing will change
The most frequent question I’ve gotten lately is “What’s the future of
content marketing?” I generally refuse to answer for reasons that should
be clear from the story above.
On the other hand, the true answer is even less satisfying to those with
shiny object syndrome. Fundamentally, nothing will change.
The technology will change, but the primary tenets of content marketing
will not. Technology doesn’t change human nature, although it may
amplify it.
People have problems and desires. They want information that helps
them with those problems and desires. That will never change.
Consumption methods will certainly change. What will wearable
computing mean for content? No one knows for sure, and anyone who
says they know is not someone you should trust at this point.
Brian Clark,
Founder Copyblogger Media
Prediction source: http://www.copyblogger.com/future-of-content-marketing/
Learn more about Brian

17. Do you have a prediction about
content marketing in 2014?
Share your prediction in the
comments section below and
tweet using #CMP2014

18. Presented by King Content, Australia’s most-awarded digital
content marketing agency.
Check out our blog for more content marketing insights and advice.
www.kingcontent.com.au
@King_Content