Five Content Marketing Trends to Watch - Digital 2014
As the third annual Digital Content NewFronts unfold, digital marketers are eyeing emerging trends. The Internet Advertising Bureau event, which took place from April 28 to May 7 in New York City, is a hub for the launch and discovery of digital marketing innovations with a focus on video.
The cast of featured presenters includes key players such as BuzzFeed, Hulu, The New York Times, AOL, Google, and Yahoo. The NewFronts are designed to imitate the TV upfront marketplace and are geared toward digital publishers and networks that want to compete with traditional media for advertising dollars.
As an ex-media planner from the world of digital advertising, it’s interesting for me to observe the NewFronts through a content marketer’s lens. Although they’re targeted at media planners and buyers, content marketers can learn from trends in the paid media landscape to shape strategies and identify integration opportunities. Here are five themes to watch:
1. Integrated Analytics
Measuring the impact of integrated marketing strategies that span both traditional and digital channels is one of the most significant challenges for marketers today. To more effectively report on multichannel performance, AOL and Yahoo announced partnerships with measurement giants Nielsen and comScore at the NewFronts.
The collaboration between comScore and Yahoo aims to streamline integrated measurement by offering advertisers access to comScore’s validated Campaign Essentials metrics, which equate video, display, and mobile performance to TV metrics.
AOL and Nielsen’s partnership focuses on testing gross rating points (GRPs) to measure audience reach for AOL’s original programming. GRPs allow marketers to report on impressions by a percent of the total audience reached rather than the exact size. The growth of cross-media measurement is a trend that content marketers should similarly incorporate into measurement strategies to prove return on investment (ROI) alongside other media forms.
2014 NewFronts: Five Content Marketing Trends to Watch Christine Warner
2. Original Programming
Publishers and networks are focused on promoting original programming to expand their audience and subscriber bases and to develop an authentic presence.
According to Mike Hopkins, Hulu’s CEO, the company is planning to quadruple its investment in original programming. Similarly, AOL is launching short-form, unscripted shows featuring stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and James Franco.
“Our main goal is to go after authentic voices,” said Ran Harnevo, AOL’s president of video.
The growth of original video series underscores the power of original content to engage online audiences based on its authenticity and viral tendencies. As advertisers shift budgets toward original programming, content marketers can bask in the industry’s increased respect for original content.
3. Real-Time Measurement
Brands increasingly want to monitor and participate in real-time digital events and conversations. Therefore, it’s critical to be able to measure the results of real-time engagements.
At the NewFronts, DigitasLBi and SimpleReach launched the NewFront Brand Content Index, a measurement tool developed to provide comparative performance data within a brand’s industry and across the Web. Enabling both real-time and historical insights, this tool optimizes content distribution.
“As content marketing becomes an increasingly important way to build brand equity, agencies and brands have struggled to prove the ROI of their efforts,” SimpleReach CEO Edward Kim said while summarizing the tool’s impetus.
Google-owned YouTube also announced a new feature that allows advertisers to measure brand interest according to real-time searches as a result of its collaborations with comScore and Nielsen. Content marketers should also seek to develop measurement strategies that capture the impact of real-time content responses.
4. Influencer Content
Publishers and networks alike are leveraging the personal brands of celebrities and influencers within new video programming. Condé Nast Entertainment introduced digital video series across several of its publications featuring people like actress and fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion blogger Leandra Medine.
Similarly, AOL’s programming will include stars such as actress Nicole Richie, stand-up comedian Mike Epps, and Olympian Bode Miller.
“We’re trying to get people with a meaningful digital footprint who can help us push the shows and market the shows,” Harnevo said.
Influencer engagement isn’t a new phenomenon for content marketers, but its multimedia prevalence reinforces its relevance and impact. Influencer content appeals to marketers who want to team up with individuals who capture their brand essence and messaging, and it boosts the content’s viral potential.
5. Interest Targeting
Digital content in all its forms should be constructed to appeal to specific personas and audiences. BuzzFeed highlighted this trend as a core component of its strategy to produce highly targeted content that engages consumers and inspires social sharing.
Ze Frank, BuzzFeed’s executive vice president of video, and Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s CEO and founder, outlined the benefits of interest targeting in appealing to an audience’s identity, emotions, and information needs. BuzzFeed applies this personalized strategy to both editorial and video content.
YouTube also announced Google Preferred, a new targeting technology that lets brands target pre-roll ads to the top 5 percent of the most popular content within specific topics on YouTube. This ensures that a brand is aligned with quality, interest-based content that audiences are consuming and sharing.
Despite the tactical differences between video advertising and content marketing, new digital trends are affecting both. Marketers should take an integrated approach to strategy development and measurement methodologies across all platforms and content types. Industry events such as the Digital Content NewFronts help marketers identify areas to implement parallel efforts.
For more insights and sound bites from the NewFronts, search the #NewFronts hashtag on Twitter.
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