Content Archives

Content Strategy Trends for 2020

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Chris Ames

As the decade winds down to a close, we’re taking a look at the most important trends affecting your business, brand, and culture heading into 2020. First up, we’re examining all things content strategy: tone, technology, and personalization. Let’s do it.

Mobile > Everything Else

The simple truth is if it doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work. There can be no compromise when it comes to the look, feel, or content strategy of the mobile experience—considering it is the dominant experience. In 2020, even more emphasis will be placed on increasing mobile user interaction. If your content is not custom-fit to the screen, you will lose out. Call-to-action buttons, for instance, need to be intuitive and easy to tap. Subject lines should be short and punchy so they fit on the screen. Animations need to auto-play or be optimized in another format. The list goes on.

No Sound? No Problem

In the infinite scroll of the internet, your precious, clever content needs to be accessible in the least forgiving way imaginable: viewed quickly, on mute, in a sea of other content. It’s been reported that 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Make sure your videos are embedded with captioning and conveying your message and the emotional impact you’re seeking—even without sound.

Use Your Voice

As we have mentioned before, voice and audio mediums are leading a sonic revolution. If you want your content to be discoverable in this new era, you must consider how your brand feels with no visual support. That might be in the form of a podcast, creating audio versions of your blogs, or simply optimizing your SEO for vocal assistants.

Speak Like a Human

We know that by 2020, 50% of search queries will be voice searches. Google’s Hummingbird update encourages conversational, long-tail semantic phrases rather than using typical keyword phrases. So, instead of searching for “top marketing automation software,” one might ask, “What are the top marketing automation solutions for small business owners?” To cater to this changing user behavior, brands need to alter their content strategy.

Let Robots Do the Rote Stuff

Chatbots are no longer considered a new trend in the marketing industry. This once-clunky tool has proven itself to be vital for a surprising number of industries. AI is helping brands to be more interactive when it comes to engaging customers, automating rote tasks, freeing up time for higher-level thinking, and paving the way for conversational marketing that allows brands to guide users in their buyer journey. Just look at our work with Moveworks.

Think Outside Department Lines

Content strategy begins with marketing, but it should never end there. If every department uses marketing’s content, why not bring in those other minds to diversify the thinking? As an agency, our best work comes when we ignore department lines and fuse the best of our ideas together. If you create materials for sales without ever consulting your sales department, you’re doing it wrong. Engaging and nurturing the ideas of all the stakeholders is how you craft content people actually use.

Have a Heart

Always remember: people don’t need brands, brands need people. You need to build authentic, personal relationships with customers rather than just trying to sell to them. If your content doesn’t accurately reflect your brand’s voice, your mission, or the specific value you hope to bring your target audiences, you might as well not create it in the first place. No matter the year, authenticity and personalization are always on-trend. The numbers speak for themselves:

86% of consumers say that authenticity is a key differentiator that leads to a purchasing decision.
73% of consumers would pay more for a product if the company behind it promises transparency.
94% of consumers say they would remain loyal to a brand that provides complete transparency.
In a survey of 1,000 people, 90% remarked that they found personalization appealing.
80% admitted they’d be more likely to give their business to a company that offered them a personalized experience.

While some branding trends are abandoned as fast as they appear, leading with a social conscience is evergreen. Today, consumers want to believe that companies care about the same causes they do. According to the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand report, 64% of consumers worldwide are “belief-driven buyers.” Modern brands need to demonstrate that they put people before profit to increase trust and loyalty.

Any Reality but This One

In recent years, both AR and VR have become massively popular. In 2020, AR is expected to surpass VR in popularity, despite VR’s early lead. Already, many major companies are making use of AR. Ikea, for example, has an app that allows users to visualize what a piece of furniture would look like in their home before making a purchase. How can you leverage AR to remove doubt or create desire in your customer?

Do It Live

Digital Marketing World has predicted that by 2021, 13% of all internet traffic will consist of live video. And that is just one chunk of the whole video gamut. With almost every major social media platform now supporting live video streaming, it is only expected to soar in 2020. As it continues to rise in popularity, live video or podcasts is your chance to let new customers see your business in action or learn from your expertise live and direct.

More 2020 Trends

In the coming weeks, we will be taking a look at employer branding, culture, design, and many other trends. Keep your eyes here for the latest and greatest in all things 2020.

Emotive Brand is brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

User-Generated Content and Why You Want to Be a Usage Brand Today

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Saja Chodosh

Are Users the New Billboards?

Historically, brands relied heavily on marketing and advertising to drive awareness and engagement with products and services. But in an era of general mistrust of big corporations, ever-heightening consumer expectations, and a no-bullshit view on unsubstantiated claims, even a killer ad might not be enough to drive your brand forward.

That’s why smart and strategic brands realize its customers have the potential to be the biggest trust, credibility, and value builders (or destroyers) out there. And that nailing brand experience today means tapping into the power of users in innovative, creative, and strategically-aligned ways.

User-Generated Content That Works for You, Not Against You

User-generated content is one of the biggest drivers of business success and brand building today. An Olapic survey found that people trust images created by consumers the most and 76 percent of people find content posted by consumers to be more authentic than a brand’s own content.

Although the power of user-generated content is undeniable (think about how many Amazon reviews you’ve read, Instagram influencers you follow, or times you’ve asked your peers for an honest opinion of a brand before you buy in), getting it right is hard.

Here’s what we’ve found makes brands successful.

1. Own It

How do you ensure that users say or show the right thing? User-generated content doesn’t mean you’re giving up control. In fact, you shape the user experience and therefore play an integral role in forming and informing user-content.

Apple is a quick and easy example of a brand that’s figured out how to own user content. If you’ve driven on any major freeway in the U.S., you’ve seen the Shot on iPhone campaign (there are more than 10,000 installations around the world). In short, Apple made the world its gallery. It leveraged users’ experiences shooting on the iPhone and put those individual experiences and expressions on display for the world to see. This campaign is 100 percent owned by Apple and works in line with its brand promise—think different—showing how its products allow its users to see the world differently and inspiring others to do the same.

2. Don’t Just Listen, Do

Asking your users for feedback has no impact unless you actually do something with that feedback. Glossier—a millennial-focused, easy-to-use beauty essentials company—has this down. Glossier built its brand on social media because that’s where its users lived. But the brand does more than fill its Instagram page with aesthetically beautiful visuals or respond to all user comments publicly or by direct message (givens for them). They actually put tools in place to use the data, insights, and information its users provide. In short, Glossier’s Instagram has become its R&D lab and main marketing platform. For example, the brand hears people are frustrated with their face lotion because it makes them break out, so they work to create one that doesn’t. In fact, the company churns out a new product tailored to what they hear from users every six to eight weeks. And because users drive product development, products are perfectly tailored to the people who matter most to the brand.

Glossier allowed 420 of their most active and influential users to sell their products on social and received a cut of the profit, as well as rewards and sneak previews of products to come. By the beginning of the summer, that campaign alone generated 7 percent of the brand’s annual revenue.

3. Not Just B2C, B2B, Too

It’s easy to assume that user-generated content is best-suited for consumer brands. However, B2B businesses are also tapping into the power of user-generated content and reaping the benefits.

Salesforce, for example, built an MVP program where high-engagement businesses and users received early product previews and gifts based on the hours they spend engaging with non-MVP users. This program drives loyalty with super-users. It also brings new-users into the mix by leveraging the trust and credibility those super-users bring to the table. Hubspot created real-life success videos for companies that have used its marketing automation software. Adobe has built several platforms dedicated to sharing its users’ content—living up to its brand promise of changing the world through digital experiences. UPS always highlights the cool projects or businesses its users create. The list goes on, and for B2B businesses looking to build trust, credibility, and share an authentic story, users seem like a great place to start.

Users in the Spotlight

Putting users front and center in a digital age might not be much of a shock, but it is a challenge. Especially for those businesses that weren’t born in the digital age and don’t have platforms that encourage user conversation or the strategies to drive them already in place. Shifting the focus on users requires a couple of key shifts. From:

Customers as buyers >>> to thinking of customers as users
Focus on purchase >>> to focus on the entire user experience
Emphasis on promotion >>> to emphasis on advocacy
Worrying about what to say to consumers >>> to concentrating on what customers are saying to each other
Customers as one-time buyers >>> to building an ongoing relationship
Marketing, product development, and brand experience as segmented functions >>> to considering the ways in which they can inform each other and even act as one

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

Brand Writing Trends for 2019

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Chris Ames

There’s a good reason why it’s said we consume content. Because content, like other treasured objects of consumption, can make you queasy if not served properly. Continuing our preview of 2019, today we’re examining the crucial content trends your brand needs to master heading into the new year. If you’re looking to overcome challenges, build a stronger employer brand, or disrupt your visual design, you can start there.

Authenticity Over Everything

Whenever we discuss how a brand expresses itself, we must always ground ourselves in embracing authenticity. Trust is the yardstick by which all other brand expressions are measured. If you can’t reasonably own what you’re saying or how you’re saying it, you probably shouldn’t be speaking at all.

Especially in our hyper-polarized era of fake news, people are seeking meaning and authenticity in every facet of their lives. Eighty-six percent of consumers say that authenticity is a key differentiator that leads to a purchasing decision, while 73% of consumers say they would pay more for a product if the company behind it promises transparency. Brands like Toms, Everlane, and Bombas already know and capitalize on this fact.

Whether it’s blogs, podcasts, or speaking engagements, authentic content is one of the best tools your brand has for earning trust, building your brand, generating traffic, and attracting qualified leads.

Content Is King (But Strategy Is Emperor)

We all know content is king – but a king is only as good as his strategy. Following a four-year growth spurt, the content marketing industry is set to be worth $412 billion by 2021. As the market continues to mature, brands are viewing their content less as a cure-all and more as a unique prescription. That means strategy is more important than ever.

Every brand is unique. Nike’s content strategy wouldn’t work for Allbirds, and vice versa. That being said, universal goals like lead generation, SEO, and thought leadership are great places to start. From there, brands can craft specific strategies for whatever is most important to them. And thanks to increased technological advances in content personalization and interactivity, brands can get very specific about exactly who they are trying to reach.

One-Size-Fits-All Is Dead

Today, people are totally in control of their own customer journeys. The proliferation of content marketing has shifted the challenge from, “How do I create interesting content?” to “How can I steer my content through the tidal wave of digital noise?” Brands must reach customers precisely where they consume content, in the way they want, and targeted directly to their needs.

As Michael Brenner, from Marketing Insider Group, says, “Attention has become the currency of the digital, social, and mobile web. And the only way to attract a customer’s attention today is through the production of high-quality content that is relevant and personalized to the reader.”

Seventy-eight percent of consumers say that personally-relevant content is a determining factor in their purchasing decisions. It’s something that leads to enhanced engagement, fosters an increased sense of credibility, and enables brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors. With the surplus of data available at our fingertips, there should be no such thing as a blanket email or a one-size-fits-all approach to communications.

Flip the Funnel

In the past, the sales funnel worked a little like this: accept any and everyone, filter through a qualification process, keep the gold, ditch the dirt, rinse and repeat. It was an aggressive and linear path, with companies treating customers as gate keepers to wallets rather than relationships to nurture.

When you have a library of high-quality and personalized content, the customer journey transforms into something much more forgiving for both parties. The funnel today is more like a flat circle – one that privileges continuous engagement over quick-fire, transactional relationships. Brands can use an individual’s data to serve up location-based results, related products, and experience-specific follow up emails. This shift in communication, especially post-sale, makes customers more likely to stay with you, buy again, or recommend you to a friend.

As Forbes contributer John Hall says, “To be honest, someone else in your space can almost always come in and undercut you on price. But when you continuously engage your clients, build lasting trust, and form genuine partnerships, you’ll have much greater staying power.”

Save Your One-Liners for Twitter

There was a minute there where the internet felt like it was thinning out. Almost all content seemed like it was in bullet points, list form, or screen-shots from social media. But contrary to popular belief, long-form content is still the bedrock of viral content.

A recent analysis by BuzzSumo of over 100 million articles revealed that long-form content tends to get more social shares than short-form content. Long-form content will continue to dominate next year, as search engines reward lengthier posts in results rankings, and readers are increasingly seeking more trustworthy sources.

Voice Search and Chatbots

As we’ve discussed before, the role of new technologies like voice search and chatbots will add new flavors to content production in the new year. A 2017 report by NPR and Edison Research revealed that 42% of Americans called vocal assistants “essential,” and their popularity is only continuing to rise. This year’s version of the same report concluded that 81% of smart speaker owners are open to experiencing new skills and audio features created by brands.

These tools are becoming ubiquitous to our daily lives, and with that shift comes dramatic changes to consumer behavior. Not only should brands tailor their SEO strategy to respond to voice search, but they should also explore how their offering could be accessed or streamlined through a vocal assistant.

In addition, improvements in machine learning and AI means that chatbot features are becoming, dare we say, more human? Nowadays, a quality chatbot can intelligently respond to open-ended questions and use natural language processing to locate the best answer. Unlike humans, however, chatbots maintain an impeccable level of customer service 24/7 when programmed correctly. As we enter the brave new world of 2019, brands should investigate which content or services can be automated through a chatbot.

Even More of the Same

2019 will double-down on all of the brand writing trends we have seen developing over the last few years: more content, more personalization, more ways to access information, and even more of a hunger for authenticity and continuous engagement.

To learn more about how your brand can utilize content in the new year, contact Founding Partner Tracy Lloyd at [email protected].

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design firm in San Francisco.

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Tag: Content