Peak content or peak opportunity?
In this guest post Jodie Sangster argues the market has now reached ‘peak content’ and brands will now have to be smarter and more selective to create cut through.
2015 was a year that many called ‘Peak Content’ – i.e. a year when the consumer became saturated and overwhelmed with content to read, listen and watch. So in 2016,what does this mean for the future of content marketing?
I’ve seen the practice of content marketing shift significantly during my four years at ADMA and in 2016 I’m expecting it to go through another metamorphosis as it adapts to changing consumer behaviours – not least my own. The plethora of content out there has led to my own personal click fatigue and it is becoming harder and harder to collate and curate the must read articles, podcasts and videos.
On the slide
This trend, and my own experience, is reflective of last July’s Gartner Digital Marketing hypecycle which put Content Marketing firmly into the Trough of Disillusionment (a contrast to its position on the rising Peak of Inflated Expectations back in 2014).
Jodie, most marketing lacks creativity. Great ideas behind ads that make products interesting.
The main problem with a lot of sponsored content is that it is completely dull. The other problem is that no one reads it as it is just written, posted and left – boxes ticked but Google doesn’t rank it and no one sees it or they sense it’s sponsored and avoid it.
“The main problem with [all] sponsored content is that it is [an ad] … they sense it’s sponsored and avoid it.”
Content that artistically highlights universal truths resonates. Content that is designed to manipulate economic decisions doesn’t.
Sharp headlines and clever copy will keep the king in power for a long time yet.
Gotta go now, I see a story about a man biting a dog!
Nice read Jodie. I’m a sucker for a hype-cycle graph
(but do wonder where they sit on themselves).
How long Content Marketing wallows in the trough of disillusionment depends on how quickly we can temper the mantra of brands as publishers having to own their own distribution. Spending big time and money doing something that’s not their skill set, that few ever sees or truly cares about will suck anyone into a pit of despair.