As I write this, there are two major developments affecting the future of content marketing. The first development has already rolled out on Facebook, and it’s a hint of what may come to be on an even broader level. I wrote about this in my post about the changing face of social media marketing.
According to Shade Digital owner Ryan McDonald, The same tactics allegedly used by Russians to interfere with our election via bots, social media and fake news’ can be used by almost any organization at a relatively low cost. That used to be the case, but not anymore on one particular social network. As a result of bad actors ” namely, Russia and fake news trolls who manipulated Facebook to their (and Donald Trump’s) advantage ” Facebook has altered its algorithm.
The second development that will affect content marketing and the big data marketing landscape is GDPR. Together, the Facebook development and GDPR are going to mix quite the interesting cocktail for marketers who use big data to inform their content strategies.
The Facebook Development
I don’t know about you, but I don’t see publisher or advertiser content in my Facebook newsfeed anymore. If you do see it, that’s because a lot of people in your network actually liked or commented on a status update from a publisher or marketer. The prospects of people boosting advertising content are slim. Let’s just say the content has to be distinctly non-advertorial. Good luck convincing ad execs to go that route.
Facebook’s referral traffic for publishers has been dropping since 2017, while Google’s has been rising. This is a mixed bag for content marketers. On one hand, it means that social shares and referrals from Facebook have to come from good old-fashioned word-of-mouth, not targeted algorithms, which makes Facebook content marketing tougher.
On the other hand, it means that SEO is working for content marketers who do high quality work. In 2017, Google published high-quality content guidelines for its own creators. Writing for Search Engine Land, Brian Ussery posits that Google will honor website content that adheres to these standards. Some of the standards sound like English Composition 101; e.g., Craft clear, concise, short sentences with simple words that users will understand.
Content marketers can use big data to segment their audiences. They can also use data to understand which keywords different segments are searching for the most. Then, they can write high-quality, targeted content to different segments and expect it to rank well in Google, thereby increasing referral traffic.
There’s another development that could affect content marketing: GDPR. Under GDPR, content marketers will have to change how they target European audiences.
The GDPR Development
Innovation Enterprise contends that content marketing is the solution to GDPR. That’s because GDPR forces companies all over the world to ask EU citizens if they want to opt in to marketing lists. In other words, EU citizens now have the right to refuse if companies want to use their data for targeted ads and emails.
I’m not even an EU citizen, and one of my favorite UK news sources asked me whether I want to opt in to its email campaign. Innovation Enterprise’s argument is that content is an organic way to reach consumers, build authentic relationships with them, and attract them to your website.
Here’s the catch: GDPR applies to content marketing as well. According to Varun Sedov, director of content marketing consulting at Forrester, The lean and clean’ data environment fostered by the new laws will ultimately shift your content strategy toward nurturing and converting quality leads rather than engaging in a numbers game.
Even if your company is based in America, there’s a good chance your content reaches European audiences. If you use anyone’s personal data to create and/or distribute content, you have to have consent from European consumers, or you have to be able to prove your data usage is legally legitimate. GDPR standards are strict, so you would need to consult them and fashion your data usage accordingly. According to Sedov, you’ll have to do more vetting and monitoring of data sources.
For example, say you fashion a piece of content that contains a link to a converting page on your website. An EU citizen clicks on the link, spends some time looking at the details, but doesn’t convert ” instead, she moves on. Cookies tell you which other sites she visits, and you know she’s active on Facebook. Now, you won’t be able to target ads to that person on Facebook or anywhere else. In fact, you won’t be able to use any of the data you glean about her unless you have her express permission.
According to Sedov, Content will have to work harder to reach the right viewers at the right time on the right platform. Without audience permission, you won’t be able to do behavioral targeting, predictive modeling, and cross-device recognition.
The Implications for Content Marketing
Because Facebook won’t prioritize your content and GDPR puts a lot of hurdles in front of using data to target audiences, the future of content marketing is looking more organic than ever. Consumers’ personal data will nearly disappear from content marketing while intuition, creativity, and subject-matter expertise are going to step in.
Content marketers will need to craft entertaining, newsworthy, digestible pieces that adhere to the classic marketing funnel. Google wants you to consider your audience as humans, not numbers, and speak to them on their level. Facebook and GDPR want you to do the same.
Here’s the good news: once someone really engages with your content, they’ll be a highly qualified lead, because you appealed to them in a way that really captured their attention and interest.
