2018 Content Marketing Trends, Predictions + Editorial Calendar Template

Content marketing in 2018 is going to hit a new dimension of importance, organization and integration.

Smart and savvy marketers know the days of throwing social spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks are over and done.

It's not good enough to just create cool visuals, be on Facebook Live video daily and tweet a few links. The social web is getting noisier by the minute.

If you are ready to once and for all see a real return on your investment in social media and digital marketing you need to look deeper than the follows, clicks and retweets.

It's time to get 100% proactive to take the time to plan and ensure every piece of content is providing massive value for your audience and aligns clearly to your business goals and objectives.

A perfect way to begin adding more organization, prioritization and results for your content marketing is by utilizing a content marketing editorial calendar to plan your content.

Showing up on Facebook every morning thinking “hmmm…what should I post today?” is going to get you in nothing better than the “everyone ignores you pile,” guaranteed.

This blog post and supporting Social Zoom Factor podcast episode #242 is packed with valuable information to help you get a grip on your content marketing so that you can achieve your business goals and provide your audience with maximum value without having to work 24/7, 365 days of the year. Quality over quantity is where success is going to come from in 2018.

Here is what this blog post and episode #242 of the Social Zoom Factor Podcast will provide to you:

2018 content marketing trends, statistics and predictions
Why you need a content marketing content calendar
How to use our 2018 content marketing editorial calendar template (download now)

Smart marketers and leading brands both big and small know that content is at the core of every social conversation with prospects, current customers, online community members and more. It is content that delivers value, context and inspires the reader, viewer or listener to open, click, read, listen, share and even buy from you.

The social networks simply provide a medium for brands and marketers to communicate in unique and personal ways with other human beings. We can't take the conversations for granted and just assume that because we write the message, the blog post, the status update or even create a stunning Instagram image that our audience will find it useful.

We must do our research and not only understand who our our audience is, but also know exactly what their needs are and how we can help them solve their most simple and even biggest life or business problems.

Social savvy marketers know how to leverage content marketing to better inspire, connect with and help their audience achieve their goals. They know how to write the blog post headlines that grab attention, the blog post content that gets read, the visuals that gets shared.

Smart social content marketing managers know how to whip up 140 character conversations and Facebook posts that keep their audience engaged and continuously activated toward growing closer to their brand.

Content marketing is at the foundation of every business of every size. Regardless of your industry, niche, age of company or primary communication medium used, you better have a content marketing strategy to connect you and your brand with your target audience, customers, partners and stakeholders.

2018 Content Marketing Trends and Statistics You Should Know…

The average person consumes 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchase (LinkedIn)
$32.3 Billion = expected growth of content marketing software in 2018 (IDC)
CMOs at the largest technology organizations report that building content marketing as an organizational competency is 2nd most important initiative, only behind measuring ROI (IDC)
52% of marketers support 2 to 4 roles and buyer personas with dedicated content (LinkedIn)
72% marketers have a content strategy in place, while only 30% have it documented (LinkedIn)
58% brand marketers and PR professionals surveyed do not have a good sense of what people do after they consume their brand content (Cision)
75% believe the communications industry can do a better job at measuring and proving impact of business objectives (Cision)
55% of brand marketers and communication professionals don't know if their contnet is having any digital or real world behavior as a result of the brand content (Cision)
35% state their biggest challenge is creating content (Cision)
52% state their greatest challenge is determining what content is most effective (Cision)

We are excited to announce the availability of our 2017 content marketing editorial calendar template.

The 242nd episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast provides a detailed tutorial to help you create your own content marketing editorial calendar for 2018.

How to get a grip on your content for 2018:

Step 1: Download the 2018 calendar here-> Content Editorial Calendar.

Step 2: Listen to the 242nd episode of Social Zoom Factor podcast for step by step directions for how to use the 2018 content calendar template.

Step 3: Subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or SoundCloud!

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation and sharing of content in order to engage current and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty.
*Source: Wikipedia

Editorial calendars are important because they:

Help you focus on needs of your audience
Help you inspire and connect with your audience
Help you provide value to your audience
Force you to think further than today and tomorrow
Help you integrate across mediums
Leverage across mediums, different audiences
Create once, use many (= increased ROI)
Streamline resources
Drive internal teamwork
Fuel idea generation and innovation
Create a drumbeat approach to content development
Help set expectations with your audience
Help you create loyal brand evangelists

Editorial Calendar Highlights

Monthly conversation theme.
Weekly conversation theme.
Blog post title.
Social Post.
Channel.
Target audiences (primary, secondary & tertiary)
Author
Editor
Purchase cycle (awareness, consideration, preference, purchase, loyalty)
Draft due date
Primary keywords (5-10)
Blog categories
Supporting image(s)
Other supporting media (image, video, podcast)
Embed in other resource kits or publications
Syndication
Possible whitepaper (y/n)
Client testimonial / graphics
Call to action

Social Zoom Factor Podcast #241 Episode Highlights

Tutorial for how to use our new Content Marketing Editorial Calendar Template for 2018
2018 Content Marketing Predictions
2018 Content Marketing Statistics and Trends
Why every business and marketer needs a content marketing editorial calendar
Why integrated marketing inclusive of an integrated content strategy is how you are going to shine and stomp your competition in 2018
How short lived content and live video is going to impact your content strategy in 2018
Why you must be thinking about an increased investment in talent due to demands of content marketing
Benefits of using a content marketing editorial calendar
The importance of knowing your audience
Leveraging content you already have to increase business results and ROI

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