While content marketing was once something new, clever and practiced only by marketers who were early adopters in the digital movement, that time is coming to an end.
As Mark Schaefer explained content shock in economic terms, the amount of content available [supply] is greater than the amount of content that can be consumed [demand]. The supply of available digital content is doubling every nine to 24 months, yet the demand for content is finite and quickly approaching a consumption limit.
This slight upward trend of consumption is not sustainable, as each person will eventually reach a limit to the amount of content they can consume. Businesses must prepare for the future of content shock and pivot to a content promotion mindset.
The conventional ways for content to reach an audience are more competitive than ever before. For businesses that means fewer page views, fewer conversions, fewer leads and fewer customers as a result.
Data from the Content Marketing Institute 2014 Survey affirms that brands are making big plans to continue expanding content marketing efforts in the next few years.
Today, 90 percent of B2C marketers and 93 percent of B2B marketers are creating content for their prospects and customers. As more and more companies pursue content marketing as a full-on strategy, earned media coverage will be crucial for brands to overcome content shock.
Affirming the increase in supply of content, 72 percent of B2C marketers and 73 percent of B2B marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago. As the market continues to flood with content, brands must place an increased emphasis on earning media coverage and endorsements from journalists, influencers, brands and advocates who already have large audiences.
Even with an increased emphasis on content marketing, only 34 percent of B2C marketers and 42 percent of B2B marketers consider their brands effective at content marketing. Marketers must learn that merely increasing content quantity or quality won’t guarantee effectiveness. Media coverage must be earned in order to get your content in front of the right people.
Perhaps most important of all, 60 percent of B2C and 58 percent of B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next 12 months.
If better content quality or quantity isn’t necessarily the answer then how should that expected content marketing budget increase be allocated? Investing resources to earn media coverage of your content will pay back in multiples.
Earned media will increase brand credibility and trust in the marketplace while also growing new audiences. As content marketing matures, businesses will thrive when they take the next step to include strategic earned media and promotion in their content marketing efforts.
For more tips on how to maximize the impact of your content through promotion and earned media, review The Content Promotion & Distribution Cheat Sheet.
Image credits: businessesgrow.com, Content Marketing Institute
