The nature of content has changed. No one’s interested in online essays anymore. In fact, with the rise of image heavy sites like Pinterest, Tumblr and Imgur as well as the successful launch of personalized digital papers of all your top headlines, long content is simply out and microblogging is in. Expect more blog platforms to pop up along with a number of apps to compete with this new trend.
So expect shorter posts, which doesn’t necessarily mean less content. In fact, it means more content. You could get away with one traditional 700 word blog post before, but if you intend to shorten your posts, you better start producing more of them. All posts, regardless of your industry, need great images to accompany them. Images get noticed and image marketing has become almost as popular as content marketing alone. A savvy marketer will combine the two campaigns and have them complement one another. On this note, infographs are the perfect tool to combine content with graphics; infographs also have the highest chance of going viral or being shared.
Another thing you can expect is a shift to social media platforms. This move was kickstarted a few years ago when major companies like Coke began shifting their focus to Facebook. While this is all good and dandy, bloggers can’t forget that social media traffic doesn’t contribute to your page rank You still need people to get back to your site. If you see this shift to social media apps as a source of publishing, don’t get tempted into abandoning your blog wagon. Stay on course, adapt to sharing just as much socially (especially in order to increase your Klout score), but always focus on building your own site ranking at the same time.
Speaking of your own site, 2012 is all about the guest blogger. Expect the 2012 guest blogger competition to get more competitive. However, the downside of this trend is that a lot of companies still think guest bloggers are like indentured servants that should be happy they’ve been given a published corner. Nothing could be further from the truth. You still need to treat your guest bloggers like you would a customer – the exchange is just different.
Word on the grapevine is Google is considering charging a minimal tax to low quality corporate blogs in an interest to enhance their algorithm. The message here is that corporate blogs are now a critical part of a corporation – it’s not just a tangent marketing component but a significant part of your online vitality.
Optimize your blog page to be on par with trends. That means being more image savvy, having a social media inspired mico publishing page with all your own top headlines. Again, why direct traffic elsewhere first when you can get it to come to your own page?
If you’ve got a great blog and can invest in marketing, Vocus is definitely the way to go. Otherwise, try going beyond just a social media presence and getting on board with a smart SEO campaign. If you’re limited on funds, I recommend investing in an SEO campaign manager before investing in a social media marketer. Social media managers ensure you’re talked about, while SEO managers ensure you’re seen. A good SEO manager will start at about $500 a month but will quickly get you the attention and calls you need.
