6 Major Trends of Content Marketing in 2016 (1)

Content marketing has become increasingly important in the era of “we-media”. Supported by different case studies, this report is given to summarize the changes of content marketing in 2015, from 6 perspectives including source, value, theme, platform, presentation form and creator.

To start with, we should define what content marketing means. Most people know it but don’t understand it. A common misunderstanding is: content marketing is all about publishing advertorials instead of hard advertisement; producing infographics. It seems like, creating buzz and shooting short films are all it needs.

However, content marketing is actually one kind of marketing strategy. Considering various definitions about content marketing, we have listed the following features :

(1)Content marketing can be applied to all kinds of media channels and platforms.

(2)Content marketing should be converted into a valuable service for users, so that it can be appealing enough to approach the target audience.

(3)Content marketing should lead to measurable results to ultimately generate profitable behaviors.

1. Source of content marketing: create “content-driven products” to make it popular in the social community

Generally speaking, content-driven products have 3 features:

(1)Give the target audience a special identity tag and make them believe they belong to a particular group

(2)Create an emotional connection between customers and the products, before the purchasing action.

(3)By implanting the content into the product, it has become a real social tool. Users who need to socialize with others have to first interact with the product itself.

Case: Smartisan Technology launched a “Special Cellphone for Artistic Youth”

On Oct. 2015, Smartisan Technology has launched a special cellphone customized for the artistic young generations, which it is said only 18% users will like it.

The truth is that, despite the low configuration, the appearance of the cellphone is really amazing; moreover, the collection comes in a whole range of different colors, which users can choose from. Thanks to the unique appearance and delicate details, this product is supposed to get good remarks and to position itself well in the market, while achieving its original goal to seize the eye of artistic youth.

Case: Snickers “Hungry” related package

To keep trending style, Snickers has made an attempt to improve its packages, by printing popular “Hungry” related words on the package, including 21 hungry status, such as Dramatic, Sleepy, Spacey, Loopy, Cranky, Curmudgeon, Goofball, Snippy…

Meanwhile, some online activities also were put into place to advertise the special package. Twitter was one of the main promotion platforms, and a survey called “What do you look like when you are hungry” drew lots of fans’ attention, especially those who would like to upload some kuso pics to show how hungry they are.

Case: Manjushree’s tea story

Manjushree, an Indian tea brand, makes the tea packages stand out by using some beautiful sentences and stories quoted from books; each kind of tea bag corresponds to a similar-style copy writing text.

The real magic in the design is that, the words won’t appear until the hot tea fragrance reaches the appearance of the package box, impressing drinkers with unforgettable tea stories while enjoying the original tea flavor.