Michael Epps Utley {kind=image/jpg}
Get Ahead of the Curve, so Your Content Creators Are Ready with the New Content Types Your Consumers Will Expect
Remember when the printed word was king and people actually wanted to read articles and white papers? That was so 2010!
Since then, charts, graphs, tables, images, memes, slide shows, videos, infographics, and more have become prime types of content.
So what’s next? Our content experts looked into their crystal balls. Here are the content ideas they see becoming popular in the year ahead and beyond.
New Content Marketing Ideas
Guestographics
What is a guestographic? It’s an infographic developed by guest content creators. Much like an infographic, it’s a piece of content that includes words and images and is published on your website. Because multiple brands and voices contribute to it, it’s likely linked with complementary content on the other contributors’ websites. The design could follow your brand’s visual guidelines, that of your contributors, or a combination.
This new content tactic is a great way to build brand awareness and solid industry connections. By associating your business with other respected operations through backlinks, you’ll also improve your SEO. This is a sound backlink play because you’re not asking someone else for a favor; you’re working together on something that’s mutually beneficial.
Instructographics
Similar to guestographics, instructographics are an offshoot of infographics. They are similar to a diagram or flowchart because they explain complex information simply. The difference is that they do it in a fun and engaging way.
This is a great tactic when you have to tell people how to do things. They’re great for step-by-step and how-to guides. Think about them as an Ikea instruction sheet, but fun and actually helpful. They’re a utilitarian tool that people will like to use and maybe even share because they’re so novel.
Storyboards
Storyboards are the things that directors use to map out movies, videos, and commercials. They’re now also a type of content. Leading content developers are using them to tell complex stories in simple ways. They use text, images, illustrations, and more to let things play out frame by frame by frame.
As the name suggests, storyboards are ideal for content deliverables that tell a story in sequence but isn’t necessarily a film. It’s more like an old-school comic strip composed of different elements.
Carousel posts
Carousel posts are a social media content idea that’s been around for a while now. It’s only recently that content creators have figured out how to use them effectively.
According to data from Socialinsider, Carousel posts earn higher engagement levels than other types of social posts:
Carousel posts: 1.92 percent
Single photo posts: 1.74 percent
Videos: 1.45 percent.
Carousel posts can be a great way to show off the depth and breadth of your product or service offerings, talent on your team, or variety of content.
Whiteboard Videos
Being stuck in a meeting with someone using a whiteboard is most people’s nightmare or nap time.
Whiteboard videos are different. A talented designer uses a whiteboard to explain complex concepts in a fun way. Every move is tracked by a video camera, and the whole experience is narrated. The videos are often sped up, so they don’t become dull or tedious.
Whiteboard videos are often used for training, but they can be effective any time you want to avoid just having someone read from a script. Because they’re so visual and engaging, viewers are highly likely to remember information served up this way. More and more YouTube videos are featuring whiteboards.
Screencasts
Instead of just flatly narrating a series of slides, the presenter can share all types of media and information on their screens, making them far more flexible and engaging. They’re great for topics where viewers are likely to ask a lot of questions.
Screencasts emerged out of the Zoom meetings of the last two years because they were a necessity. They’re one part of the pandemic people ended up liking and don’t mind using now.
Ephemeral Posts
Facebook and Instagram have offered this type of time-restricted content through their Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories functions for a while now, but it’s only recently taken off for business. Their short lifespans tap into people’s FOMO (fear of missing out). Ephemeral content is a tactic that can be hard to master, but once you do, it can really help build engagement with your social properties. You need to post ephemeral content regularly to get people to come back to check it out. Everything you post has to be worth the time and effort to view it. Post something awesome, and followers will keep coming back. Disappoint them, and you may never see them again.
The new year promises new beginnings. 2022 promises to bring a revolution in new content types and formats. Stay tuned for more updates about changes we see in the year ahead.
