Bloggers and social media influencers now play an increasing role in the information industry. Arguably, in certain verticals, like fashion for millennials and food, their influence even surpasses that of traditional established media. There is no doubt that the business of blogging is getting more competitive, and more rewarding every year, and in order to reach success and stand out, bloggers have to adapt and improve in their profession.
Even with the rise of chatbots and AI, content marketing continues to play a central role to define and maintain brand appeal. Yes visual marketing has been attracting lots of attention and resources, but the blog remains the core of content marketing, the versatile fulcrum of any online identity.
So what’s ahead for 2017? here are four main trends that I have seen building up in recent months
- Content quality: yep it means work harder but, we all know blogging is not a recipe for instant stardom …
- Diversify: blogging is an increasingly multimedia and multichannel business
- Proficiency: get good tools to fly solo or build a good team around you
- Micro-influencers: bloggers don’t need to have millions of followers, a small but engaged base is also valuable
1. Content quality
The post length continues its climb in the attempt to conquer readers’ attention with in-depth articles and to endear SEO’s bots. According to Orbit Media‘s survey based on a sample of 1,055 bloggers, the average post length is now 1,054 words, up 19% compared to 2015 and a remarkable +30% compared to only 2 years ago!
The effects of the increased length of articles are essentially two:
a. Longer production times:
Orbit Media’s survey has found that the time dedicated to work on a single article has increased by 26% (!) compared to the previous year: bloggers dedicate an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes to write a post, 40 minutes more than in 2015. It’s interesting to note that the percentage of blogger taking more than 6 hours is the one showing the largest increase (doubling from the previous years).
b. Decreased frequency of publication
Being most blogs still a solo effort, the logical consequence of the two previous trends is a lower frequency in publication. Weekly and monthly frequency of publication are on the rise while the bloggers publishing daily are down 50% compared to the previous year.
The less intense publication schedule has its negative effects: the survey confirms that, in terms of results, the best performers are blogs that publish daily or more than daily. The crucial point for the success of the blog remains the ability to reach a balance between producing the right contents for the target audience and the resources available for this pursuit. Unfortunately, a limit of the survey is that it doesn’t break down the data by the type of blogs included in its analysis. There are considerable differences in terms of audiences, resources and contents between B2C, B2B, C2C blogs. Without this differentiation we can only have limited, generalist insights about their actual path to blogging success.
2. Diversify
Blogging is gradually moving beyond the written word by diversifying both the type of contents and the distribution channels. Copy remains its core content, but what’s around it and where it is distributed are increasingly important.
a. Include different media
I am personally shocked that 23% of bloggers still do not include any images in their posts, and only 51% include more than one image. As the length of the posts increases, one would think that a few images would help to improve fruition. However, I take confort that the trend is definitely pointing towards a more visual approach.
Live video streaming will be one of the strongest trends for bloggers in 2017.
In this regards, 2016 will probably be remembered as the year when bloggers finally took notice of video. Video is now included by over 15% of bloggers and it boasts the strongest results. This trend is definitely influenced by both the availability of video streaming on popular social networks such as Facebook (Live) and Instagram (Stories), and also YouTube. Live video streaming will be one of the strongest trends for bloggers in 2017.
b. Multichannel
While social networks remain the most popular distribution/promotional channels, as I anticipated in my post a few months ago, the newsletter is increasingly favored by bloggers. The use of email campaigns to promote the blog has increased over 60% since 2014.
Another channel that seems increasingly popular is influencer outreach, now used by almost 1 in 4 bloggers. Finally, almost 15% of bloggers utilizes paid advertising. While still low, it’s notable that the use of this channel has tripled in two years.
The last two trends bring me straight to the third main insight from the survey: the increased professionality of the business of blogging.
3. Proficiency
Throughout the survey the data hint to the increased ingenuity needed to succeed in blogging: the multiplication of channels, the diversification of media, the quest for quality content; but there are two more specific results that point in this direction:
a. The growth of collaborators
Currently, the bloggers flying solo are less than 50%. In 2016 more that 1 in 5 bloggers has enlisted the help of at least one editor. With editorial calendars, media kits, sponsors and advertisers, there are no doubts that blogging is evolving into publishing, and as such in order to improve the quality of contents more and more bloggers are building teams around them.
b. Use analytics
This is another one of those data that always surprises me: with all that bloggers are investing on their work in terms of time and resources, almost half of them (44%) still do not bother to check their analytics regularly! I personally wouldn’t even think of opening a blog or any site without analytics, it would be like driving blind. On the positive side, those always checking their analytics are growing steadily year over year.
4. The time of micro-influencers
We all have read the headlines about bloggers getting six figures advertising deals, getting paid thousands of dollars just for an Instagram photo. In these years dominated by social media and raising content cravings, influencer outreach has become a proven and well-established weapon in the marketing arsenal, and its popularity is still rising according to Google Trends.
However, very few brands can afford to hire the top influencers with millions of followers and some of them are also becoming wary of the low engagement rates of their massive followings. According to a recent article by Fashionista.com, 2017 will bring opportunities for small and medium-caliber (>500k) influencers who are able to demonstrate a good rate of engagement. There are two main reasons behind this trend:
a. We are all aware that there are shortcuts (i.e. bots) to inflate the number of followers and even likes, which is why brands tend increasingly to work with influencers who can demonstrate a real, active relationship with their following. Beyond a handful of global brands that look for massive audiences and can afford the digital superstars, there are thousands of smaller companies that prefer to work with the so-called “micro-influencers”, bloggers with a smaller following, maybe specific to certain geographic areas, but with a good rate of engagement (4/6%).
b. Finally, influencer marketing has evolved into established best practices and metrics. By showing proven results its appeal widened to those companies less inclined to innovation or risky tactics.
In conclusion for a successful blogging strategy in 2017 remember:
- Produce excellent content.
- Go for innovation, that is video and especially live streaming video.
- Keep your followers engaged.
Happy 2017!