I heard this question recently and, honestly, it made me chuckle: Is content marketing dead in 2024?

My answer, of course, is no, content marketing is not dead in 2024. The reason it made me lau🥀gh? People have predicted the deaths of all kinds of marketing for years. For decades. Em๊ail marketing is dead. Google ads are dead. Direct mail is dead.

You get the idea.

But I want you to think about this: Radio advertising, whiꦺch seems like a total dinosaur to many of🐼 us, (up from about $10 billion in 2020). 

The message here is that marketing ta𝓀ctics have a long history of no⛄t dying the way the experts say they will. 

Content marketing is no exception, I pro𒁏mise you that content marketing is not going to be dead in 2024. 

But, is content marketing💛 ♚changing? You bet it is. And if you’re approaching it the way you🅘 did in 2014, you’re going to be way behind. Below, I’ll explain what I think the new year holds. 

The way we think about traffic has to change

If you ask the average marketer what the point of content is, they will ge🎃nerally say the same thing: It’s for traffic.

This is the traditional inbound funnel. 

• You make content that ranks for certain keywords. 
• This content attracts traffic.
• You capture some of this traffic as leads
• Some of these leads enter the sales process
• Some of these opps turn into customers.

Traffic, leads, and sales. Traffi♚c, leads, and sales.

The hope was always that if you put more traffic into the top of the funnel, more sales would come out at the bottom.&nbs🍎p;

And in many cases, that has been true. 

The problem with this approach is that it led marketers to produce fluffy content that brough𝓀t in traffic — but not high-intent traffic.&ღnbsp;

This was fueled by a high focus on out-of-context numbers. (In other words, if traffic is the core marketing KPI, marketer✅s will do what they need to do to boost traffic, even if it’s not going to influence rev😼enue.)

And now, times are changing. It’s up to us to think differently. AI-powered content is flooding SERP pages, making it harder and harder to rank and get traffic. At the same time, generative search 🙈is taking market share away from tr💜aditional search engines, meaning the way people consume informatꦯion is changing.

So, traffic won’t be 𒀰as reliable as it once was — and it might not ever have been as reliable as people believed.🌳 

Content isn’t (just) about search

This changes the𓆉 way we think about our content. If it’s not just about getting found in search𝔉, what’s the point?

First off, it’s important to remind ourselves that you will still get found in search. While we are seeing﷽ shifts, in many cases, search engines (and search engine users) still operate the way they have for years. 

But I believe it’s time to think differe♊ntly about what our content should🐈 be doing.

We must think of our content as educational, first and foremost. 

This means that when people come to your website — whether through search,♔ from social media, or because they heard someone tell them about it — your content is there to answer their questions and make it easy for them to buy from you. 

Your content exists to 🍷answer their questions and alleviate their concerns. That’s job number one. Not traffic🍌. Not clicks. 

For some, this will feel like a radical departure. For others, they’ll think, yeah, that makes sense.

Be prepared to think broadly about what content should be

The secon♕d thing I see ahead for content ༺marketing in 2024 is an ever-broader definition of what content means.

In the e🍬arly days, “content” meant written content. That is, articles, pillar pages, ebooks whitepapers, and the like.

While those things are still important — but, be honest, when was the last time you downloaded and read an ebook? ༒— the definition of content needs to keep eꦑxpanding.

The first things on the list are obvious: video (long-form, 168极速赛车平台:short-form, anܫd streaming), social media posts, events (digital and in-person), interactive content, and podca🏅sts.

But that will be the tip of the futureไ content iceberg.

As search changes, I expect social media to play anജ even bigger role in the way we discover products and services. 

The companies🌄 that have a social media presence that’s authentic and approachable will be꧙ the ones to win. And they’ll b🔯e very creative in the ways they meet, engage w♏ith, and delight their audiences.

 …and about how content gets consumed

At the same time, we can’t think of 🃏content as just a top-of-the-fꦉunnel tool. At IMPACT, we teach our clients that the MOST IMPORTANT application for content is in the sales process.

Sales enablement content that addresses buyers’ fears, worries, and concerns is content that’s going to streamline the sales process and actually bring revenue into yourﷺ business.  

When your marketing team and sales team wo🐲rk together on content, they provide a seamless sales experience — which is something that every business needs.

So, as we think about the future of content markꦬeting, remember that the most impactful place for the marketing team ꦬto put their effort may be the very bottom of the funnel. 

Content marketing in 2024 — and beyond

Content marketing is not dead, but the way you did it a decade ago is. If you’re hanging on to the same playbook, you’re in danger of lo𝄹s༒ing relevance and limiting your future.

Tomorrow’s content marketing is AI-enh⛦anced, 𝔉full-funnel, buyer-focused, and, most importantly, creative and authentic. 

If you’re not sure how to build a content marketing plan for your business’s future, talk to us at IMPACT. We help sales and marketing teams come together to build trust and capture revenue. 168极速赛车平台:Reach out to see what’s possible.