At the beginning of each new year, it is important to take a step back and reflect on the past twelve months- the trends, the hits and the failures that all blended together to develop new and original content. In order to create an effective strategy for the new year we must write down our goals and objectives for the new year:
Do you want to expand your brand following?
Increase consumer engagement?
Or simply try a new marketing strategy?
Great.
After you have established your goals for the new year- it’s time to create a comprehensive game to transform these ideas into real life production material!
In order to get ahead of the curve and reach your goals for the year- watch the market and analyze what trends are taking over the media landscape and integrate them into your media production strategy!
We may be heading into March but these trends will keep your business sizzling hot all year long….
1. Continued Growth of Social Media:
Social media has been a constant trend of the years and shows no sign of slowing down in the future. While platforms such as Twitter and Snapchat have shown a significant decline in users over the past two years. Instagram and Facebook have seen a boost in users due to the not-so-new phenomenon of ‘going live’. Going live has become more popular than Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram stories combined. Steaming live video is a great way to generate fresh and original content that your followers- both new and old will want to watch.
In 2019 we will watch the end of an era- traditional texting slip into the past. This year is all about messaging. App’s such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber are great tools to add to your media production tool kit- you can easily amp up your customer relationship management skills by using chatbots to answer basic questions, send your clients alerts regarding new social media posts or simply say hi!
Messaging will help to close to gap between customer management and customer relationships into one seamless interaction. Along with live streaming video and messaging applications, the third largest change in media production will be the continued expansion between brands and influencers. Implementing an influencer (or two ) into your marketing plan can help your company to establish a presence as an authority in your designated niche- while adding another creative content creator to your team. Social media has become an integral aspect of your day to day lives. Engaging with your audience is the key to growing your intended audience while boosting your bottom line!
2. Collaboration Between Brands and Their Audience
The concept of brand to consumer collaboration piggybacks from social media integration.
What better way to give the people want- if you can simply ask?
Social media can be optimized not only as a platform to share your business’s latest venture- but as a way to bounce ideas back and forth between your media production team and your intended audience.
What content does your audience want to see more often?
What media is shared, liked or ‘reacted’ to the most?
Is there content they would like to never see again?
Good.
Collaborating with your audience is an excellent way to test the waters when curating new and exciting content!
3. Increase in Voice Search
Voice search will become the most common form of search due to its simplicity and convenience. Voice searches can now be conducted on virtually any tech device, smartphones, tablets, laptops, with the help of artificial intelligence applications such as Siri or Cortana. With such busy lifestyles, working, commuting and running to class, who has the time to search for answers when voice search can simply provide you with the instant result you need? Voice search will work for hand in hand with search optimization (SEO) to continually find ways to rank your business higher and higher each time in the search bar.
4. Increase in Virtual Reality
The past few years we have seen the use of virtual or augmented reality fluctuate back and forth, but this year it is here to stay. A couple of years virtual reality was once an escape to a world of heightened reality and advanced technology. In 2019 virtual reality will be gradually integrated into basic activities like VR shopping from the comfort of your home.
5. Focus on consistent content
It can be difficult to not get swept up into an endless sea of content you might see from competitors and other brands- and that is okay.
The key to successful media production is the consistent production of quality content- not quantity content. While maintaining a constant stream of new and exciting media material is important- oversaturating your followers with mediocre content will leave the masses unsatisfied and will prompt them to look at other sources of engaging material. Focus on producing quality content that has a message and will have a positive impact on your intended audience.
6. Breaching the gap of original content and sales strategy
Long gone is the age of stale sales tactics, click bait and boring targeted ads. Consumers are evolving and it is time for media production efforts to evolve with them. Examples of content you can implement to engage and excite your audience are videos, eye-catching graphics and blog posts strategically created with rich keywords and links that will leave the reader with a desire to share your content and make a purchase! Creative content is the sales tactic that essentially sells itself.
Each year brings forth the opportunity to try out the newest media production trends and experiment with the latest technological advancements. While playing it safe and maintaining simple marketing may have proven effective for your business in the past- is your business reaching its fullest potential? Are you producing content that is reaching the maximum amount of viewership possible?
Imagine what strides your business could make by 2020 if you implement a new media trend or two?
Only time will tell…
It’s up to you to decide.
