PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher.
This week, Robert and I recap the biggest content marketing stories from the past year and predict some trends we expect to see in 2017, including new content purchases Facebook and Google may be looking to make; brands betting big on buying media companies; and greater business model diversity from publishers and marketers alike. Our rants and raves feature the late, great George Michael and a new book from Michael Lewis; then we wrap up our final episode of 2016 by highlighting “house organs” in our Example of the Week.
This week’s show
(Recorded live on December 26, 2016; Length: 0:55:34)
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1. Notable news and upcoming trends
As the holiday week slowed news to a crawl, Robert and I thought we would recap some of the biggest stories and significant trends that impacted content marketing over the past year. We also shared some thoughts on what may be in store for our industry in 2017. Our discussion included:
- Facebook’s total domination of the digital marketing conversation (08:00): Facebook represented the lion’s share of advertising revenue growth over the past year and continued its metamorphosis from social network to full-fledged media company, as recent articles in Forbes and Recode describe in detail. However, Robert believes that the pendulum will soon start to swing in the other direction, and he predicts a backlash as marketers increasingly recognize the dangers of relying on a third-party platform when it comes to building trusted, ongoing relationships with a target audience. My advice here is to expect companies like Facebook and Google to continue to manipulate the system to sustain their growth, but keep your eyes open for the content gaps their efforts will inevitably leave – which knowledgeable subject matter experts may be in a strong position to fill.
- The rise of the publisher content studios (23:41): Another big story we explored throughout the year is the growing number of media outlets that are building their own content studios as a means of competing with the creative agencies for brands’ content budgets. I view this as an essential diversification of what publishing means in today’s marketplace. Robert sees this as a trend that is poised to really explode in 2017, as it represents an exciting new business model for publishers who have been struggling to overcome deep deficits in online ad revenue.
- The need to redefine the marketing department and its purpose (27:05): The above story led right into another point Robert and I kept coming back to: the need for marketers to think in broader terms about the value of content throughout the enterprise. Rather than limiting ourselves to viewing content as little more than a demand driver or an advertising alternative, we urge practitioners to expand their…
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