You might be the kind of person that likes to shoot really provocative stats about content marketing to your superiors, and I’m just the kind of person that likes feeding them to you.  I got these from Ali Tufail in The Drum.  Content marketing budgets in the UK are going up about 25% a year.  74% of the public trusts content from a business that educates readers on a topic.  49% of B2B and 51% of B2C marketers had a hard time measuring content effectiveness in the previous year.  85% of clicks are given by less than 10% of the online population.  The average word count for the highest ranking content in Google was 1,140 to 1,285.  91% of buyers prefer interactive content.  And if you stick a product pitch in an article because you just can’t resist or your bosses demand it, that content’s credibility sinks 29%.

I often poke fun at how obsessive we’re supposed to be about what Millennials want, and nobody likes that more than Millennials.  But Diana Gonimah of SocialCode says get ready for the post millennial Generation Z, born after 1996.  Already $44B in spending power!  A CPG company tested some content and tactics on a Gen Z audience and here’s what they learned that we might should pay attention to.  71% of them use Facebook, so never mind that Facebook’s for old people crap.  Videos 15 seconds or less get watched to the end 124% more than anything longer.  They respond big time to stuff that makes them laugh or that teaches them something useful.  Over half of Gen Zs polled by Defy Media watch video on Facebook, but you ready for this?  An nScreenMedia study shows half of them have never had cable.  They watch loads of video, just not on TV.

I bet you pay attention now, because I’m going to talk about how much money you’re going to make in content in 2017.  Don’t thank me, thank The Creative Group for their US survey of starting average salaries.  Marketing and advertising pay should go up 3.6% next year.  Interactive and design positions will go up the most, especially if you’re a front-end web developer, mobile designer, UX designer, or content strategist.  So here we go, MarketingProfs reports these “top end of the range” salaries for these positions: blogger, 70,500.  Content Marketing Manager, 89,750.  Social Manager, 94,250.  Content Strategist, 99,250.  Marketing Director, 154,000.  Agency Creative Director, 186,250.  And if you’re bound for the C-suite, CMOs will make up to 255,000.  You are now either feeling blessed or outraged.

You want your site to be the La Brea Tar Pits of the digital world, causing anyone who wanders in to stick there.  That’s why publishers don’t want people having to wander off to Facebook or YouTube to watch their videos.  Jonathan Shieber writes that when that happens, it costs publishers hundreds of thousands…of dollars.  IRIS.TV has a toolkit called “Campaign Manager” that claims to be the first to allow in-stream placement of branded videos.  The platform gives publishers control over how often a video is put in the stream, what time, on what device type, in what geography and for how long.  Plus, COO Richie Hyden says, “Personalization and machine learning tools let publishers create inventories that target individual users rather than large groups.”  And they say it’s not subject to ad-blockers…which really doesn’t seem to block much anymore.

I’ve talked about this before but you may not have heard me.  And you may not have heard me because you weren’t listening in 360-degree audio.  I’m a bit of an audiophile, one of the philes it’s legal to be.  And for people like me, if the audio in a video doesn’t match the video in terms of quality, I start calling somebody I don’t even know lazy.  So yay for Facebook for launching Audio 360, which will let creators add spatial audio to 360 videos on News Feed.  Facebook’s Abesh Thakur and Varun Nair say it replicates over headphones how we hear sound in the real world.  When you move around in a 360 video, the sound adjusts to stay in context with the video so you can hear post-apocalyptic rabbits before they jump out at you.

Google bought something.  Sorry if I’m not rocking your world with unexpected news here but that’s just how Google rolls.  This time they got FameBit, which they’ll use to help YouTubers hook up with brands.  And Google’s Ariel Bardin is thinking that’ll in turn bring more dough to the whole online video scene.  VentureBeat adds YouTube also has to stop, to the degree it can, that video scene shifting to Facebook.  FameBit cofounder Agnes Kozera says they’re going to keep you smaller brands in mind, keeping YouTuber endorsements affordable.  And Google thinks this is also going to help networks and agencies connect to just the right influencers.

Some of you might take your cues for what content you should make from Facebook’s Trending topics.  But should you?  The Washington Post’s The Intersect logged trending news stories on 4 accounts for about a month.  Caitlin Dewey writes that 5 stories were totally fake, and 3 were profoundly inaccurate.  There was a debunked story about a praying guy getting kicked off Clemson’s campus, coverage of iPhone features from a satire site, a news release from a discredited medical organization, a story saying 9/11 had “controlled demolitions,” and a story about the Bills from the satiric SportsPickle.  DJ Gallo of said pickle said, “We’ve seen much of what’s posted on Facebook is not accurate.”  An anonymous former member of the Trending team said, “I’m not surprised.  It was beyond predictable by anyone who spent time with the functionality of the product.”  About 40% of American adults turn to Facebook for their news.

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A survey of B2B marketing execs by Seismic and Gatepoint Research shows that they’re feeling the pressure to make great content, and they aren’t impressed with how they’re holding up under that pressure.  eContent reports 47% say their ability to handle content is average or worse.  What’s making it so hard and confusing for them is, in order, sales people wanting one-off content, content not getting used by sales because they don’t know where it is, having no clue what content works and what doesn’t, and being unable to keep up with the demand for content.  In fact, just updating content to make sure it’s got the right branding is taking them 3 to 6 months.  Want to blame something?  Believe it or not neither Trump nor Clinton are to blame, it’s old school tech and processes making sure everything is nice and inefficient.

How big a part does Uber play as a distribution channel for your content?  I’m tweaking you, I know you’re doing good to be on Facebook and Email.  But nonetheregardless, Uber is teaming up with Yext so you can book rides to restaurants and shops.  And Andrew J . Hawkins writes in The Verge that while you’re on the way, if you’re on the Uber app, you’ll get links to content based on where you’re headed.  So if you’re going to Applebee’s, you might get a link to a video about the history of potato skins.  Applebee’s could also put a “Call me an Uber” button on their website.  Uber’s Chris Saad thinks it’ll take the friction out of getting customers to brands’ doorsteps.

No question it helps make life easier if people more influential than you say good things to their fans and followers about your content or app or whatever you’ve got.  But Victor Ricci with Trend Pie says there are some things we believe about influencer marketing that aren’t necessarily true.  Now keep in mind, he was mostly talking about influencing app downloads, but we can chomp on this food for thought where content is concerned too.  They include Myth 1: Famous influencers are best.  Not in cost effectiveness terms.  You can pay thousands for one tweet, but what good is one tweet going to do you.  Spread that money out amongst several smaller influencers and you’ve got more impact.  Myth 2: Influencers are for branding and impressions.  Nope, the best ones do that AND get you engagement.

Add another big brand to those launching in house studios.  This time it’s Unilever.  You know, the Lipton and Country Crock people.  They own a ton of brands.  They might even own you.  But check this, Netimperative reports they’re launching not one, but two studios.  One is for “U-Studio.”  That one’s for what they call “needs” content, stuff consumers look for about a specific product.  The other one is “U-Entertainment,” and that one is for teaming up with entertainment partners to make cool stuff.  They’re looking for global directors for both teams by the way.  They didn’t call me, I don’t promote myself enough.  But they are working with Oliver Group, which has in the past helped Ryanair and BMW with brand contenty-type stuff.

If you think what you do in the digital space is safe from Facebook sticking its big blue F in it, you’ve got another think coming.  Here comes Facebook Marketplace to also do what eBay and craigslist do, help people sell stuff to each other.  There’s going to be a shop icon at the bottom of your Facebook phone apps in some countries, and clicking it lets you browse nearby goodies and narrow using categories and filters.  Director of product management Mary Ku says if you want to sell on it, just take a picture of the cherished item you’re sick of, categorize and describe it.  The actual transaction is up to you and the buyer.  Facebook isn’t yet in the business of handling the payment or helping delivery details.  Now get out there and find out how little your valuable stuff is really worth.

If I know you like I think I do, you’re deeply committed to the truth and would never try to fool anyone.  So it’s going to be helpful for your Boy, or Girl Scout, virtuousness to know that YouTube now lets you put text over the first part of your influencer videos that let people know the video they’re watching includes paid promotion.  It’s mega smart to tap into influencer audiences, but you want to shoot straight that your influencer is working for you.  Product manager Muli Salem says viewers appreciate total transparency when brands and influencers work together and will think more highly of your brand if you’re up front.  The disclaimer can also be put on existing videos without messing up view count.  All this of course against the backdrop that there is no global disclosure standard.

This podcast is about content, so you think blog, video, or God forbid, podcast.  But what you as a brand say in conversations with your customers and prospects is also a kind of content.  And like the other content, if it’s not there, you’re going to start feeling the pain.  A study by Applied Marketing Science and Twitter (which by the way, if you want to buy it I think they’re taking offers) says when a customer tweets a brand, be it to ask a question or complain, and actually gets a response, they’re willing to spend 3-20% more on average on a product from that brand.  They’re 44% more likely to share that interaction, and 30% more likely to recommend the brand.  The faster the response, the better the results.  Twitter’s Wayne Huang adds that even 69% of people who bitch-tweet felt better about the brand if they answered.  And have this fun fact for dessert; McKinsey & Company says support interactions on social cost 1/6th of what they do in a call center.  Your call is very important to us.

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This gets so frustrating.  We bang the drum to get brands to start making content, which they do.  But then I guess not enough of us emphasized how important it was that the content be good.  The results of a study by Beckon shocked CEO Jennifer Zeszut and company.  They looked at the performance of $16B in marketing spend and wowzers, branded content creation is up 300% from last year.  Good, right?  No.  Because the vast majority of that content sucked.  Engagement was totally flat.  You know how much of it was good?  5%.  Stewart Rogers writes 5% of branded content got 90% of the engagement.  I’ll say it again and you brands keep not listening.  You don’t need more managers and marketers, you need entertainers and journalists.  And IF you get them, stop making them do ads you call content.  I’d drop my mic but it’s expensive.

No one’s gonna buy the house if the curb appeal is lousy.  That’s another way of saying your great blog post or video won’t get seen if you aren’t good at writing headlines.  So here we go with Christopher Jan Benitez tips from BloggingTips.com.  KISSmetrics says readers absorb the first and last 3 words, so make those count.  Use power words like “life-changing” and “hack”, but don’t overuse.  Use lists, big lists so the reader will think they’re bound to learn something.  Put a statistic in for immediate credibility.  And spark discussion by dealing with topics people want to debate about.  So my apologies, I should have headlined this story 87 Orgasmic Headline Tips That Will Make 64% of You Weak-Kneed.

I know what you’ve been worrying about, don’t think I don’t know.  You’re worried that there’s still one small spot in the digital landscape you can’t use to market your brand.  Well you can go back to sleeping like a baby, because a startup called Emogi is launching Wink.  The Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell reports Wink can get you into the text field of messaging apps.  Well, one anyway.  You can get branded emoji and GIF options onto Kik.  Let’s say you’re messaging a friend about needing a doughnut, the word “doughnut” will trigger some doughnut-brand sticker options so you can pick one.  Kik’s cool with it because it gets a cut of the ad revenue.  And yes, CEO Travis Montaque and company are in talks with other messaging apps.  eMarketer says the time US adults spend on mobile messaging apps will go up to 9 minutes a day in 2017, that’s 4 minutes more than this year.  You want a doughnut now don’t you?

If your boss is saying yes to all kinds of online advertising but no to branded content, ask them if they can step aside for someone smarter.  An annual study from Forbes and IPG MediaLab shows branded content is outperforming other online ad methods in all kinds of ways.  Christopher Heine writes that bam, brand recall is 59% higher than native or display ads.  And it’s growing, up 17% since 2013.  People are 14% more likely to seek out more content from a brand after just one branded content impression.  So should we all get drunk and crazy and ditch our display ads?  Forbes Chief Revenue Officer Mark Howard doesn’t seem to think so.  He says Forbes’ clients get a 9% lift if and when branded content is teamed up with display.

Look at us, out there trying to build relationships with our content, which in turn might get people to trust our brands.  But that must not be a big concern of the media, because the public’s trust in traditional media has plunged to the lowest point this year, and media brands don’t seem to be terribly interested in doing anything about it.  Gallup asked people how much they trust the mass media, and 68% said “not very much” or “not at all.”  Rande Price writes that decline of trust has been going on over 10 years but is speeding up, especially with young and middle-aged adults.  Several theories as to why; too many options, too much competition which leads to overhype and junk food journalism.  Who knew that brands would be in a better position to win people’s trust than journalists.  Well…former journalists.

Well it hasn’t exactly happened overnight, or even a little fast, but a Curata study shows marketing executives are starting to take real responsibility for content marketing strategy.  But that doesn’t mean most content marketing teams are big operations.  Curata’s own content marketing director Mitchell Hall says that in 2015, 49% of companies thought they’d have a content marketing executive by the end of the year.  Today, it’s still down at 42%.  Patrick Gorman writes for Fierce CMO that 68% of companies that do have a content marketing team have 3 or fewer people on it.  21% have 4 to 6, 6% have 7 to 10, and 5% have 10 or more.  How’d your team stack up?

You know, it really is sweet the way you put up a Facebook Page for your business and you still think you can get organic reach based on the strength of your great content.  But your relationship with Facebook changed a long time ago, and you’ve got to pay if you want a good time.  Just leave the money on the dresser.  Ken Yeung reports that yes there are a lot of businesses putting up Pages, Facebook says over 60M, which is 33% more than last year.  But when it comes to who’s ponying up for Facebook advertising, that number stands at 4M, and over 70% of that is outside the US.  The other 56M must be counting on lightning to strike.

Do you spend your weekends rolling around in a white van, following people while you watch them with binoculars?  Sounds creepy right?  But companies love to do this and the public is taking notice.  A survey by Michael Nicholas and Kantar TNS learned 34% of users feel stalked by online advertising.  And here are the countries who have started actively ignoring branded content because of it.  Sweden and Denmark are the most creeped out at 57%, Britons want no part of it at 40%, South Africa at 26%, and 24% of China ignores stuff from brands.  Your best shot is Saudi Arabia and Brazil, they’re pretty tolerant.  Katie Grant writes in inews your other best bet is to get Kim Kardashian to like your brand, because 40% of 16-24 year-olds trust what others say online more than “official” sources.

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