5 Blog Trends To Follow In 2018
Ah blogging. Our old friend; tried and true. Social media sees its fair share of trends, but you are constant. Always there for us to share our thoughts or to give us a little SEO boost. What would we do without you?
Blogging has been and is a cornerstone of creative entrepreneurship, with no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, the data shows us blogging is more popular than ever! According to studies done by Hubspot on online marketing statistics, “53 percent of markets say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.”
So while blogging itself seems here to stay, as with anything it’s subject to its fair share of change. Whether this is the form of the tools we use to create our blogs, the things we use to supplement them, the style in which they are written or created, or who we target with them, blogging always evolves.
While pretty much all of us are doing some share of blogging, how many of us are keeping on top of its evolving trends the same way we do on Instagram? With blogging still being such a key aspect of entrepreneurship, we thought we would look ahead to what’s trending and how to stay ahead of the game.
Be Authentic
First and foremost, authenticity is nonnegotiable. It’s nearly impossible to establish a meaningful connection with your audience today without some degree of vulnerability and genuine relationship building. Audiences today are attuned than ever to what’s real and what isn’t. We all pick up on spammy, generic messages quickly and filter easily.
Taking a leap into entrepreneurship was risky; your next risk might be getting comfortable with your own vulnerability. So much of our business is person to person, so gone are the days of expecting a cold, faceless business experience. We are a community of creative entrepreneurs. A true community, rather than a collection of separate individuals all interacting with that big faceless company.
When we are authentic, we empower each other. That might mean being honest about some of our struggles. It might be choosing to own up to our shortcomings rather than sweep them under the rug. It could be letting yourself take the mask of control off for a moment, to let your community know that right now, you're not a superhero. You’re tired and maybe a little disheartened.
Because most likely, your community will be right there with you. They will meet you in that place, and perhaps even lift you out. When the time comes where we experience our little victories, our joys, our dreams, the people we serve will know where we have come from. They are more open to hearing about our success because they know for a fact we have struggled.
Authenticity is freedom. Own it.
Video
Recently on the Dubsado blog, Lauren Pawell wrote about how to more effectively nurture Dubsado leads into paying customers. At one point, she discusses how to come up with content ideas and actually embeds a screen share video of her, demonstrating the process. It provided a simple and rich source of added material to an already stellar piece!
Video content is getting easier to produce and edit thanks to a variety of easy edit platforms. They make not only cutting and editing your own video easy, but also creating graphics and highlights within a video a matter of selecting what you want. You could even just record a video of yourself talking! Putting a face to a blog piece is an easy way to add depth.
There are even services that will make videos for you! Services like Moovly and Biteable, creating professional, custom video material is easier than ever! They basically do it for you!
Use videos to supplement your blogs for a more engaging and flashy presentation this year!
Consistency and Length
We are creatures of habit, even as we engage with evolving art forms. Our audiences likes to know what they can expect from us and when they can expect it. Forming routines in various aspects of creating content, helps to build a routine with your audience and helps you get consistent clicks.
According to the studies done by Hubspot, companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published 0-4 monthly posts.
Our audience won’t be the only ones benefiting from consistency. If you are trying to pick up your blogging, it’s going to be a new time commitment for you. Trying to find the time to write wherever you can, on top of all your currents demands, might be tough.
Consistency keeps your audience's attention and helps us meet the demand.
Maybe your audience knows to expect a certain length of post when they read you. Maybe they expect a certain number of posts a week. Maybe you have a rotation of types of content they plan to see. Whatever it is, you can only subvert expectations (the good way) when you have expectations to uphold. Having an audience expecting to hear from you is a good problem to have.
Set up a content calendar and hold yourself accountable for a consistent number of posts or posting schedule!
Story Telling
If you pay attention, you’ll notice an increasing number of people labeling themselves as “storytellers.” More than ever, we as consumers are looking for ways to be part of a narrative, in everything we do.
The clothes we buy, the places our food is from, the organizations we support, are more likely to have an inherent story or purpose behind them, driving our support. The same principle applies to our businesses.
Your stories don’t need a boy wizard or an intimidating protagonist. Try appealing to your audience's emotions. Set up scenes for them. Create pictures and images. Take them through your processes! Let them get to know you better.
Live Stream
Live video. It’s something you can’t escape. If you’re nervous about putting yourself out there, I hate to break it to ya, but it’s time to find the courage. The studies show that Live Video is quickly becoming one of the most engaging forms of content we have at our disposal. As new FaceBook and Instagram algorithms continue to change the way our clients interact with our work, Live Video has emerged as a go-to source for engagement.
According to Facebook, users engage with live streaming videos for three times longer than they do normal ones. That’s a lot more time with potential clients! Yet according to data collected by Cisco, live video only makes up 13% of video content uploaded right now.
That means there is a huge opportunity for you to be an adaptor of a very engaging form or marketing. This could be a tremendous boost for your business if you’re willing to put yourself out there to the community. There has never been a better time to find the courage to.
Facebook and Instagram have made hosting live video so easy! It’s easy to promote your post, run test videos, and give your audience a more authentic view of your day.
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The data is there and it shows us that blogging is far from over.
53% of marketers making blog content their priority.
Bloggers who publish 11 or more times seeing 3X as much traffic; those who publish 16 or more times seeing 3.5X as much!
The numbers are there, but so is the talk! If blogging wasn’t important, your favorite creatives, entrepreneurs and influencers wouldn’t be doing it! So more important than a list of all the ways blogging is going to be evolving, is a reminder that if you haven’t started, now is the time!
You might think you don’t have anything new or useful or interesting to say, but I promise you, you’ll find your voice the more you push yourself to create. If not just for the sake of finding your voice, then for the tons of business you might be missing out on!
2018 is the year to take your business to new heights! It might just be that a clear blog strategy is the vehicle that will take you there!