Content is No Longer a Suggestion - It’s a Necessity.

Data and Measurement Are Crucial To Content Success.

Authenticity Never Goes Out of Style.

ROI is Crucial – But Don’t Let It Kill Something Good.

The Future of Marketing is Personal.

5 Laws of Content Marketing

Content is the only way to comprehensively engage your audience at every step of the customer journey. Marketers need to create amazing content that is sharable, hilarious, emotional, entertaining, informative – or best, all of these! You should be obsessed with the content you create. If you don’t want to read it, why would your audience want to share it?

It’s essential to have a solid measurement framework in place so that you can try new ideas and find out if your content is working. That said, many marketing experts lament the lack of “hard numbers” when it comes to measuring success. 2015 will be the year measurement becomes standardized across platforms. The marketing tools of the (near) future will be highly personalized, letting you know which members of your audience are the most valuable.

We’ve heard this a million times but it’s worth saying again. Your brand needs to “know thyself” in all aspects of marketing. Don’t jump in on a meme or trend that won’t jive with your brand or audience. Be funny, everyone loves funny (even in B2B), but don’t be fake – your audience is smarter than that.

While measurement is crucial, don’t kill an idea that you know is a winner from the start just because you can’t predict its success. Marketers need to try a variety of messages and products, spend slowly, and measure carefully before picking a clear performer.

New marketing tools are opening up a wealth of possibilities to reach consumers. Better understanding their needs and motivations will help you provide a personalized, comprehensive experience. Companies who go the extra mile with content that is desired and not a disruption will succeed. Brands need to think about the fact that every share, "Like" and tweet is created be a real person.

In 2014, NewsCred hosted their annual Content Marketing Summit which brought together 700+ leaders in Marketing, Media, and Technology, and addressed how content is shaping the future of marketing. The five lessons below come from presentations by executives at Buzzfeed, Cisco, Dell, Diageo, Dr. Pepper, Forbes, Havas, Mindshare, RedBull, SAP, Spotify, Target, Twitter, VICE Media and more.

“The idea of creating content for content’s sake

is borderline psychotic.”Alex Jutkowitz

Group SJR

“As a team, we talk everyday about what’s working and what’s not, and we measure like crazy.”Dustee JenkinsTarget

“Humor evokes positive emotion, cuts through the noise, demonstrates authenticity, and redeems.”

Tim WasherCisco