What does the future of blogging look like?
Great storytellers are the future voices behind major brands.
So you like wearing Nikes. Their commercials inspire you, you look cool in the clothes and you know you they sell quality goods. How can they connect with you on a deeper level? How can they show you they are a brand that actually understands you?
By blogging.
Although content marketing is a lot more than simply blogging, I think this is the most effective and straightforward way to connect with your consumers without a sales pitch or a gimmick.
To understand it a little better, let’s flip the words. Marketing content. This is what brands are doing to better connect with consumers. Instead of marketing and advertising how great Red Bull tastes, they market blogs, videos and events that promote a lifestyle, not a product. They market their content.
For brands like FitBit or Lululemon, content marketing just makes the most sense. Their products are used for an active lifestyle, so they write blogs about being active. If you can get consumers to read this and buy into the lifestyle you promote, you’ve got them hooked!
Millennials (although I hate that a demographic that consists of 18–34 year-olds is completely lumped together) hate traditional advertising. They want authenticity. This is where blogs can come into play.
Say you have a travel blogger. She writes for fun, to keep a log of what she does, where shoe goes; but she’s also very good at telling interesting and relevant travel stories. She amasses a wide viewership, but never really set out to make money; she’s just keeping a [b]log of her travels. United Airlines hires her, and she continues to do exactly what she started doing. Writing real, authentic content about her travels. The only difference? There’s now a link to United Airlines at the bottom of every post. Maybe she mentions how great they are every once in a while, but doesn’t compromise the integrity of her blogs. It’s a win-win for everyone.
By hiring bloggers, consumers are going to be told better stories, ones that actually speak to them. Actual good writers and storytellers are going to be the voices behind major brands. Blogs aren’t going anywhere, they’re just getting started.
