For storytellers, 2018 was a year filled with change: publishers adjusted to platforms’ algorithm updates, content marketers pivoted (and pivoted back), and the industry made a collective push to diversify revenue streams. And in facing the challenges of last year, the publishing world showed just how nimble and adaptable it can truly be.
This resilience has been key to the industry’s continued success. As a result, publishers have become much more sophisticated with their distribution efforts, increasingly incorporating data-backed strategies into their day-to-day operations. While there’s little doubt that this has helped improve immediate performance metrics (like website traffic, for example), showing the long-term return on content marketing efforts continues to be a challenge for much of the industry.
Trends + Predictions for 2019
This year, we expect to see a noticeable shift in how publishers approach content distribution. While short-term goals like traffic acquisition will still be prioritized, storytellers will have a growing desire – and responsibility – to show a lasting return on their content distribution efforts.
This means that marketers will move to more deliberate, measurable audience development strategies that are supported by advanced tracking infrastructures. More specifically, publishers will make a concerted effort to acquire high-value readers that they can monetize for months, if not years, to come, and will make major progress on their ability to show the financial return of their audience acquisition investments.
Download the Trend Report
To help you stay ahead of the curve this year, we’ve created a Content Distribution Trend Report. In it, we’ll take a look back at some of the biggest industry stories from 2018. More importantly, we’ll share our predictions for the content distribution trends that will shape 2019, all of which have been informed by our work with over 400 of the world’s leading publishers.
Fill out the form below to download the Content Distribution Trend Report for more specific predictions on branded content, paid subscriptions, audience development, and more.
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About Keywee
At Keywee, we make stories relevant and powerful for the world’s best storytellers — like The New York Times, The BBC, National Geographic, Forbes, and Red Bull.
Today, people aren’t coming to websites to search for content — stories find their audiences in feeds and apps. The upshot? Distribution is now the key for effective storytelling. Keywee’s platform unlocks audience insights using AI and data science, and infuses them into every step of the storytelling process: from topic selection, to story creation, to distribution and optimization. Keywee is backed by leading investors such as Google’s Eric Schmidt and The New York Times, and has been a fast-growing, profitable startup since its inception. To learn more, request a demo here.
