10 Ways Brands Will Win With Content Marketing in 2013

Shafqat Islam is the co-founder and CEO of NewsCred, a platform that connects publishers and brands with the world's best journalism. Follow him @shafqatislam.

When Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space, it represented a watershed moment for content marketing. With 8 million people watching live, Red Bull showed the world that the "brands as publishers" movement was here to stay.

As we look forward to 2013, it's not just consumer brands that will lead the way. Corporate and B2B brands are investing millions of dollars into content-marketing campaigns that help generate leads, bolster their reputations as thought leaders and help inform and engage their customers. In the year 2013, marketers will break through with innovative content-marketing strategies. Here's what we have to look forward to:

1. Practice will be over

If 2012 was after-school practice, 2013 is the varsity championship game. Many marketers spent the past year getting up to speed on content marketing. They were interested in the growing trend, and realized they needed to leverage it, but didn't quite know how to do it. Now that it's game time, marketers face increasing pressure to drive traffic, leads and sales through content marketing. With the right data and strong analytics, marketers will have to prove that their efforts have real business value.

2. The microsite will die

The microsite just won't cut it anymore. Social media and new technologies have allowed people to hyper-curate their web experiences, meaning they're way more likely to go to a brand's Twitter page than homepage. Marketers need to think creatively to gain distribution beyond their owned properties. In the words of search-marketing guru, Li Evans: "Content doesn't win. Optimized content wins." Marketers will need to find out exactly where their audiences are, and use relevant content to drive them back to owned sites. Marketers must activate and amplify the content they create.

3. You'll have to scale or fail

In 2013, marketers will need to figure out how to scale and sustain their content-marketing efforts; and the answer is technology. Having an intern write three measly blog posts a week isn't going to cut it. Even a network of freelancers isn't enough. Scaling means customizing content to specific targeted audiences and delivering enough content to consistently capture their attention.

4. You'll either go big or go home

In the spirit of scale, marketers need to fully commit to their content-marketing efforts. If you're going to be creating and pushing out content, it needs to reach all target markets, from international to hyperlocal. Our "always on" culture demands that marketers devote sufficient resources and time to carefully planned content strategies.

5. People will judge a book by its cover

Although the phrase "B2B" invites conservative and utilitarian associations, this does not mean B2B companies should offer user experiences that prove them true. Savvy, plugged-in consumers expect innovative platforms and design wherever they are, and B2B marketers need to deliver them. Innovation in design should not be limited to consumer brands or the new generation of publishers.

6. There will be 50 shades of copyright concerns

The copyright laws surrounding digital content are pretty gray. While marketers have gotten some practice purchasing stock images or using photos with a creative commons licenses, content distribution is new territory. Although navigating copyright is a mystery to many marketers, the proliferation of content marketing means that they need to get smart quickly. Squeezed out of print revenue, publishers are adapting quickly. They're looking at what it means to steal or share content, and marketers would be served well to catch up to their publishing counterparts.

7. Brands will break news

The "brands as publishers" trend means brands need to think like newsrooms. Speed is everything. If the Twittersphere is buzzing with news about a company, that particular company can (and should) own that content. What are audiences interested in right now, and how can brands deliver it to them? Brands no longer need to rely on PR and publishers to react to news; they can be and break the news. Red Bull is the ultimate example of this, with 8 million people tuning into its Stratos mission. Think beyond evergreen content, and create relevance among content, audience, and current events.

8. Social content will be the new ad unit

We've seen the obituaries of the banner ad in pretty much every major blog. Now what? New ad formats are coming, such as the one from Flite, which put content front and center.  With content at the heart of every campaign, brands will drive engagement, leads and sales. Again, technology will make these efforts scale.

9. Native advertising will start to scale.

Native advertising is the next big thing, but many properties haven't quite figured out how to scale it; that's bound to change. We'll start seeing a marketplace or ad exchange for native ads where brands can buy and sell sponsored posts. The success metrics for these ads will likely be social sharing and engagement. A marketplace or ad exchange will be the key to scale and sustainability for this ad format in 2013.

10. Brands and publishers will be better together.

As the line dividing traditional publishers and brands continues to dissolve, we'll see new partnerships form between the two that will open up opportunities—beyond the native ad—to engage audiences in creative, innovative and profitable ways. One example we've loved is the online/offline campaign from Microsoft and Conde Nast. Partnerships will be critical to standing out and gaining greater distribution in a sea of content.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Red Bull Air Force