Unfiltered, unpolished, unapologetic. Could the age of the carefully crafted Instagram feed be coming to an end? As marketers and content creators, we sure as hell hope so!

The aesthetically pleasing “Instagram look” has saturated our newsfeeds for years now, with brands, influencers and everyday users bearing the burden of living up to these impossibly high standards.

You know the formula: the camping scene featuring a guy with headlamp and glowing tent; a “candid” capture of a woman looking pensively out from her glamping teepee; and the couple perched atop an infinity pool overlooking a dramatic backdrop. Craft a quippy caption and you’ll have social media gold– or so we thought.

Businesses of all sizes have agonized over their Insta grid and infused significant amounts of cash into content creation to meet the demand. The result has been a fixation on perfection and polish, rather than authenticity; an aesthetic checklist rather than an authenticity gut check. The common result of this obsession has meant that individuals and brands new to social media were intimidated to jump in, for fear of not producing gleaming content.

But, the tides are changing. The “Instagram look” is no longer capturing attention the way it once did.

Alas, there’s a new no-fuss generation emerging and they are not falling for the painstakingly twee social media feeds of the past. The style of content produced by this fresh new crop of influencers like @Double3Exposure, is raw, grainy and perfectly imperfect. And, waiting in the wings of this 20-something Generation Z, is an onslaught of youth with bigger fish to fry. The generation that started the Extinction Rebellion, they charge forward with role models like climate crisis influencer Gretta Thunburg and school shooting survivor, turned anti-gun warrior, Emma González.

It’s just an assumption, but perhaps people are waking up to the fact that there are more important things to worry about than spending hours capturing the perfect Instagram photo.

“Culture is a pendulum, and the pendulum is swaying,” Matt Klein, a cultural strategist at the consultancy Sparks & Honey, told the Atalantic in a recent interview. 

And thus, social media is slowly inching back towards its old school roots– lo-fidelity content. Handcrafted video, unfiltered images and raw, real-time storytelling make up a growing wave of “ugly social” that has taken our digital feeds by storm (again).

What’s different this time around is that we have better tools and more robust platform features to bring the lo-fi story to life than ever before. Smartphones have amazing cameras, there are countless apps can help us produce cheap and cheerful videos and Stories are pervasive. In fact, Facebook has confirmed that Stories feature will overtake the Newsfeed as the primary posting medium in 2019.

But, one question remains: In a world of lo-fi, what role does high quality video and professional photography play? For a brand, it is still important to have a balance of the two. Should we continue to invest in inspiring video and brand photography? Yes, but use it strategically and thoughtfully to tell big stories and connect with your “why”. Should we worry if our Instagram grid isn’t perfect?  Absolutely not.

Be real, be authentic, share your story! Embrace the lo-fi renaissance.

Need help getting started with your social media program? Get in touch and let’s chat! 

360 video and virtual reality are slated for explosive growth in 2018 as technologies become more accessible to the mainstream user. If you have a unique and visually appealing offering that could be turned into a virtual experience, immersive content is worth a closer look.

We recently reached out to our clients at Immersive Explorers – a 360 content creation and media company based in Whistler, BC – to learn more about how businesses can leverage 360 content. Here’s what they had to say:

Q1: Tell us a little bit about the current 360 video landscape (what are the trends, what’s the technology like, and who are the players)

A1: This is a very broad question since VR is growing across so many industries – we might have to write a book! Right now though, we would say that the growth of VR as a marketing tool has been evolving quickly. At first it was kind of a gimmick – think McDonald’s activation in March of 2016 in Sweden where they created a Happy Meal box that could be folded into a cardboard VR headset ( or Happy Goggles!) to play a VR game called Slope Stars.

With steep growth in users, organizations are embracing the opportunities that immersive content presents. The technology for both cameras and headsets is evolving and becoming more accessible, resulting in more content and broader adoption of the technology outside of the core user groups of “geeks and gamers”.

The main players right now are Google, Samsung, Facebook / Oculus, Microsoft, and Intel.

In the travel sector, the last two years has seen an increase in VR usage – Tourism Australia, Destination BC, and or Qantas have all made significant investments in virtual reality / 360 video content and reaped the rewards of being among the first to bring travel experiences in 360 to market.

Q2: How does the 360 experience compare to regular video content?

A2: We have found 360 assets to be way more engaging, providing double the average view times and a higher click thru rate than conventional assets. Recently, Destination BC posted a 360 video that we shot at Superfly Ziplines in Whistler. They had also posted a conventional video of dogs playing in the snow, taken at Silverstar Resort in that same week.

Just as background, after capturing content and working in Whistler Blackcomb’s PR department for many years we consider dogs playing in snow to be the holy grail of social content – it is super engaging – people love it.

Both videos were about one-minute long. The 360 video content outperformed the conventional video by receiving 175% more likes, 459% more shares and 159% more video views on the Destination BC page. To us, this is an incredible illustration of the strength that immersive content has to be super engaging and rise above conventional content assets.

Google partnered with or Columbia Sportswear to create an ad campaign using 360 Labs. Two campaigns were created using TrueView – one featured the 360-degree video format, whilst the other was a standard video format. The 360 in-stream video advertising underperformed for view-through rates across mobile and desktop.

However, click-through rates on 360-degree ads were higher compared to standard video. Interaction rates which includes tilting and scrolling, were also higher for the 60-second 360 ad. This led Google to conclude that 360 video formats drive engagement through interaction.

Indeed, the format attracted more views, shares and subscribers than traditional ads. Overall, the 360-degree video ad drove 41% more actions. Overall, the video had a 46% higher view count compared to the standard ad. That’s likely due to 360 being a more engaging and immersive format.

Q3.  How are consumers using 360 video in 2018?

A3: Well, first of all there is a lot of really terrible user generated 360 content on Facebook!

But seriously, the number of people engaging with immersive content is growing. NBC was showing the Olympics in 360 format, you can view news stories on the New York Times VR app, CNN has a channel and many brands are using immersive experiences to share stories and content about their products and experiences.  

As the price comes down for VR headsets and more content creators master the skills needed to create immersive content we can eventually see the VR headset becoming as ubiquitous as mobile phones.

Q4: What are some of the use cases for brands who want to leverage 360 video?

A4: The interest that we are seeing is coming mainly from hotels, destinations and adventure experiences.

Since 360 video allows for realistic spatial representation the inclusion of immersive content is a great balance to conventional photo and video assets. We can create utility-based content that can orientate people in spaces and show them the “lay of the land” without having to visit in person.  

Aspirational content drives that dreaming phase and engages people by putting them in the driver’s seat in the middle of the action so they can experience something as if they are really there. Since the content that is created can be used as 360 assets on websites and social channels (Facebook, Youtube and Vimeo) as well put in a headset for sales and demo purposes the ways you can leverage a project are almost limitless.

Q5: What are the most common distribution channels for 360 video?

A5: YouTube (they have a Virtual Reality channel with 2.8 million subscribers), Vimeo, Facebook, veer.tv, Kuula.com, apps that host collections of content such as the Oculus store or New York Times. We plan to have an app for in headset distribution in the future and our website features 360 video and photographs in 4K.

Q6: What should businesses keep in mind when considering 360 video?

A6: Finding the right team to produce the content. Since this technology is emerging and is just starting to get more traction there are a lot of video teams out there getting into immersive content creation.

The problem is, filming immersive content the same way you film conventional content will result in footage that will literally make people sick when viewed in a headset. So, it is important to look for a team that  has years of VR experience and can prove that they can capture immersive content free of sensory conflict.

A lot of immersive content relies solely on the “gimmick” that you can pan around and get the 360 view. The next layer that we are hoping to delve into with our clients is the storytelling aspect. Just because the content is super cool and immersive doesn’t mean we can’t layer in story to inspire the viewer.

Q7: What’s the best way for brands to get started with 360 video?

A7: My simple answer would be to give us a call! The price of capturing a short experience isn’t as much as people assume and working on a short experience is a great way to see the increased engagement that immersive content provides on website and mobile platforms.

Q8: Anything to add that we haven’t covered off?

A8: Immersive content is recalled in the brain in the same way as a memory is. Creating VR/360 content also separates you from your competitors, making you look like a forward thinking company.

About Immersive Explorers

Immersive Explorers is driven to create and widely share 360 content that allows past, present and future travellers to have deeper connections with destinations and experiences. Anyone, anywhere can explore a new place or revisit a beloved location; this is the richness of experience VR and 360 content enables. Immersive Explorers and its social channels feature and amplify editorially-driven virtual reality and 360 video or photo stories created in partnership with destinations, activity operators, and experiences.

This custom VR content is featured on both Immersive Explorers’ platforms, as well as those belonging to the partner.

We know content marketing is a crucial component of the marketing mix for brands in the tourism sector. Immersive Explorers provides VR and 360 custom content solutions for both headset technology and digital platforms. As VR technology becomes more accessible and consumer uptake increases, this is the time to invest in these exciting digital marketing assets. Besides full-service content development, Immersive Explorers offers distribution to ensure the asset is easily discovered, as well as the technical expertise and support partners require to maximize the opportunity immersive content presents.

Visit them online at immersiveexplorers.com Facebook, Twitter.  or Instagram.

A few months ago, we wrote about how analog is making a comeback. Perhaps it’s this rejuvenated appreciation for simpler times that is also fuelling the audio revolution. Influencers, brands and media are capitalizing on an auditory renaissance as podcasts creep slowly from niche to mainstream.

When I was a little girl travelling the world with my family, nothing was more comforting than listening to talk radio or music on CBC AM Radio or hearing the iconic chimes of BBC’s World News broadcast. It felt – though thousands of miles away – I was connecting with humanity from my remote location.

It wasn’t just me, though. For generations, families and colleagues crowded around radios to listen live as events shaped our world. We experienced the sound of wars, presidential elections, assassinations, rising music stars and even groundbreaking fiction, such as War of the Worlds.

But, gradually, the radio star died and video reigned, as televisions turned from black and white to colour; from high def to 4K and so on.

Now, the once-forgotten art form of audio storytelling is storming back onto the scene – and brands are taking notice. Podcasts have become a lucrative medium for both advertising and brand experience. In 2017, Edison’s annual research report indicated that 24% of Americans had listened to at least one podcast in the last month. With several viral podcasts bursting onto the scene in 2018, this number is expected to leap exponentially for 2018.

Public awareness about podcasts has nearly doubled over the last decade and the number of users who’ve listened to a podcast has nearly tripled. Today’s podcast listeners skew slightly male, over-index in the 18-34 age group, are highly educated and have a higher-than-average income.

Media have been early adopters of podcasting; Outside Magazine, the LA Times and Harvard Business Review, to name a few. Podcast stars have carved their niche and drawn cult followings, leading them to go “on tour” for live recordings in front of thousands of enthralled viewers.

But, what is more interesting is how big brands like General Electric and Shopify are captivating audiences by offering intriguing, value-added content to their audiences.

So, what’s all the fuss about? Here’s why audio is an effective content marketing touch point for your business:

Cost Effective Production – When you weigh the costs of video production, podcasts are a cost effective way to produce and self-publish content. All you need is a quality microphone or recording equipment, basic editing software, simple artwork and time. Publishing to iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast listening platforms is simple and free (or at least very reasonable).

Longer Dwell Time– Podcasts are inherently long form, often ranging from 10 minutes to an hour in length; or even produced as an episodic series. The average podcast user listens while they’re commuting, walking or working, so you can bet that in their earnest attempts to kill time, they can easily crush an entire season of episodes in less than a week. More time with your brand creates a sense of connection and loyalty for customers.

Combat Algorithms – As we know, social media organic reach is shrinking and news feeds are cluttered. It’s difficult to get in front of your audience, let alone capture their attention for longer than a second. Podcasts are often discovered through earned means, such as word of mouth, reviews and media coverage. A great concept that resonates can generate free exposure and gain traction quickly.

A Robust Brand Experience – When you’re building for the 3-second audition on Facebook, your content must be short, snackable and snappy. While it can be a great chance to drive action or build awareness, it doesn’t leave much time for in-depth brand building. A podcast, provides a blank slate for businesses to build multi-dimensional brand experience that includes music, visual aesthetics, tone, and personality.

Partnership and Collaboration Opportunities – In the podcast world, collaborations and co-creation are common and encouraged. Publishing networks like NPR or Wondery often create teaser episodes that are distributed to other like-minded podcast shows; and hosts often give shout outs to up-and-comers or new season launches. Leveraging the power of like-minded podcasts is a great way to reach new audiences organically and authentically.

Intimacy – Audio storytelling cultivates a sense of intimacy. It’s just you and the listener – no newsfeed to contend with, minimal distractions, and a certain level of concentration that only listening to a story can provide. Intimacy creates an emotional connection and listeners are more likely to regard your brand with the comfort and familiarity of an old friend. After all, your podcast has become part of their daily or weekly ritual.

Advertising – If producing a podcast isn’t the right fit for your business, another consideration is to advertise on an already established one. In fact, 60% of podcast listeners buy products highlighted in the ads, according to Midroll – a media buying platform for podcast advertisers.

Regardless of where you sit on podcasting for business, here are some of our favourite podcasts to whet your appetite. Do you have any to add to our list? Comment below!

• • • How I Built This
    • Stuff You Should Know
    • Dirty John
    • S-Town
    • TED Radio Hour
    • 99% Invisible
    • HBR Ideacast
    • Adventures in Design
    • Marketing Over Coffee
    • Tropical MBA

The firehose of content flooding the digital space is ferocious – but, so is the appetite for it. Now, more than ever, businesses must place a stake in the ground and tell their own story by engaging in brand journalism. This is more than just content marketing – this is about building an audience and becoming a valuable resource for existing and future customers.

People are craving connection – with one another, of course, but also the brands they choose to support. They want to feed their insatiable appetite for knowledge. They want to quash their fear of missing out by being almost omnipresent, their finger on the pulse at all times. The explosion of livestreaming, a 24 hour news cycle, and hundreds of million of hours worth of video watched each day barely fulfill these never-ending desires.

So, how does brand journalism come into play? Businesses must be much more than content factories, pumping out videos, blogs and imagery for the sake of it. Rather, they must be thoughtful and strategic about the stories they tell  – human stories from unique perspectives.  

After all, the art of creating timely, meaningful, authentic stories based on human insight and relevance to the audience is a craft the journalism industry has perfected over the centuries. And there are tried, tested and true methods that can be adapted to the marketing space. 

Great brand journalism has the ability to teach people something new, stir up emotion or create inspiration and motivation. Great brand journalism takes a human insight and cracks it wide open, hitting a nerve, making people think. Most importantly, it sparks a conversation. 

Here are a few ways to be a better brand journalist:

1. Behave Like a Newsroom

Newsrooms are well-oiled machines designed for maximum output in a deadline-driven environment.  Editorial meetings take place daily or weekly to discuss story ideas and angles, holding reporters accountable for their responsibilities and shaping each story as new perspectives are shared. Reporters have beats, becoming subject matter experts in specific areas so they can dig deeper and have the historical background. Journalists follow up on tips and work their leads, turning to trusted sources for insider info. They research, fact check and standardize formatting and content packaging.  Most of all, they are guided by the priorities of the audience. 

How this translates to business:

• Set deadlines
• Schedule editorial planning sessions to keep on track and accountable
• Showcase expertise in a specific area and bring in other subject matter experts, such as guest content creators  to help round out the topics
• Conduct proper interviews with your subjects and use quotes
• Put time and effort into writing excellent blog posts
• Work leads for story ideas (team members, customers, partners, industry relationships)
• Do research, get the facts right and standardize formatting
• Keep tabs on industry news that might impact storytelling angles

2. Start With the Human Insight

Before going down the path of crafting any content, first think about why it matters to the audience. Perhaps it’s need-to-know info, based on frequently asked questions from customers or urgent and late-breaking developments. Maybe there’s something interesting about how people use your product or service differently that will grab attention. And more broadly, there might be societal insights, cultural phenomena and larger trends that could lead to a deeper storytelling opportunity.

3. Always Consider Context

Ultimately, we all need to answer the question: “Why is my business telling this story?”  A great story can be lost on an audience unless there is careful attention paid to the context in which it is positioned.

For starters, think about whether this is a topic your business should be covering and what role you have to play in the conversation. Next, look at how the content is being set up when it’s distributed. Context can be implied due to seasonality, trending news or holidays, for example. But, without the crutch of seasonality, the audience shouldn’t need to question why it is relevant to them. Taking the time to build a distribution plan to accompany your brand journalism efforts will lead to greater success – especially when it comes to targeting the right people at the right time.

Do you want to tell your company’s story through effective brand journalism? Get in touch with us! 

2017 was coined “the year of video marketing” by numerous marketing sources the world over. In fact, 74% of all Internet traffic will be from video this year, according to Hubspot. After all, video is an effective way to drive reach and create awareness about your brand or message.

It’s not that video marketing is new to the social media landscape. The momentum has been building for a number years. But what’s changed is the proliferation of tools that empower content creators to make amazing video content – and share it. The ubiquitous nature of smartphones, GoPro, GoPro knock offs, drones and editing software and apps makes it easy and painless to create excellent video content, no matter what your budget.

In tandem, consumers are more open than ever to watching video to learn about products, understand complex ideas, gain inspiration or interact with brands. Why? Because it’s a lot more compelling than reading something. Video = emotion and comprehension.

It’s easy to invest in video for the sake of creating it, but what makes great video?

Here are the top 5 tips for how to build effective social video:

1.Build For Sound Off

This is the #1 most important rule of thumb when it comes to video marketing content.  It’s surprising how many brands build video without the end user’s behaviour in mind. Most social media audiences are watching content when they shouldn’t be: in public, in meetings, during office hours, or in class. So, creating a compelling and visually dynamic video that doesn’t require sound is key. Videos that rely on narration and voice overs lose audiences quickly because the fact of the matter is that very few people want to turn their sound on to understand the gist of the content. Ways in which to reduce this no-sound barrier include: using auto-caption or baking captions into the video; exaggerating the actions humans are taking in the video to make it clear as to what is happening; and eliminating too many “talking heads” in your edit.

2.Make It Short And Snackable

As content creators, we get so passionate about making beautiful “films” that we forget about the end user. But, there’s one problem – this is social media, not a theatre and we have milliseconds to capture the attention of our viewers. They haven’t bought a movie ticket and aren’t automatically interested in what we have to say. The cold, hard truth is that most content viewers will drop off within the first 20 seconds of a social media video – and that’s generous. It’s more like 10 seconds or less. So it’s worth asking whether investing in a long-form video is even worth it from an return on investment perspective. Bite-sized, snackable content is key to video storytelling in today’s world. Keep the storytelling under 30 seconds – and even better, try creating a series of 10 second videos versus full-length, two-plus minute videos. If you must develop a longer video, be sure to create teaser edits with the key points and add to your distribution plan to support the longer video.

3.Create For The 3-second audition

As mentioned above, audiences are fickle and unlikely to stick around until the bitter end. Unlike the typical story arc of a film with an intro, build up and pay off, we need to invert our storytelling pyramid to put the most important and compelling components of the story up front. Whether that’s a key message, brand identifier or the punchline, it’s important to build for the three-second audition. Your audience won’t stick around much longer than that and you don’t want them to leave you without getting the take away you’re striving for.

4.Make It Thumb-stopping

Thumbnail images, post copy and headlines matter. Some might call it “click bait”, but there are many tactics that can be implemented to compel people to click. Whether its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Instagram, thumbnail images can be customized. Test different subject matter to see if there are any clear performers. For example, try images of people vs nature or close-up vs. far away images. Create intriguing post copy by adding in a question or cliffhanger to compel people to watch the video to learn more. Try headlines that will grab the reader.

5.Design For Mobile

Those small screens on smartphones and tablets – that is what we should be building for. After all, the majority of Internet users are using mobile devices to consume content. That means those long shots capturing subjects from far away just won’t do. The same goes for tiny captions that are difficult to read on mobile. On a small screen, video is most compelling with bright, big subjects that are clear, crisp and visible without squinting.

Want to learn more about producing video for your social media strategy? Get in touch with us! 

You might have the sexiest content ever created by humankind, but without a distribution plan, it’s going to slip into the black hole of the Internet, never to be seen or heard from again. Set your content marketing up for success by taking a step back, and think through the execution.

For starters, a social media distribution plan is comprised of these areas. Each has a ripple effect on the other:  

• Objectives
• Targeting
• Timing
• Channel selection
• Amplification budget
• Quality of creative
• Real-time analysis  and optimization
• Community engagement

Putting a plan on a page will ensure you’ve thought through these crucial elements.

Most of these areas are fairly self-explanatory, but let’s take a minute to talk about budgets. You might be wondering if budget is even necessary. The answer is a resounding “yes”.  For most businesses, organic reach is so low on social media that it’s almost not worth investing in developing content unless you’re going to invest in amplifying it.

How much you invest is really up to your annual media budgets, the importance of the campaign in your overall messaging strategy, and also how much you invested in building your creative.

Ultimately, digital marketing channels will spend as much or as little as you want to throw at them. You will, however, need to adjust your measurement scorecard so that it’s realistic based on the budget.

Next, ask yourself the following questions:

What Do You Want the Audience to Think, Feel and Do?

Never lose sight of your audience. We want to do everything in our power to ensure they taking the action we want. Every aspect of the creative, from post copy to photography and video thumbnails matters. The more clarity we have with our vision, the easier it is to pull the right levers to help the audience feel all the feels.

What Is The Content Objective?

It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how few people stop and have a think about this. Are we driving website traffic, social media conversation, advocacy or reach? The answers matter, as they will help shape, not only how you package the content, but how you optimize the media. Know what your objectives are before you launch and it will save you countless hours of rework.

Is My Creative Optimized For Objectives and Audience?

Creative matters, but how you package it up matters more. There are so many special features and ad units available – particularly on social media channels like Facebook. Post formats are designed to encourage different actions, so do your research and make sure you choose a format that will drive the action you’re looking for.

All too often, we get so wrapped up in the blood, sweat and tears of our projects that we sometimes lose objectivity. And, most importantly we lose sight of the end-user. Take a step back and create one more checkpoint – a simple question that may give you fresh perspective. You may not like the answer, but at least it will prompt you to look into what features about the campaign or creative are posing a barrier.

Nothing is finite in digital marketing and so the ability to be nimble and adaptive is key. Take time upfront to think through your distribution plan, but be prepared to tweak it as you go. The best time to build a distribution plan was yesterday. But, the next best time is today.

Want to learn more about content marketing? Read our recent blog post about building a content strategy. 

There’s nothing worse than getting into the office on a Monday and feeling panicked that you have nothing to post on social media. With the new year, comes new hope for a stronger, tighter, and more effective content strategy. But, how do you get started with building out your annual social media strategy? Here are three considerations to help guide you along the way when building your content framework.

Align Your Content Strategy With Your Business Priorities

It seems like a no-brainer, but in many organizations, the social media prime is either wearing many hats and running social off the side of their desk without time to build a content strategy. If the company is large enough to have an individual or team running the online content – they may be operating in silos from the individuals tasked with determining organizational goals.

Social media is crucial touchpoint in your communications strategy and the foundation of your strategy should always align with the objectives of your company. Having a good sense of your business priorities allows you to create a funnel of key messaging that will help steer content themes (pillars) and specifics around subject matter (topics).

Refining Your Content Mix

Your content mix is a crucial component to addressing your short- and long-term storytelling needs. There are four key segments of content that you want to focus in on:

• Evergreen content is timeless and is relevant now and into the future. This is content that stands the test of time, and can be repurposed time and time again.
• Seasonal or campaign content is comprised of those hero moments that pulse in and out of market and are time sensitive. They may also have a larger weight of production and media budget.
• User-generated content is driven by your online community and a critical component to a healthy relationship with your customers. Incenting, recognizing and sharing the content created by your power users rewards advocacy and sustains brand engagement.
• Short-lead content is focused around trending and very timely opportunities to news-jack or capitalize on broader conversation taking place online at a given time. You can plan to listen for, but not depend on this as a source of inspiration.

Set Your Foundation

Once you have a good sense of the content framework you’re working within in terms of pillars and topics, you can then focus on building a well-balanced content calendar. Start with your “big rocks” or the hero campaigns and seasonal messaging that is most important to your business. Next, layer in your evergreen pieces that fill in the gaps and help round out your storytelling. And, finally, sprinkle in user-generated content and listen for short-lead opportunities to round out your content mix.

Once you’ve completed your 2017 planning, it’s time to get creative! Check out our recent blog post about content planning tips for more inspiration on where to get content ideas.

As we head into a busy holiday season and start planning for  a fresh new year in 2017, it’s time to set social media content goals for the year ahead. Having a solid social media strategy that ladders back to your business goals is one thing. But how do you execute your content marketing day to day?

Here are our 5 go-to planning tips to help you build richer, more insight-driven content.

1. Facebook Insights Portal

Facebook has really stepped up their game over the last few years in terms of arming marketers and content creators with research and trends to help inform their content development. Go down the marketing research wormhole with the Facebook Insights Portal and learn about seasonal trends, consumer buying behaviours and other fascinating info that will help you turn insights into action.

2.Google Search Trends

A healthy content calendar has a mix of evergreen and more timely, relevant storytelling. Get your finger on the pulse by visiting Google Trends daily. Mine insights across a variety of topics, including business, entertainment, technology and sports. This helpful tool can also break these trends down by country, which can be helpful if you have a global audience.

3.Historical Website Data

It’s stating the obvious, but sometimes you have to look back to where you were to determine where you want to go. That means reviewing your website analytics and top performing landing pages or historical blog posts is crucial to understanding the behaviour of your audience. Often times you can predict the seasonal interests of the audience based on performance from previous years.  Create a Google Analytics dashboard to give you a window into top performing past and present.

4.Ask Your Audience

Take the guesswork out of content planning and come right out to ask the audience what they want to see. You can be overt about it by doing a survey or a poll, or run a series of content tests to see what category they engage with the most. Use these insights to fuel your content and you will see your content performance jump in leaps and bounds.

5.Aggregate and Curate What’s Trending

There are about a bajillion places to mine and curate ideas from. Depending on your industry, you’ll have go-to blogs and news sources. Aggregate them using Twitter lists (yes, Twitter is still sort of a thing) or Flipboard so you can get all your trends, news and information in one place. And don’t forget about the folks who are attuned to the heartbeat of the Internet! Here are a few sources I check on a regular basis to see what’s trending:

• Reddit AKA “the front page of the internet”
• What’s Trending – a news site that specializes in top trending content
• Twitter Moments – a one-stop-shop for all things trending on Twitter

Do you need advice on planning your content calendar? Get in touch with us!