How do you design content that is timely and up-to-date with the latest trends and developments?

Customising communications for your audience is key. It is important to understand the language of a 18 year old, vs someone who is 28 years.

Make sure you only concentrate on a few key primary personas, for example HR Managers. But also think about any secondary personas who could influence decision making when designing your content. Additionally, don’t forget about the organisational maturity of the businesses you are targeting - this will greatly impact the pain points of your personas.

Here's how you can create up-to-date content: Stay Informed: Regularly follow industry news, subscribe to relevant newsletters, and use social media platforms to stay updated on the latest trends Engage with your Audience: Encourage discussions with your audience. Ask questions/conduct polls to understand their current concerns. Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Trends or other SEO tools to identify trending keywords. Example: Let's say you run a fitness blog, and there's a new trend in high-intensity interval training (HIIT). You can create content like "The Ultimate Guide to HIIT Workouts: What You Need to Know," incorporating the latest research findings, popular routines, and any variations.

Updating existing content continues to be one of the most overlooked ways to squeeze the most out of it. It can improve SERP rankings (resulting in increased traffic), maintain relevancy, boost conversion rates, improve UX, and gives you a chance to re-engage your audience with cost-effective re-purposing.

Unlocking the full potential of your content demands a blend of data-driven techniques: 1. Use split testing. This lets you try two versions of your content to see which one your audience likes better. Try changing the title or the pictures to see what resonates. 2. Try user session recordings. This shows you what parts of your content people are really spending time on. 3. Get feedback directly from your audience using simple surveys. Their responses will guide your content improvement. 4. For better online visibility, use SEO tools like Ahrefs or Yoast SEO. They help you understand how your content is ranking and how you can improve. By using these strategies, you'll make sure your content stays relevant and grabs attention!

Just like anything else in marketing, experiment. Experiment, A LOT. A/B testing and heat maps are OK but they're not great. With the wave of owned audience/media coming, this will change the game for content marketers. They'll finally get access to quant/qual. insights in real-time at an individual level at a transparent level by taking back control of their audience. Add in faster/easier access to content sentiment and content marketers are about to get a whole lot smarter with the information they have to leverage.

Don’t be afraid to be creative. In addition to following trends and focusing on audience appeal, I suggest that content creators think outside the box and be creative. Sometimes, the content I least expect to succeed ends up being the most successful. The success of Meredith Duxbury’s unique makeup application has opened doors to trying new things in content creation. By taking risks and trying new things, content creators can stand out from the crowd and connect with their followers in new and exciting ways. This can lead to even greater success and growth for their brand.

Don’t forget your Sales teams. It’s crucial to get your content in the hands of your sales people. How can they use it to enrich, educate and expand conversations.