Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s certainly been the case here at Contentworks. We’ve had a very productive, fast-paced and coffee-fuelled year to date, so as 2017 comes to a close we’d like to wish our partners, clients and colleagues a very happy new year from the Contentworks Team!

The Finance World 2018: What Lies Ahead?

The finance world is fast paced and exciting. It certainly has us on the edge of our seats, so if you want to stay in-the-know and keep up with the latest trends, don’t take your eye off the following:

Cryptocurrencies

It’s fair to say that cryptocurrencies are not a passing fad. They won’t simply disappear overnight, so it’s well-worth reading up on key market players including Monero, Litecoin, Dash and Waves – all of which look set to be big in 2018. Thanks to the ever-growing popularity of digital assets, Content for crypto will increase in importance too – and we rock at that.

ICOs

Wondering how new cryptocurrencies gain momentum? Well, the answer is ICOs; lots and lots of ICOs. Also known as Initial Coin Offerings, these are a modern fundraising tool in which a company attracts investors in exchange for cryptocurrencies of immediate liquid value. If the new currency appreciates in value, the investor makes a profit. It’s as simple as that and ICOs are therefore becoming an increasingly interesting concept for start-ups.

In the year ahead, we predict that ICO-related content such as whitepapers and video scripts that are both compliant and tailored to your audience will become increasingly necessary.

Content Marketing 2018: Growing Trends

January blues? What January blues? Content marketers have so much to look forward to during the following months, so let’s take a glance at some of the top trends of 2018.

Disappearing Content

Ever wondered what an increasingly digitalised lifestyle does to the brain? Well, apparently it makes us incredibly inpatient. According to a report by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of around eight seconds – that’s one second shorter than the ill-focussed goldfish. Ahh shiny goldfish. Sorry what were we saying?

In an increasingly tech-centric world, we find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time which perhaps explains why ‘disappearing content’ is growing in popularity. The ‘now you see it, now you don’t approach’ brings a sense of urgency to the marketing world and will help to keep consumers engaged throughout 2018 and beyond.

Top-Quality Video

Video dominates social media channels. Indeed, 90% of all content shared by social media users in 2017 was video – with channels such as Facebook, Snapchat and WhatsApp making it easy to share real-time content. Live video is the latest craze, so if you want to be at the forefront of content marketing, it’s important to embrace the latest technology, put together clever video scripts and talk to your target audience in a more direct way.

Mobile-Ready Content

According to comScore’s 2017 U.S. Cross-Platform Future in Focus report, mobile now represents almost 7 in 10 digital media minutes, with smartphone applications alone accounting for one-half of all time spent engaging with digital media. For this reason, brands are likely to spend more time creating mobile-ready content for the small screen.

Happy New Year from all of us at Contentworks!

So, over to the Contentworks directors who have a special message for you all…

Charlotte Day:

“I’d like to wish all our colleagues, partners and clients a very happy New Year. I can’t wait to see how the coming months will unfold. So, eat, drink, be merry and get ready to turn to page 1 of 365!”

Niki Nikolaou:

“Wow, where did this year go? I can’t believe we’re wrapping up 2017 already but it’s been so productive that I will certainly be ending the year with a big smile on my face. Thank you to everyone we’ve collaborated with to date and I wish you all a very productive year ahead.”

Liya Bao:

“It’s certainly true that time moves quickly, but heading up the China business division for Contentworks has made 2017 a delight. I am very eager to get 2018 off to a great start and would like to join my colleagues in wishing all clients and partners a very happy New Year.”

If you would like to get your 2018 content marketing strategy off to a head start, contact the team today.