If 2016 belonged to ‘post-truth’, 2017 could be the year of the Internet of Things. As such, content marketers need to be ready for dramatic changes
The phrase ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) has been featuring in lists of upcoming trends for a number of years. But the prevailing consensus is that the twin streams of technological capability and corporate will are now ready to cross.
A world full of everyday devices with reactive, connected capability seems ever more feasible at a time where we order food and cabs to our door at the touch of a button, send text messages from our watches and command our living rooms to be warmer or brighter.
Indeed, the most widespread use of IoT up to now has been in the home. Applications like Amazon Echo enable automatic re-ordering of low-running food supplies while the Nest Thermostat is a programmable, self-learning heating system. But IoT also has bearings for business and content marketing.
Multiple channels
If the range of objects that are internet-ready increases, the challenge for content creators will be to develop content that can work for a number of IoT-connected devices.
At the moment, the greatest priority in terms of making content work across devices is ensuring it’s optimised for both laptop and mobile. The challenge for businesses will soon be spread far further as connectivity through televisions and cars, for example, becomes ever more ubiquitous.
Content marketing is all about creating relationships with consumers by producing valuable and engaging content – now those relationships need to extend across more and more devices.
Content marketers will need to diversify by modifying – or creating new – content specifically for emerging channels.
Data heavy
The other major consequence of IoT for content marketers comes from the amount of data that companies can potentially have relating to consumers. An increase in connected devices means data on consumer habits is much more detailed and extensive.
As content marketers, data analytics is vital to understanding the audience and how to engage with it effectively. This increase in data therefore requires more effective analysis to keep up with the amount of new information available.
As such, marketing with and without millions of global touchpoints is like playing the piano using all your capabilities or just using your left hand and only the white keys. With one hand and the white keys you can get your point across, but the ambidextrous IoT has almost unlimited capability – if you know how to harness it.
The data from IoT devices will be able to tell businesses what products consumers prefer, how long they stay in one place, what order they make their way around shops… the list is practically endless. Although there are clear privacy issues that have yet to be resolved, content marketers can gain a huge amount of insight into consumer preference and activity – and therefore how much attention content is garnering.
Tech for the sake of tech?
The Internet of Things may not turn out to be a vast, interconnected web of everyday objects communicating with each other and acting according to the habits and preferences of the humans around it.
But then again, the continued growth of wearables, voice controls and self-driving cars shows an appetite for the technology that won’t go away.
Retailers and businesses are learning in great detail about what engages and interests consumers. As content marketers we must stay ahead of the curve. This means improving how we use analytics and expanding them to suit the new, highly developed technological landscape.
IoT has been a longstanding ‘next big thing’ but it is continuing to grow. Failing to plug in to its benefits could leave you as a dial-up connection in a fibre-optic world.
