Continuous learning helps us to grow personally as well as professionally, and stay relevant in an increasingly competitive world. That forms the basis of our Learning Month, wherein our goal is to create and make opportunities to learn available to communications professionals over four weeks in January 2020.

Q1. What trends are we likely to see, and what’s the recipe for successful content in 2020?

Key takeaways:

1. Visual content

2. Regional and voice content

3. The context will score more over content

Voice & regional content are 2 trends that we’ll be seeing this year. Our recipe for content marketing is based on the 3 pillars i.e knowing your audience, the brand and the emotion behind the content. – AS @SaimbiSaabh #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed Content Co. (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

Quirky, fun, emotion-invoking content will be a hit among the youth, who comprise 1/3rd of the users on the social media channels. In 2020, we’ll definitely see more marketers taking advantage of the dynamic, custom, branded imagery for their content. #LearnWithPRSchool ^AJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Visuals based platforms will be in trend in 2020. @instagram, @YouTube & @Snapchat are the most popular platforms where teens hang out. For adults, YouTube is the most-used platform. Visuals in the content are going to get more interesting in 2020. #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

It'll also be vital for content creators, specially writers, to be genuinely interested and have an emotional connect, in various industries. then there's scope for communicating beyond clinical lexicon#PV
#LearnwithPRschool

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

Time constraint is the major pitfall that every content strategist must watch out for. If you don’t plan your calendar in advance, you might end up putting off content creation until you have (perceived) time. #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

The biggest must-avoid will be creating content for content’s sake.
It does no one any good. In fact, it only serves to make it noisier. Your signal to noise ratio will be high! Meaning your voice will have to fight harder to cut through. *CD#LearnwithPRschool @bigbrothercd

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

Not piggy banking on a trend can be a big pitfall. The simplest thing to do is often the right one. We must try and capitalize on what is trending, learn to piggy bank while ensuring the quality of content. – AU @AsifUpadhye #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed Content Co. (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

Q2. How does the emergence new-age media, multiple platforms & lowering attention spans change the game – how can content marketers create impact?

Key takeaways:

1. Stay on point and be relevant

2. Engaging content

3. Snappy get to attention and quality messaging

The attention span of an average person is less than a goldfish, i.e 8 seconds. Grab their attention faster by getting to the point, being relevant and connecting with their emotions. – AU @AsifUpadhye #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed Content Co. (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

While attention spans lower, we increasingly see #microcontent consumption increasing. Hint: think all those carousel #instagram posts. This is #opportunity for content creators. Not only do you write snappy to buy attention, you keep them hooked with quality messaging.

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

Social media usage has shortened our attention span. As per a National Centre for Biotechnology Information report, the attention span of users has declined from 12 sec to 8 sec. Content marketers need to up their game and come with engaging content. #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

One step content marketers need to do is evaluate their target audience. They can conduct interviews, analyse their audience and come up with a specific strategy. #LearnWithPRSchool ^AJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Q3. How can one ensure that insights and brands are married well through content?

Key takeaways:

1. Build Insight based strategy

2. Analyse data to create impactful content

3. User-generated content helps to get insights

While it is not compulsive to tie a knot between these two, what you wish to communicate decides everything. Insights can be the basis of your strategy and what kind of platform you will be on matters the most. – AS @SaimbiSaabh #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed | The Content Company (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

Besides content is treated much too simplistically in subjective terms. Profitability and cost effectiveness cannot be biproducts, they have to be at the centre of creation in order to push the envelope and derive maximum value.#LearnWithPRSchool

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

A3
The wedding knot, in this case, is the relevance.
Data provides facts.
Facts tell you what worked and not. #usergeneratedcontent provides insights.
If brands can listen, they can create more relevant content.
*CD @bigbrothercd #learnwithPRschool

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

The audience should be a priority for the brand. We need to listen to customer’s queries and try to find a solution. Empathising with the customer should be the primary objective before creating the #content. #LearnWithPRSchool ^AJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Data is gold in today’s age. We need to understand, analyze the #data obtained from Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Google Trends to use them for creating content that resonates with the audience. #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Q4. Key skills required to become a successful content creator (& the tools that every content creator must be aware of)

Key takeaways:

1. Read extensively

2. Listen to your audience

3. Focus on written storytelling

A4. A successful #content creator must be a good writer first. He/she must be able to put their thoughts down on a piece of paper. Jotting down the idea in a detailed manner is half the battle won. @Grammarly @unsplash @piktochart can be used by #creators #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Explained here!

*CD @bigbrothercd https://t.co/8D22ha15ae

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

We just need to hone in on what makes us human. Listening to the needs of your audience, telling stories with perspective and questioning the way things work. – AU @AsifUpadhye #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed | The Content Company (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

What do you look at when you hire a content creator for your company?

More importantly, it's the values you carry.
Illustrated in our long(ish) #values #form herehttps://t.co/inVJQiCbyt

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

Here's our philosophy on who to hire. – AU @AsifUpadhye https://t.co/EywU9MisbK pic.twitter.com/fJPoljMbr5

— Yellow Seed | The Content Company (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

A4.a. I would like to understand their process for going about things before finalising them for an “X” project. If I want a #blogpost writing, I may prefer reading on the material previously written by the candidate. This might help me make up my mind. #LearnWithPRSchool ^AJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

Q5. Which practices/trainings do you rely on to ensure you’re up to date with trends, skills practices etc.?

Key takeaways:

1. Read:  blogs, newspaper, articles

2. Follow influences on Social media

3. Subscribe to educational resources

A5 A lot of reading.
I haunt @Medium
@NewYorker
@WIRED
@NautilusMag
for my daily dose of learning.
For #contentmarketing we prefer the amazing updates by @HubSpot
and @LinkedIn #Pulse
*CD @bigbrothercd

— contentconspiracy (@conconspeak) January 17, 2020

Subscribe to resources like @HarvardBiz, @Forbes, #AdGully while checking on what our audience consumes. Basically, everything from a superhero movie to a Tik-Tok video can influence what people think. (1/2) – AU @AsifUpadhye #LearnWithPRSchool

— Yellow Seed | The Content Company (@itsyellowseed) January 17, 2020

A5. I consume a lot of informative reading material. Going through newspapers, daily #articles, #blogs help me stay updated. Attending conferences can be a great immersive way of keeping up to date #LearnWithPRSchool ^MJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

A5. I like to follow the conventional route. Following the #socialmedia influencers and experts are a great way to understand what is being liked by the audience and what isn’t. #LearnWithPRSchool ^AJ

— Avignyata Inc. (@avignyata) January 17, 2020

This was a recap of our insightful Tweetchat! Keep staying with us throughout the month so such interesting learnings!

Check out our compilation of top 5 resources to learn Content Strategy – Blogs, YouTube Channels, Podcasts and Online courses here.

If you want to stay updated tips, tricks and tools to learn and upskill, subscribe to our mailing list here.

Happy Learning!