Content marketing moves incredibly fast. A decade ago, it was still an emerging strategy; today, it’s a cornerstone of modern marketing, used by over 93% of marketers. There’s been a world of changes between then and now, which is why fresh research is crucially important. Whether you’re creating a blog or a presentation to prove to your boss just why original articles are the future, you’re in luck. We’ve curated 71 of the most powerful content marketing stats from the latest, high-quality research reports.

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Content marketers who keep track of the current trends will have an advantage when it comes to planning for the future.

Isn’t it great when you know which way content marketing is heading in the next few years and which areas to focus your efforts on?

Online content marketing may be a relatively new practice, but editorial calendars are virtually as old as the publishing industry. Print magazines have long planned their feature stories well in advance, sometimes as much as a full year. While few brands can afford to be 12 months behind the times in the era of real-time publishing, it’s critical to take a lesson from traditional media in planning and preparedness.

Michele Linn of Content Marketing Institute believes editorial tools are critical to “keep your content consistent and relevant.” It’s never to late to get started, which is why we’ve curated a list of the most powerful editorial calendar tools for everyone from the tiniest startups to major enterprises:

Without the advances of bold thought leaders, there would be a lot fewer creative marketing ideas floating around.

Truly great strategy has never been a matter of just accepting the status quo. Throughout history, the most memorable campaigns have been the ones that pushed the envelope. Apple’s 1984 campaign shattered consumer perception of computers as a boring, corporate tool. Volkswagen’s negative “lemon” advertisement in the 1960’s was a definite risk, but it succeeded at casting the manufacturer’s product as reliable, family cars.

What’s the difference between you and really successful bloggers? You know, the kinds with thousands of daily visitors, and more speaking invitations than they could possibly attend? It’s probably a lot less than you think.

Hard work and tireless content promotion efforts are necessary to success, but you don’t need to burn yourself out on the way to the top. We’ve compiled 11 of today’s best bloggers’ tips for working smarter, not harder:

If you’ve been writing for the web long, you’ve probably heard of the 4 U’s formula, which says that content should be Urgent, Unique, Useful, and Ultra-specific. Originally developed by business coach and serial entrepreneur Michael Masterson, this formula works wonders for headlines, titles, and email subject lines, but with a little tweaking, it can be a powerful blog writing formula, too.

So what are the 4 U’s and how can you use them to write more powerful headlines and copy?

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It’s easy to start a blog, but it’s incredibly difficult to build an audience. 92% of marketers are currently creating custom branded content. Each company has some serious competition to gain notice from today’s consumers, who have more information at their fingertips than ever before. Advice to write “quality content” isn’t always enough; even brilliant content can be ignored if you aren’t marketing it the right way.

But there’s nothing to worry about as our blogging experts are here to share their tips for creating a blog from scratch and maintaining it building a lively and active audience.

As with anything you write, the headline or title is the most important part. If it doesn’t do its job of convincing people to keep reading, what’s the point?

A powerful headline – whether an ad headline or newsletter title – successfully does a lot of things at once:

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There’s absolutely nothing new about brand storytelling. While the term is building buzz lately, it’s pretty much as old as the buyer-seller relationship – or perhaps even older. Some of today’s smartest organizations are mastering the art of telling tales on digital platforms, and experiencing remarkable results for their efforts.

Are you struggling to find the right words to sell your product or idea?

Do you want to find better words that sell to maximise your conversions?

All writers know how important word choice is, and the power that a single word can have on readers. Choosing the right word can be the difference between them taking action and remaining passive readers. It can be the difference between writing content that’s memorable and content that’s easily forgotten.