Where Should You Post Your Content?

For a long time, we recommended hosting all your content on your own website — after all, you own your content, and you want people spending time on your website, not someone else's. But the way people consume content and look for information online is changing, and marketers need to change along with it.

A research report by HubSpot shows the impact of this change. Here are two important facts from the research and insights on how marketers need to adjust their strategies accordingly.

1. People are spending more time on social networks looking for information. 

The study found that people have dramatically increased content consumption on the three most popular social networks in the last two years: Facebook (+57% increase), Twitter (25% increase), and LinkedIn (21% increase). While search engines are still going strong, people now include social networks in their search for information. If your prospects start their search on LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter and find what they're looking for, they may not continue the search on Google — and if your content can't be found on those networks, you've missed the opportunity to connect with those prospects.

2. People are spending more time watching videos for information.

45% of survey respondents said that they watch an hour or more of video content on Facebook and YouTube a week. And these are not just Millennials. One-third of older generations report watching an hour or more of content on YouTube a week. If you use video in your content marketing mix, you should consider hosting and optimizing those videos for search on YouTube. Again, if prospects find what they're looking for in your competitors' content, you have missed out.

The world continues to change, and marketers must continue to change along with it. But change isn't necessarily a bad thing. Those who stay alert to these changes can take advantage of the opportunities they provide.