No matter the type of content marketers decide is best for their brands, industry conversations suggest that some form of ongoing content marketing will be necessary for businesses hoping to maintain a competitive edge in 2012.

Marketers wondering what strategies merit investment in 2012 should take note: Content marketing is poised to be a competitive priority. A recent Content Marketing Institute forum as well as SES San Francisco insight indicate that content is at the front of marketers’ minds for SEO, social and other online campaigns.

The CMI asked marketers about their top content predictions for the coming year, and experts seem to agree that 2012 will see content marketing take precedence. Several respondents noted that marketers can expect to see budgets moving from advertising toward content marketing.

Additionally, in keeping with Google’s content for SEO tip in the post-Panda search landscape, marketers suggest that more money will be invested in creating high-quality content. On the CMI forum, Rob Pasquinucci of Luxottica Retail said, “the lines between content marketing and mainstream, traditional editorial content” will blur in 2012.

Echoing his sentiment, Clyde Miles, partner at The Adcom Group, said that marketing teams will likely start to look more like “newsrooms” in 2012, with content creation and real-time engagement becoming a cross-industry focus.

The experts at SES San Francisco agreed with Miles, suggesting that journalistic content can give businesses an edge. Presenter Debra Mastaler of Alliance-Link demonstrated to attendees that news articles are consistently among the top results for various keyword searches, which might suggest that news content marketing is a key way to increase brand visibility. Plus, as Brafton has reported, Pew data shows that news content is in high demand among internet users across demographics.

No matter the type of content marketers decide is best for their brands (whether blogs, social media content, news articles or all of the above), industry conversations suggest that some form of ongoing content marketing will be necessary for businesses hoping to maintain a competitive edge in 2012. As Brafton has reported, online content marketing budgets exceed $12 billion.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.