Content about content is king: 2016’s most popular columns on the topic

One of the internet’s most venerable revenue models for content creators sparked a lot of interest in 2016 — is affiliate marketing still viable? And, if so, what does it need to do to adapt to the regulatory guidelines issued by the Federal Trade Commission? Marketing Land columnist Rae Hoffman generously addressed those questions and more in contributions that were among our most popular Content Marketing columns of 2016.

Meanwhile, the perennial topics of creating engaging content (both textual and visual) and of making sure it’s seen, were under discussion in our virtual pages, where Patrick Armitage expressed his admiration of comedian Louis C.K.’s tactics and Rebecca Lieb explained how personal branding and content marketing work together.

One thing’s for certain — content marketing was still king in 2016, and it will continue to be central to digital marketing, whether it takes place on websites, within apps, on social media, within voice interactions or wherever things are happening in 2017.

To get up to speed on where things stand now, in preparation for the coming year, take a look at some of the columns our audience found most valuable this year — our top 10 in the Content Marketing category in 2016.

1. Is Affiliate Marketing A Viable Business Model In 2016? by Rae Hoffman, published on 1/26/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 1,060, Google+ 49, LinkedIn 402
2. The marketing genius of Louis C.K. by Patrick Armitage, published on 3/8/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 211, Google+ 26, LinkedIn 232
3. How To Make 2016 Your Best Content Marketing Year Ever by Quinn Whissen, published on 1/11/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 394, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 464
4. Content marketing and personal branding go hand-in-hand by Rebecca Lieb, published on 3/15/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 432, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 547
5. 5 engaging visual content formats that aren’t infographics by Kerry Jones, published on 3/31/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 229, Google+ 55, LinkedIn 534
6. Is Content Marketing A Strategy, A Tactic Or A Channel? by Rachel Lindteigen, published on 1/8/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 437, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 496
7. 7 modern ways to significantly boost blog traffic (that only rookies skip) by John Lincoln, published on 4/14/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 359, Google+ 47, LinkedIn 287
8. Surprising lessons from BuzzFeed’s most popular content by Kerry Jones, published on 5/25/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 193, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 332
9. The FTC disclosure guidelines: An in-depth exploration of what affiliates and merchants need to know by Rae Hoffman, published on 8/9/2016
   Social activity: Facebook 392, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 110
10. Anchor Content: The Key To Content Marketing Success by Eric Enge, published on 3/2/2016
    Social activity: Facebook 206, Google+ 119, LinkedIn 430

Methodology: Columns published in 2016 are ranked in order of page views measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2016. Social data provided by SharedCount.