Social media isn’t everyone’s best friend, contrary to popular belief. It’s regarded as surprisingly ‘Marmite’ and is arguably both the biggest opportunity and the most troubling threat for marketers and publishers since the birth of the internet - perhaps even since the birth of the telephone.

Living so much of our lives online, we regular folk can now watch ads, enjoy editorial and comment on just about anything, all in real time. Once, we were blissfully passive consumers, willingly receiving a stream of messages brought to us via mass media; now, we have the power to make or break ads or content, simply by hitting a ‘like’ or ‘share’ button.

Anyone who doubts the power of social media to deliver a body blow to a brand only need look at some of the biggest marketing own goals of 2014 – like US pizza company DiGiorno, which contributed the comment “You had pizza” to #WhyIStayed, without stopping to think that the discussion was all about why women remained in abusive relationships.

“So you see, the story is not quite as you were told.” – Maleficent

Every day thousands upon thousands of new articles, slides, infographics, opinion pieces, engagement pieces, and micro-blogs are published by countless publications, corporations, startups and small businesses. The Huffington Post produces at least 1,200 pieces of content a day, and Forbes produces 400 (with 1,000 contributors). Although completely accurate counts are hard to come by, around 92,000 articles are published daily. That’s roughly 64 articles a minute!

Content has truly become the fuel by which the business of the Internet runs.

But simply posting new, unique content regularly on your site is not enough. Content, by itself, can’t lead an organization to success. There is simply too much of it available. Moreover, more posts doesn’t necessarily equate to creating more value for your readers. In fact, and more often than not, it proves to be less valuable in the long run.

“May the odds be ever in your favour.” – The Hunger Games

Predicting the future is never easy, but it’s always interesting – regardless of whether you’re envisioning a chilling dystopia or a brave new world. 2015 is going to be a bit of both in Digital Media, the convergence of a brand’s website, social media, mobile marketing, games and apps. Smart publishers and marketers will anticipate industry changes and take advantage of new opportunities – before they become the standard.

Here are 5 trends you’ll see in Digital Media in 2015:

Continuing its long tradition of creating memorable and entertaining in-flight safety videos, Dwarves, Orcs and Elves are set to take flight once again as Air New Zealand unveils The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made ahead of the December release of the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy.

The safety video features members of the cast from all three films in the Trilogy including Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Dean O’Gorman (Fili the Dwarf) and Sylvester McCoy (Radagast) – as well as a special cameo from the director, Sir Peter Jackson, and some other familiar faces.

The new video follows the airline’s first Hobbit-inspired safety video – An Unexpected Briefing (2012) – which attracted more than 12 million global online video views, generating huge social media coverage. The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made wraps up a successful three-year association between the airline and The Hobbit films.

Smart brands are turning consumers into evangelists - and publishers.

Storytelling is a verb, and many brands believe that means they should be telling stories about their brand, which was just another method of spinning one-way advertising. True, a brand’s origin story (think of Apple, HP) can be useful, but the true power in storytelling is when brands create products and content that motivates audiences to talk about the brand and keep them top of mind in ways far less intrusive than traditional advertising.

So if there’s enough confusion about the definition of storytelling, then maybe we need a new word. David Berkowitz recently wrote in AdAge about something called storymaking—where the brand facilitates and taps into the stories people are creating and sharing with each other. You could call it the next evolution in storytelling, or maybe just a proper redefinition of the way brands should be marketing to their audiences. Regardless, storymaking is how brands today are activating their customers and turning them into not only evangelists but also publishers, and it can provide real results.

Content marketing is one of the industry’s hottest topics right now. There’s no doubt that content powers online marketing success. Good content has for years been the cornerstone of the internet and it’s clear that the most successful portals are those that produce good content.

For those who haven’t already got content marketing sussed out, how exactly does it work and why do we need it? Is there a road map that we can all follow? Well, according to an infographic from Fisher Vista and Social Ears, they have the answers. Just think of it like a board game… 

Five questions to keep in mind for your next content marketing initiative.

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet.” - Bill Gates, 1996

It’s hard to believe Bill Gates coined the phrase “Content is king” only 18 years ago in a 1996 essay about the Internet - at a time when most people weren’t even online yet. The phrase is such a familiar saw now that marketers are starting to argue for other heirs to the throne including “context” and “distribution.” While it’s unlikely anything will unseat content, it’s an interesting discussion to have. At a recent Cynopsis Digital Monetization Summit, Steve Bradbury, COO of Zazoom conducted a panel discussion that included audience members in an exercise to fill in the blank, “Content and _________ are King.” If we concede that content is king, then what is the next most important element that helps content rule the marketing kingdom?

I once asked my Facebook friends for some advice: “Looking for a higher-end digital camera to buy that will make my pictures look nearly professional with minimal-to-no effort.” The question was tongue-in-cheek, since I know that the tool doesn’t make a craftsman, and my photographer friends replied in kind. “Make sure you buy one that’s bundled with a box of photography knowledge,” quipped one of them.

He was right. Whether I spent $2,000 or $20,000, simply owning a camera doesn’t mean I am a photographer, just like owning golf clubs doesn’t mean I am teeing off first at the next PGA Championship. The same is true of brand storytellers.