If you've felt a little content shock now and then, seek shelter now.
A "content arms race" is about to commence, Schaefer says.
By 2018, we'll be awash in content, as marketers' annual spend on web ads catches up with their $215 billion spend on TV ads.
Besides flooding the web with content, the spending shift will usher in an arms race, whose victors will be deep-pocket companies.
Small-time players, who until now have considered content their secret weapon against major advertisers, will be buried.
"Those with more money generally are in the best position to create more and better content, as well as pay to have it promoted and distributed," Schaefer says. "Will they always win? No. All things be equal, will they usually kill off the smaller guys? Yes. History bears this out."
Schaefer points to Chipotle's content marketing efforts as proof. "That kind of multi-million-dollar quality is not sustainable for most businesses and will hasten the exit of marginal content producers."
