Imagine if - based solely on what the camera on the screen you're looking at sees in your face - the first sentence of a story like this is different for you than it is for that frowning non-Millennial male in the corner office. Although our smartphones, PCs and TVs can't yet read our genders, ages and emotions to deliver targeted content, that time is already here, as you know if you happened by the Samsung booth at the National Retail Federation's BIG Show in Manhattan this week.

For all their talk about beefing up storytelling capabilities, most companies have done little to invest in the people who can make It happen. That's according to a new survey commissioned by content marketing software and services company Skyword. "Large organizations are only just beginning to set themselves up to do sustained storytelling," says Skyword CMO Patricia Travaline. "In actuality, particularly from the people side of the equation, there is still significant investment in very traditional marketing roles."

We asked several sources from the last year -- each of whom approaches content marketing from a different angle -- to share their takes on the major trends emerging in the discipline.