What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the marketing of your business through content. Although it sounds simple, there are many aspects to content marketing. The content is the first. This includes blog posts, podcasts, videos, and articles. It's basic information in written, audio, or visual form.
What about marketing? This has remained the same since the first marketing was conducted in fundamental markets. Marketing is all about telling your target audience what your products and services are so that they become customers. This is what content marketing does:
One thing sets content marketing apart from other types of sales and marketing: the good, bad, and ugly days. Content marketing is different from other forms of marketing and sales. People come to you, not you reach them. However, there are some similarities between the two.
Content marketing is part of inbound marketing. Content marketers create, curate and share quality content. Quality content, as you will see, is accurate, relevant, and search-friendly and provides what your audience needs.
Marketers can benefit from this content:
- Target a specific audience.
- Inform them about your business.
- Engage them and teach them.
- Get leads and sell.
- This audience can be turned into fans, customers, and advocates.
You can fine-tune your content marketing approach with more data access and a better understanding of your buyers' preferences. We're sharing the latest trends in content marketing to help you find out what's hot, what's not, and what's coming next. These trends are linked to digital marketing trends for next year. Find out why they are essential and how to apply them to your content marketing strategy.
Here are the top content marketing trends:
- Personalized Content
- Brands go niche with content.
- Voice Search will change how content marketing sounds.
- Content must be concise, not TL; DR.
- Diversified Content Brings in New Audiences.
- UGC continues to rock.
- Influencer marketing is evolving.
- Embracing Live Video.
- Interactive Content.
- The Written Word Speaks Louder.
- Automated Content Creation.
- AI-Powered Content Marketing Strategy.
- Concentrate on the Content Experience.
Trend 1: Personalized Content
You need to communicate with a sophisticated customer. One that is more personal and speaks to them on an individual basis. Because buyer expectations have changed, it is essential to communicate with them relevantly. Personalization gives you an advantage over your competitors. The study found that personalized lead nurturing can increase sales opportunities by 20%.
Personalization is almost entirely dependent on data. The more information you have about your customers, the better it is to create meaningful messaging. You must determine your required information, such as demographics, preferences, preferences, objections, and how they use your products. It is optional to have a lot of data to start.
A lead may give you their name and email address to provide one piece of content. You'll also know the prospect's interest in a topic by contacting third parties. Create a campaign with a name, email address, and topic. This will allow you to offer additional content via email to those who meet this criterion. You'll then be able to track whether they open the email or click on any links. You can personalize your emails based on how they interact with your brand.
Trend 2: Brands go Niche with Content
Content saturation is a problem regardless of your vertical. This is because most companies in the same industry publish similar content. Ranking higher for specific keywords in search engines will become increasingly difficult.
Some brands have chosen to be niche-oriented in their content to appeal to a specific buyer. This niche is usually found by combining a service or product you are good at with a particular industry. Instead of focusing on reasons to outsource app development, consider why healthcare should outsource app design.
One of the reasons our clients invest heavily in employee activation is that they know it works. Do you have employees who are passionate about cats? Let them write about cats. Do you have employees who enjoy playing dungeons or dragons? Do you have employees who enjoy playing dungeons and dragons? Recognize the diversity and stories of your employees!
Trend 3: Voice Search will Change the way Content Marketing Sounds
Millions of people use screenless searches every day. Asking a digital assistant a question is enough. They don't even need to use a smartphone or a PC. At least 20% of all searches are done via voice search, which is increasing.
This will change content, as our writing and speaking styles sometimes differ. It is essential to take the time to adapt content for natural language search. This means asking questions and answering.
This style requires that you include entire sentences and complete questions. Long Tail keywords should be used in headers and titles. Optimize the natural language of pages and posts you rank for using these search terms to take advantage of "near me."
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Trend 4: Content Needs to be Concise, Not TL;DR
While the average word count in blog posts is increasing, the attention of the rest of humanity has fallen. Although longer content is more effective in organic search, users will not stay on page one of a search engine's results pages. This content is essential, but you must expect it to be shorter for all buyers, especially those connecting with your brand via social media.
Shorter content is more appealing to millennials, the largest buyer generation. A Demand Gen study also found that millennials prefer infographics and videos to other content when making decisions. These formats are vibrant, have movement and tell a story.
This trend can be leveraged using more infographics and videos targeting millennials on social media and channels. Use your whitepapers, ebooks, and blogs as inspiration for creating new content.
Trend 5: Diversified Content Brings in New Audiences
Users will become bored if they have more than one type of content. This is different from the way things work now. Instead, you should expect your site to use different media types, including infographics, videos, podcasts, and galleries.
This does not mean you must diversify your skills (or your team's), but it can bring many benefits. Diversifying your content presentation means you can spend less time creating new content. It is common to take content that has been successful in one media and put it in a new jacket. Then, you can show it again in another medium.
This is because users all have their preferred media consumption method. They may prefer audio, video, or text. This means that they prefer video, audio, or text. Most people won't notice they've seen the media before. You have new ideas and present information differently than those who already know.
Trend 6: UGC Continues to Rock
UGC is now the core of the ecommerce content market. This is a remarkable statistic: 85% of people trust content created by others. This is a vast number and something you should take advantage of. How can you achieve this? You allow users to create content they can share on your website.
There are many benefits to this:
- It will be a big hit with newcomers if it's positive.
- This will give users the impression that they are being heard and listened to.
- It will build a community.
- You will get content free!
It is a great way to bring your audience deeper into your site by providing them with new content they are interested in and likely to trust. Plus, people will return to your website to check out their friends' blogs and see what they have to say.
Harley Davidson used this strategy to significant effect. They have weathered every storm because of it. You can take their advice and apply it to your content marketing campaign.
Trend 7: Influencer Marketing is Evolving
Brands have seen great success with influencer marketing. Buyers are so dependent on social proof. It is more important than any other influence factor for buyers. Nielsen found that 92% of buyers trust individual recommendations over brands.
Influencer marketing's core concept will remain the same. It will all come down to how brands use it. The focus of brands is shifting away from quantity to quality. Getting as many endorsements as possible may have been a common thought. It should now be about the quality of the influencer and their trustworthiness.
You must establish the criteria an influencer should meet to be part of your brand's influencer marketing. Next, create a campaign to target these influencers to grab their attention. Keep doing this and building relationships with those who respond. Track your data once influencers are involved in campaigns to ensure the investment is worthwhile.
Trend 8: Live Video is Embracing
Brands are using video content marketing. Every day, millions of videos are created on just about every topic possible. Although videos aren't new in the world, live video is an emerging sub-category of video that works for some brands.
Live video allows for the possibility that something could happen. Next, that needs to be scripted. Live video can make a big difference when your brand travels the world. You can live stream from your booth at trade shows. If it's relevant to your brand, you can also show something out in the field. You have unique options that can be very engaging with live video.
These are just a few content marketing trends that will continue to grow throughout the year and into next year. These trends aren't going to make massive changes. These trends can be used to increase your content marketing to attract leads and potential new business.
Trend 9: Interactive Content
It's becoming more work to reach and engage consumers today with so much content, little time, and a shorter attention span. Interactive content is a popular way for brands to leave a lasting impression and drive engagement.
Interactive content is at the heart of the two-way conversation. It allows audience members to actively engage in the content instead of passively reading it. Interactive content such as quizzes and tests, calculators, polls, polls, or surveys allows consumers to get tailored insights or results on a topic that interests them or a problem or challenge they face. VR is being viewed as the following best way for marketers to engage and entertain their viewers.
Interactive content makes it more enjoyable for users to interact with the content. Engaging visitors on your website is a great way to learn valuable information about their behavior and help improve your lead generation and website optimizations.
Tourism Australia's website uses compelling interactive content to engage potential tourists and convert them. The website offers 360-degree virtual reality tours that can be viewed with a VR headset. This allows people to experience many unique adventure spots in Australia virtually. These include swimming with whale sharks and climbing to the SkyPoint Climb, the highest building in the country, for its stunning view of the Gold Coast.
Read More: Effective Content Marketing For Startups
Trend 10: The Written Word Speaks Louder
While Instagram and Snapchat are exciting and cool, content marketing relies on the written word. Anyone who pays attention to the problem says that writing could be better.
Many marketers have never been trained in fine art, slash science or writing. It is not reasonable to expect them to write unique content.
This could be the year that technical aspects of writing are finally recognized and online blogging and management services get the attention they deserve.
Trend 11: Automated Content Production
Marketers are constantly looking for better ways to create content than their freelancers. As these technologies improve and become more sophisticated, marketers may soon be able to create content using robotic algorithms. Automated algorithms create straightforward content in various industries, including finance and journalism.
A new software tool will soon be made available that allows marketers to compile and create content from the data shared by social media users all over the globe. This was demonstrated by Twitter's Project Lightning, which creates stories from the images, posts, and videos people share in tweets.
Trend 12: AI-Powered Content Marketing Strategy
Artificial intelligence-driven content marketing may be the most important and game-changing trend. Changes in the search algorithm mean that semantic and long-form content is more important. Google's Knowledge Graph is one example of how Google Knowledge Graph helps search users find better results for long-term queries.
Google is now taking this to the next stage by using AI to improve matches for search queries via its RankBrain algorithm. What will we do if AI tells us what to make and where it should be distributed? This future is nearer than you think.
Trend 13: Focus on Content Experience
It can be tiring to keep up with customer trends and preferences. But it is well worth the effort. Your content will be remembered by consumers only if they find it convenient. Pop-up ads and a slow-loading video will not get them to read your blog.
Content experience refers to how your content is presented to viewers. This includes the pages it lives on and its interaction with viewers. This is where you will be able to succeed. You need to tailor your content experience for your target audience. If done well, you can increase customer loyalty, engagement, and overall interactions.
Five Elements of a Strong Content Marketing Strategy
These five key elements are essential to an effective content marketing strategy.
- Audience Personas.
- Brand story
- The mission of content marketing.
- The case for business.
- A plan of action
Let's look at the importance of these elements and how we can implement them.
- Audience Personas
You need to know the audience to tell your brand story. Identifying the target audience is the first step.
Here are some ways you can do it:
- Take a survey of your customers
- Find out the latest industry trends
- Identify the people you do not want/want to target
- Keep an eye on your competitors to see who they are targeting
Once you know your audience, you can use our Personas tool to write them down. An official persona can help you communicate clearly and concisely with your stakeholders and anyone involved in brand messaging.
- Positioning and Brand Story
A brand story briefly summarizes your company's history, mission, values, and purpose. Defining your brand story is the best way to identify suitable topics and messages for your content. This will help you decide the best direction for your content marketing strategy.
Your story should be about the following:
- Your customer is the hero of your story. Their goals and challenges are theirs.
- The personality of your brand.
- Your brand's purpose and fundamental brand values.
- Your product and content can reinforce the above and empower your hero.
When creating content, keep your brand's story at the forefront. This will ensure a consistent experience for your audience. It will also help you build the right image across all your content marketing channels.
These questions will help you to brainstorm your brand story, positioning, and image in the market:
- Who are my potential and existing customers? What are their goals
- What are my top competitors? What marketing strategies do they use for marketing their brands?
- What is the unique value of my brand?
- What problems can my product solve?
- What makes my product better than my competitors?
Your answers will help you to create the foundations of your brand story. To complete this step, you can use the free brand storytelling template. This step benefits startups and small businesses that can use their unique backgrounds and identities.
- The Content Marketing Mission Statement and the Owned Media Value Position
The term owned media refers only to digital marketing channels you control. You can think of your website and social media as owned media. Your owned media value proposition is critical to establishing your brand as a trusted content publisher.
Your content marketing mission statement is another critical element in your strategy. This should explain why you are creating content and provide information about who will benefit from it.
These elements should be included in your content marketing mission statement:
- Who is your audience?
- What information and answers will you give?
- The result: How can your content help your audience reach their goals?
- Content Marketing Goals and Business Case
A successful content marketing strategy must provide value to your audience. Content marketing is about attracting new followers and readers and driving your business forward. A documented business case can help you and your team understand the costs and benefits of content marketing in your company.
A business case is a document used to manage projects. It outlines the reasons for executing specific tasks and how they are beneficial. Start by identifying the business goals you want to achieve for your company, and then figure out how content marketing can help you get there.
What resources are you able to allocate for your content strategy? What results are you looking for? This will enable you to create a budget for content creation, marketing, and advertising.
- Action Plan
Add your main content marketing projects and campaigns to your content plan. A formal content plan can help you to think through each step of your content marketing strategy individually.
When content planning, make sure you include the following:
- Select the content topics that you want to use in each campaign.
- Decide which content formats are best for you.
- Choose the proper channels for content distribution.
You can easily add information to tasks and track your progress so the entire team is on the same page.
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Conclusion
This is the main message: Content marketing is here to stay. Try out different trends in your content marketing strategy. Are you looking for help in launching your company's content marketing efforts? You have come to the right place.
