As it is with each new year, content marketing trends continue to change and adapt to fit with the times. It’s no different in 2022. If you’re a business owner/person, marketer, or anyone that has to deal with advertising and getting your product known, you understand that content marketing is constantly evolving.
Each day people are exposed to ads, content, messages throughout their digital lives. The ultimate challenge for marketers is how to create sticky content (aka content that people will remember). And, how to capitalize on that? This year the world of content marketing will continue to expand and change along with marketing strategies. You can leverage these trends to match your goals. Let’s go through 7 of them which we have hand-picked for you this year.
Audit your content
Most companies do full content audits yearly, some do it twice a year and others basically review on a monthly basis. Why would you need to audit your content though? Well, because by finding out which content performs best, you’ll be better equipped to make decisions when creating new content. It will allow you to design content that has a higher chance of performing well.
Also, it will give you the chance to revitalize and renew old content rather than letting it sit there and go to waste. It doesn’t take much effort to do this. For instance, compare an old article against more recent articles that are performing well. Have the keywords changed since you wrote the article? If they have, fix them! So, aim for at least two, if not three or four, content audits per year. Learn more about SEO for content writer.
Scale and Streamline with Data and Automation
Let’s face it, competition is fierce in today’s global market, regardless of what industry you’re in. there are probably hundreds if not thousands of articles published each and every day that compete with your brand. This makes it quite difficult to gain top spots on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The good news is, there are plenty of examples for you to use in order to help you create winning content!
Understanding the data that drives high-performing content can boost your content marketing strategies for 2022. There are tools available that can assist you in analyzing data in order to find opportunities. You can leverage them to plan, execute, and even automate your strategy. But it isn’t just the data, using automation or Artificial Intelligence can help you streamline the process. This includes the use of Chatbots to interact with users and collect more data. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about how you can make use of this.
Stop Neglecting Video Content
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, which to be fair is excusable during the events of the past 2 years or so, you’ve noticed the rise in popularity of video. It is short form video in particular that has taken over the world. From stories on Instagram and Facebook, IG Reels, and of TikTok, to numerous other platforms. They all have the same ability to deliver quite comprehensive content to viewers in an impressively short amount of time.
Yes, professional video production can be quite pricey, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Many brands and companies make FAQs, Video Ads, Testimonials, and even informative clips by subject matter experts. The possibilities are endless and a lot of the time can be filmed and edited internally using today’s amazing smartphones.
Content Driving Revenue
By now, many are familiar with the term content marketing. Over the years, it has become an important part of marketing for many businesses in terms of driving revenue. Companies readily allocate more budget to the content channel as it proves itself to be a highly valuable means for businesses to convert potential buyers.
You can start by building a content marketing strategy and analyzing the performance of your existing content, as well as the impact of the organic traffic that is generated. Find out which formats and topics create the most results. And then, establish benchmarks and goals. For example, the revenue that is generated by content marketing, by both direct and assisted conversions. That should get you started and on the right track, if you’d like a more indepth and developed strategy please contact us at your convenience.
Focus on Humanity and Personalization
Yes, the use of Artificial Intelligence can be beneficial to your business when utilized correctly, but it also leads to the growing presence of mediocre content each and every day. Users and readers yearn for authentic, unique, and personalized content. While algorithms and data provide pretty good insights, it’s important to throw in the qualitative approach as well and interview, survey, interact with your customers to realize who exactly it is you would want to reach out to.
Your audience will appreciate it when you show leadership in sharing real-life stories or case studies with them. It can increase their loyalty to your brand and differentiate your services from competitors.
Empathy and Storytelling
Creating a product is always about the customer. Well, you do need the customer for your business to succeed. The same can be said for content. Understanding who your customer is, what their needs are, and building empathy would keep them interested. Too often, content marketing strategies elevate the business rather than speak to the customer, whereas research shows that the majority of successful content marketing is attributed to personalization for the targeted audience.
Here are a few ways to get started:
Prioritize and perform audience research.
Collect audience insights through interviews, surveys, and communication between creative and customer service teams.
Define your buyer and audience personas.
Create quality content with intention and purpose.
Before planning and creating content, ask yourself who you are creating it for and why they should care about it.
Remember That Needs Will Change
Trends, by definition, are things that change. Almost everything we read about today mentions the pandemic. It’s unavoidable. We may not want to think about it, but it has changed the world forever. It has impacted how we interact, work, and even how users behave online. It is part of the global dialogue and every content marketing strategy today needs to reflect this.
In order to keep things fresh and maybe avoid your audience experiencing pandemic fatigue, here are a couple things you can do:
Run an audit of your COVID-19 content. Look back and see if the tone and messaging of your older content is outdated. Rewrite, refine, and refresh it to fit the tone that the world is facing today.
Talk to your customers. Communicate with your customers to get a picture of what they place importance on right now. Staying in touch with your target audience gives you a headstart in creating great ideas for new and relevant content.
As the pandemic continues to evolve, and the world learns to live with, rather than hide from it, it’s important that you continue to refresh your content marketing strategies.
Is Your Content Marketing Strategy Ready?
In 2022, new and increasingly unique content marketing trends will continue to gain momentum. It’s vital that you stay alert to the potential impact they have on how you reach your customers. Of course, this happens each and every year and it’s the businesses that are quick to adapt that may perform better. Many of the changes are subtle while many are quite obvious. Regardless, they will affect how you increase your exposure to your target audience. Digital transformation has been the buzzword for at least 30 years, but it doesn’t mean that it’s too late to start. It didn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t have to for you. Keep an eye on the trends mentioned above and get started on developing your content marketing strategies for 2022.