Content marketing has become increasingly important in recent years as businesses strive to create meaningful connections with their customers. And like others, this field is ever-evolving, with new trends and strategies emerging daily.
To stay ahead of the curve, marketers must stay on top of the latest content marketing trends and strategies. With the right approach, businesses can create engaging content that resonates with their target audience, drives significant ROI, maximise their reach and increase conversions.
Likewise, this article will tackle the fundamentals of content marketing and the latest trends.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing strategically creates and distributes valuable, relevant, and consistent content. It has become increasingly popular as it allows businesses to reach their target audience cost-effectively. Content marketing can include blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, e-books, webinars, and more.
It is used by businesses to increase brand awareness, build trust with customers, generate leads, and boost sales. Likewise, it is also used to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and drive profitable customer action.
Why is Content Marketing Important?
Content marketing is essential for any business that wants to reach its target audience and generate leads. It helps you create content that resonates with your target audience, builds trust and loyalty, and ultimately drives more sales. Content marketing also allows you to engage with your customers on a deeper level, creating an extra personal connection.
Furthermore, content marketing can help you build relationships with influencers in your industry, leading to more brand exposure. Content marketing is an effective way to engage with potential customers and drive leads for your business.
8 Content Marketing Trends to Look Forward to in 2023
Now that you know the importance of content marketing, it's time to see how you can apply it to your digital marketing strategy. Here are some of 2023's content marketing trends.
1. Â Artificial Intelligence (AI) for content creation
One of the most popular content trends is Artificial Intelligence. AI has revolutionised the way content is created. According to research conducted by Spiceworks, about 45% of marketers spend their work creating content. But with AI-powered tools, they can automate mundane tasks and generate content faster. It helped writers create more engaging and personalised content in a fraction of the time it takes to start it manually.
And with that said, AI content tools are being developed and released left and right. Here are some of the top AI Content Generator tools most marketers use today: CopyAI, Jasper, WriteSonic, and ChatGPT. These apps can easily help create high-quality, targeted content that resonates with your audiences.
By leveraging AI for content creation, businesses can increase efficiency while improving customer experience at the same time.
2. Â Humanising content experience
Today, authenticity and culture are important to consumers. According to a study by Stackla, they found out that 88% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when looking for a brand they would patronise. And one way to demonstrate authenticity is by humanising your content.
Humanising your content can help create an emotional connection with your audience. It helps ensure that your content resonates with readers emotionally and makes them feel more connected to your brand. Likewise, it can help you build trust with your audience and encourage them to act.
So, to do this content marketing trend, you must focus on creating content that emotionally resonates with your target audience. This can be achieved by using storytelling techniques, personalising the message, and using visuals that evoke emotion. Additionally, you must ensure that the language used in your content is relatable.
3. Â Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (AR) Contents
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are two of the most exciting content marketing trends recently gaining traction. According to various studies, VR and AR are expected to grow in the next five years. The market value reached AUD 23.8 billion in 2022.
And this shouldn't come as a surprise, as both AR and VR can be used to create engaging content in various ways. For example, businesses can use AR to provide customers with product demonstrations or virtual tours of their facilities. Companies can create immersive, interactive customer experiences that help them engage with the brand more meaningfully. They can also use VR to create interactive games or virtual reality experiences that allow customers to explore new products and services.
These content marketing strategies are becoming more popular as businesses realise their potential. They must increase customer engagement and drive sales growth. As these technologies continue to develop, we will likely see more innovative ways for businesses to leverage AR and VR content marketing soon.
4. Â Video and interactive content
Another popular content marketing trend in 2023 is video creation. With the rise of social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, video content has become a great way to reach target audiences and engage them in meaningful conversations. In fact, according to Cisco reports, 82% of global internet traffic comes from video streaming or video downloads.
Likewise, through video, marketers can create engaging stories that capture viewers' attention and drive conversions. It can also be used in multiple ways, from short-form videos to explainer videos and even live-streaming events. This makes video content a powerful tool for any brand looking to stay ahead of the competition regarding marketing strategies.
5. Â Reliance on data
With the rise of digital marketing, content marketers increasingly rely on data to make decisions. Data-driven decisions can help marketers create more relevant content for their target audience and improve their ROI. Data also helps them understand which topics are trending, which content resonates with the audience, and how to optimise their campaigns for maximum reach.
As such, data-driven content marketing trends have become necessary. They allow marketers to identify what works best for their target audience and adjust their strategies accordingly. This ensures they can stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in a rapidly changing digital world.
6. Â Blogging and long-form content
Long-format blogs have been with content marketing. One might even think that it's obsolete or antiquated. But long-form content is still one of the most popular contents writing trends today. A report published by SEMRush in 2020 found that long-form blogs with approximately 3000 to 7000 words receive 2x page views than the others.
Why is this the case? Well, long-format blogs provide readers with in-depth information on a particular topic. They can be used to show expertise and authority in a given field.
As such, long-format blogs also have the potential to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, long-format blogs are more likely to be shared on social media than shorter pieces of content, making them a great way to reach new audiences.
This makes them an invaluable tool for content marketers looking to increase their visibility online.
7. Â Voice search
Voice search is one of the past few years' most significant content marketing trends. More and more people are using voice assistants to search for information. In fact, according to Google, about 20% of searches done in the Google App are now done by voice. This trend is probable to grow in the following years.
Likewise, businesses must ensure that their content is optimised to be found through voice search. Content marketers need to create content that answers questions quickly and accurately.
This means they should use natural language and long-tail keywords and focus on concisely providing relevant information. Additionally, they should create content optimised for featured snippets and rich results.
By optimising their content for voice search, businesses can improve their visibility in voice search results and increase their chances of being found by potential customers. With the right strategies in place, companies can leverage this trend to drive more traffic and generate more leads from organic searches.
8. Â Strategic SEO
SEO and content marketing comes hand in hand with digital marketing. SEO helps content to be more visible and accessible to potential customers by increasing its ranking in search engine results pages. In fact, in a test carried out by Safari Digital, they found that updating existing articles with optimised tags brought more clicks on the content by four times.
And with the right strategies, companies can leverage content marketing to improve their SEO rankings and drive more organic traffic.
Expand Your Strategy with These Content Marketing Trends!
In conclusion, content marketing trends can change and stay the same over the years. There will be new trends rising due to technology. Still, there will be trends that will remain evergreen. And as content marketers, it is within our responsibility to know this.
So, keep in mind to stay tuned with the news, reports, and studies. Get new strategies for your content and copywriting techniques. And if you need any more help, consult the experts. You can start with Flexi Digital Marketing. Contact us!
