Every year, different digital publications come up with their own “top trends” for basically every topic, regardless of the content.
I get excited.
I enjoy finding out what’s new in content marketing.
The unfortunate reality is that many of the articles about trends in content types and strategies simply regurgitate the same information that has been published for years with only minor changes.
I’m frustrated because it’s not easy to find new content formats. This text is criticizing the claim that video is XY% more effective than the written word, because it is lazy and repetitive.
I mean, we are better than this. Aren’t we?
The trends are more about the method than the topic. In other words, simply saying what content format is trending and why statistics show this isn’t going to help anybody in a significant way.
I’m going to end my rant and tell you that I decided to make my own list of content marketing trends. Perhaps this should just be considered a list of observations? Perhaps that’s more accurate. I hope that this list helps you to think more carefully about your content marketing decisions and strategies. Maybe it will give you some good ideas.
1) Look for Blog Topics Right in Your Email Inbox
Every day, you probably receive a lot of questions, comments, and inquiries about your business. Some of them probably keep happening again and again. If you are constantly having to answer the same question from clients or customers, you should write a blog post about it on your company’s website. This also makes your company more relatable and provides the consumer with valuable information.
2) Embed Your Videos
Blog posts with videos are more likely to get additional hits and shares than those without videos. Consider using your company’s promotional or educational videos in blog posts.
Videos are a great way to get more people to see your content. They are also very easy to share, so your website has a good chance of reaching more people than just your current customers.
3) If You Don’t Have Any Videos — Make Some
What makes your company the best in the industry? What can you teach people? I’m wondering if you could create a video that captures your enthusiasm and expertise on the subject.
A company who’s mainstay is selling fly fishing equipment could produce a series of videos on how to tie flies, where a content creation company could compile a few videos on how to write excellent blogs. When you share your knowledge, people are likely to pass it around, which drives more traffic and additional customers your way.
4) Compile a “Who-to-Follow” List
You are an expert in your field, and people are always keen to learn more from you. Creating a “who to follow” list of other experts in your field can help you improve your own skills and knowledge. There are two benefits to this: first, consumers will appreciate that you are a trusted source of information, and second, the people you link in the article will appreciate the traffic you are sending their way and are likely to return the favor.
A large part of effective content marketing is building a good reputation, which can be done well through word-of-mouth and forming relationships with other experts.
5) Create a List of Facts that Supports Your Mission
People find lists of facts compelling and are likely to share them. To increase the chance that your content will be linked to, include a list of facts that support your company’s main goal or mission statement in a blog or infographic.
This move also demonstrates that your company is considerate and has done its due diligence.
6) Tell a Great Story
Apple and Subaru are successful because they manage to tell stories that resonate with their intended audience. Think about what your company is passionate about and how it relates to the company’s goals, then find a way to include that in your content marketing.
If you are selling a lifestyle product, use a story to demonstrate how the product can improve the buyer’s life by making them happier, more comfortable, or safer. telling a compelling story is the best way to gain customers.
7) Consider the Questions Your Customers Ask
When someone wants to buy something, they almost always look online for advice and research. If someone types a question into Google, your company’s answer needs to be one of the millions of results that come up.
Today, in order to be successful, you need to have great content to go along with your product. People need to see and rely upon a company’s authority before they make a purchase.
What types of questions are your customers asking, and how can you answer them through your blog or website? By doing this, you will be seen as an expert in the field, which will help boost sales and conversions.
8) Make It a Date (Specifically)
While many companies offer ample opportunities for consumers to sign up for an email list or blog subscription, very few offer specific content at specific times. Tim Ferris is an author and lifestyle coach who often gets amazing results by doing this.
When you invite customers to join a podcast, webinar, or video conference in real-time, you create a stronger connection than you would by having them subscribe to an email list. This also helps build a community around your business or product and may open up additional marketing opportunities, such as podcasts, in the future.
9) Put Promotion First
Before a company creates a new product, it often checks to see if there is a demand for it. If there is no market for the product, manufacturing it has the potential to result in a huge loss of time and money. The same goes for content, believe it or not.
Before you develop your content, think about how you will market it. This will help you to create great content marketing. If a given piece can’t be promoted in a effective way, it might not be worth the time and effort to produce.
10) Embed Yourself in the Community
There are currently hundreds of online forums and communities dedicated to discussing specific topics, with Reddit being the best known. Join a few online communities related to your business’s specialty to participate in the discussion.
When participating in the forum, mention that people can find more information on your blog. This will help direct traffic to your site and give you more exposure. This approach not only furthers your establishment as an authority in the field, but also allows you to learn new things and gain a deeper understanding of your customers.
11) Upload Visual Content to SlideShare
You can use Slideshare to share presentations with others online. It works with PowerPoint, PDF, KeyNote, and OpenDocument content presentations. Think of it as a slideshow app like YouTube or Instagram.
There is no limit to what you can do once you have uploaded your content to SlideShare. Users can share your content on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, which means more traffic for you.
12) Focus on Positive Content Experience
I just gave a big speech, and now I’m starting my list with something as general as content experience.
The word “experience” seems to be everywhere on the web, especially when it comes to marketing. Everything from customer experience to buyer experience, conversational experience to messaging experience is part of the experience economy. You have heard and read the word “love” so many times that it is becoming an invisible cliché that you are more likely to mock than take seriously. If something is too loud and obnoxious, there is always some truth to it.
Focusing on experience works.
Before coming to any conclusions, let me just say that in content marketing, “great experience” does not mean providing your audience with an amazing experience that will change their lives.
This trend is more about being honest and giving what was promised rather than budgets and creative genius.
If you create an expectation that you will answer an issue but don’t deliver on that promise, you are devaluing the experience and making it less likely that people will trust you or pay attention to you.
13) Capitalize on Sources of Influence
I have to mention Rand Fishkin’s “sources of influence” when speaking of loosening your ties with SEO.
Consumers, you included, behave the same way today. The way we behave is similar, even though the sources of influence we trust might have different forms. We buy products, visit places and follow the advice:
- recommended in publications we trust;
- talked about by experts/influencers we trust;
- featured at events and conferences we trust.
This intrinsic reflex is present in everyone, regardless of age.
This increase can be thought of as a method for both creating and distributing content, depending on how you see it. To appear on channels that your target audience trusts, you need to consider what type of content you need to create and what kind of topics you need to talk about. You might find that creating content for other channels (for example, by participating in podcasts) can be more effective than creating content for your own channel.
14) Entertain the Idea of TikTok for B2B
TikTok has been, without people realizing it, becoming increasingly popular among B2B content marketers. In that consciousness, it either exists as a giant disapproving presence or a giant welcoming one. Some believe it’s the future others ignore its existence.
Although they have implemented this strategy, they have not been immediately successful. Their three key learnings from several attempts included
- TikTok is a consumer channel, not a creator channel. 98% of people on TikTok have never published one video. Most of the audience consumes the content.
- You have to be a success from the start. If the account doesn’t pick up within three weeks, you need to create a new one because the algorithm already thinks that that account is irrelevant.
- Entertainment wins the day. TikTok’s audience loves to be entertained, so taking yourself too seriously won’t help you. SEMrush team takes silly search queries and has standup comedians create a funny sketch inspired by them.
If you’re interested in TikTok marketing, you should check out the work of Todd Clouser, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Refine Labs. He’s a pioneer in the field of B2B-Tok. He believes that his TikTok content can help you grow and create more demand on LinkedIn.
Igor says that if you want to be successful on TikTok, you should start by observing and learning from other users, rather than immediately creating your own content. This means that once you have a foundation for your style, you should keep up with trends and experiment with new looks. To find out Todd’s process for creating TikTok themes, listen to his podcast episode where he gives useful advice on the topic.
15) Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose
This content marketing trend is pretty old. This event is not only deserving of being here every year, but it also needs to be here because it is the most underestimated and ignored.
I really don’t know why.
If you are thinking that you only need to refresh your content once a year, you are wrong. That’s not what repurposing is. That’s just plain old maintenance. After making sure that there is no incorrect information and the publication date is up-to-date, Google will take notice and you may regain your original ranking.
This text is about taking something that already exists and giving it a new purpose. This could be done by deconstructing it and using the individual parts for something new.
Repurposing content helps balance your resources. Making decisions about bigger and more demanding projects is easier with this tool. If you know that an event, podcast, webinar series, or research paper will give you content for months, it makes your resource spending seem more worthwhile.
This means that if you put a lot of time and effort into something, you should make sure it doesn’t go to waste.
To Wrap it Up
So this is my list of observations. These are the trends that I saw happening.
I feel like the content is coming back to us humans. The trend seems to be moving away from taking the easy way out and doing things the hard way instead. That means actually taking the time to listen to people, research things, and make sure there’s a good reason for doing them.
Looks like content is becoming about people again. Don’t be left behind!
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