In the world of digital marketing, the importance of content marketing is increasing. The way content marketing campaigns and content strategies are created is changing. Users want interactive content, brands with an authentic and likeable face, and a better user experience.
Videos and podcasts enable users to experience brands in a different way, social media is becoming more and more relevant, and influencer marketing is on the rise. In this article, we list 10 content marketing trends that will dominate this year.
Search engines and readers like to have long content. 2019 is the year of long form content – content with more than 2000 words. Longer texts are more likely to offer your audience well-structured, in-depth, and well-researched texts about a topic, providing more added value from trustworthy sources.
Structure, paragraphs, headings and of course the actual text itself must always be created with your audience in mind: what possible questions could the user have about a topic? You should be able to answer these questions within the text before the user even has to ask them.
As a content marketer or content creator, you goal should be “How can I help the user in the best way?” If you have this question in mind, you will automatically create perfect SEO content. Search engines are getting better at understanding the search intention of a user and are therefore likely to rank longer articles highly. Studies also show that longer articles are shared more frequently on social networks.
In 2018, the internet was flooded with blog articles, social media posts and short articles that could be found in a comparable form on several pages. Now, content marketing strategies should focus on publishing fewer articles, but more regular, better quality articles with well-researched information.
This year, the focus is moving away from texts and more towards video and podcast marketing.
Video marketing now has enormous potential. A 2017 report by Animoto shows that 64% of customers made a purchase after watching branded videos on Facebook. According to the survey, three out of four users are influenced by videos on social media when making a purchase decision. Videos are also the most convenient way to get to know a company on the internet.
Branded videos, webinars and influencer channels are so popular on YouTube, because people value authenticity and transparency in a brand. People who speak directly to their viewers in front of the camera establish a relationship and appear more authentic than advertising messages in words and pictures.
By 2021, videos are expected to account for 82% of global internet traffic.
Short informative video clips are the most effective when addressing a new target group on YouTube and Google Search.
Podcast marketing is also becoming increasingly popular. Brands can appeal to more users with audio content, bringing the brand name clearly into the consciousness of the target group via advertising in popular podcast series.
However, podcast marketing has certain disadvantages. Listening to a podcast requires more time than watching a short video or reading an article. Most people listen to podcasts whilst doing something else, for example when driving. Podcasts therefore cannot be classified as easily consumable, snackable content. The podcast hype will most likely get off to a slow start, but should not be underestimated.
Social media marketing is one of the fastest moving channels. The trend is moving away from Facebook towards short-lived audiovisual media such as Instagram and Whatsapp. This is especially the case for younger audiences (16 to 30 year olds) and influencers.
For content to perform well on Instagram, it has to be authentic and personal. Networking and interacting with other accounts is just as important as personal contact. Stories should be told with fast, regular posts. Continuity, playfulness and authenticity are the key elements.
Mobility is “the” trend of our time. Most users use a mobile device to watch videos on the internet, shop, inform themselves and stay in contact with others. According to studies, in three years, smartphones will replace desktop computers as the main way of accessing the internet. Therefore, all content should be implemented on the basis of the “mobile first” idea. Especially in video marketing, all signs point to mobility, because most people watch videos on a tablet or smartphone.
Mobile content has to be compact, funny and original, as well as being authentic enough to quickly convince users. Only then will the user want to take a closer look at the small display. The second step is how to spread the mobile content to other channels.
2019 is all about meeting the needs of users with different formats, winning their trust and giving the brand a positive image. Above all, content marketing must create one thing: a good user experience. In the future, tangible content will clearly catch up with price and quality as important attributes of a product.
Google, Instagram and Facebook optimize their search engine and newsfeed algorithms every minute to react to user behavior. This means that when your audience interacts with content, the content remains visible for longer. improve the user experience. The way people use the internet is changing. More and more people are using voice search instead of text input. As content marketing managers, you have to adapt to this trend and invest more in suitable audio content. This is especially true for SEO and web search.
Micro moments are short moments in which customers search for information, offers or help to make a purchase. For example, when I look on my smartphone to see where the nearest supermarket is, the moment I reach for the smartphone is the micro moment – and a great opportunity for marketers.
“These are the moments when we (the potential customers) want help informing our choices or making decisions. For marketers, these moments are an open invitation to engage. And they’re the moments you have to be ready for.” (Source)
Micro Moments target the use of pull marketing strategies. The customer searches for offers from suitable companies and will probably follow the most relevant and fastest offer. Who offers their click there in the suitable format will receive the click.
To win the customer over at one of these touchpoints, Google gives a few tips:
“These are the moments when we (the potential customers) want help informing our choices or making decisions. For marketers, these moments are an open invitation to engage. And they’re the moments you have to be ready for.”
Micro moments are part of mobile marketing, and suitable micro content can be offered to the customer quickly and easily on social networks. Micro Moments arise primarily on mobile devices and demand relevant small pieces of information. This can be the immediate answer with a link to an entered or spoken question, or a short, well-structured info text on a topic.
For content marketers, micro moments offer the perfect opportunity to capture and exploit customer needs in a targeted manner.
Creating content should no longer be purely the task of marketers. From the CEO to an intern, every employee should contribute to the content creation process. Why?
Every person in a company deals with customers in a different way, therefore knows the customers’ needs and requirements best at this particular moment. A possible approach for content creation as a cross team could look like this:
The marketing team gets a new role of content moderator, and manages the input it receives from all other stations in the company.
(Source)
In cooperation with HR, IT, Sales, Account Management, relevant content can be created from people who deal with the target group in their area on a daily basis.
Possible ideas:
“Meet the team” – Blog articles, videos or regular company podcasts make the people behind a brand tangible, promote direct interaction with customers and make a significant contribution to a company’s transparency and trust.
Brands such as Uber and Spotify, who have teamed up to offer customers a playlist of their favourite songs while on the move, are leading the way. The collaboration of two brands or the cooperation with one influencer creates new content that can be played out on several channels to both target groups, resulting in a much wider audience. Focus: reach! Choose companies that suit you without being in direct competition with each other. Ideally, both parties complement each other in their marketing expertise.
Best-case example: Red Bull, a true marketing giant, and GoPro, who provided the appropriate technical equipment for the joint “Stratos” Project.
Possible forms of cooperation:
The chatbots are coming. They share information, answer questions and are becoming more and more intelligent as virtual assistants. They are particularly useful in the area of customer service
They are cost-efficient, never annoyed or impatient in contact with customers, and they offer service around the clock. They can answer open questions where “yes” or “no” is not enough, and use natural Language Processing (NLP) to find the best answers to frequently asked questions. Many companies already use them on social media channels. A chatbot can be integrated into all common messengers such as Facebook, Whatsapp or Skype. Implementing it on your website is also a good way for customers to quickly get in touch with a company.
Chatbots are not new, but are gaining popularity due to the rapid developments in AI. In everyday customer support, they can give customer service employees more time for more complex questions and urgent issues. They can also collect and analyze customer data based on user input so that questions and trends can be identified and evaluated.
A survey has shown that customers prefer chat to other means of communication. They are very positive about chatbots and find the ability to communicate with an “employee” via chat to be particularly convenient and fast.
Content Marketing is taking a big step forward in terms of technology and UX. Companies must adapt to the expectations of their customers – be it in customer communication, content creation or provision on all channels. Video and audio formats are on the rise – and they must be authentic, fresh and consumable in the right snack format, whether on the tablet at home or on the smartphone.
For text content, the longer the text, the more likely it is to be shared. And content marketing is a team sport. Employees of individual departments know best what moves their customers and what expectations they have. Bring them on board! Cooperation with other companies or influencers often results in surprising marketing ideas, a wider audience, and additional channels for user communication.
Improve your content with Ryte FREE!
Published on 01/20/2019 by Fenja Engelhardt.
As an independent web copywriter for content marketing, Fenja Engelhardt is committed to better content with added value. On GuteTexte.online, the online marketing specialist helps companies be more visible online with good texts, and to inspire people with the right words.