Content marketing is crucial for growing your brand and reaching the right audience.
Without it, you will not create leads, increase conversions, or expand your email list.
If you can keep up with what your customers want, you’ll be able to stay ahead of your competition.
Statista found that content marketing revenue has surpassed $42 billion per year and is still rising. As a result, many companies are prioritizing content marketing — if you don’t, you risk being left behind.
Focus on the latest content marketing trends below and use them in your strategy to make 2022 the best year yet for your company.
1. Customer retention
High-quality content marketing can significantly attract new customers, increase search engine rankings, and convert leads. However, few people talk about content strategies for maintaining current customers.
Here are some content-focused approaches to help you retain customers’ interest long after you have closed a deal:
- Keeping your website up to date contributes to good customer experience, encouraging visitors to return for more.
- Examining how your customers interact with your product after they purchase it by asking them to submit video reviews will create engagement.
- Including promotional information, compelling product features, news about upcoming changes, or discounts that could bring disengaged customers back to the fold in your email marketing campaigns.
2. Visual storytelling via augmented reality (AR)
Visuals are vastly more effective at conveying information than text.
MIT neuroscientists determined that the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds. Images go directly into our long-term memory, while text does not.
So it’s crucial to include outstanding images in your content if you want people to remember your business and care about it. Likewise, your communications can be made more interesting by removing monotony and giving your customers the chance to ask for more.
93.3 million people are using augmented reality at least once per month in 2021.
Pokémon Go, IKEA, Sephora, and Warby Parker have all used augmented reality to create user experiences that stand out and draw customers in.
Here’s how it can help promote your content:
- Including interactive features that enable you to introduce your customers to new things can make your content really stand out.
- It facilitates connecting with your audience more personally.
- It encourages audience participation before, during, after their experience.
3. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology
Many companies begin with minimal resources. They must learn how to make the most of them. AI technology speeds up data processing and analysis, which makes decision-making easier.
AI integration with human labor will increase in 2022, improving productivity and efficiency.
Customers want businesses to reply fast. Because of this, AI chatbots will be included in content marketing strategies. As AI technology gets better, there will be more tools for analyzing data and generating marketing content like optimized blog posts. This automation lets employees focus on their key responsibilities.
4. The growing popularity of podcasts
There is a high demand for educational podcasts, and many businesses plan to jump on the bandwagon in 2022. There are already many popular podcasts targeted at entrepreneurs and business owners. Podcasts are a great way to share information with your listeners on a wide range of topics. They also have great potential for your content marketing strategy.
Podcast Insights estimates that there are roughly 2 million podcasts and more than 48 million podcast episodes as of 2021.
Podcasting can help content marketers share their stories. You can use them to draw attention to the positive aspects of your products or services among niche consumers. Leverage them on social media platforms to complement your blog content. Podcasts have a personal touch, which is not possible with text content. Use your tone of voice to convey emotions that are relatable to your audience.
5. First-rate search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO consistency is essential for content marketing and SEO. Content that is unique, creative, and original indexes more quickly and ranks higher than repetitive and low-value content.
95% of users only view the first page of search results. Potential visitors won’t see your content if it doesn’t appear on the first page. Therefore, optimizing your content is very worthwhile.
Your content should be persuasive and appeal to customers trying to solve problems that your product or service can help with. Use important keywords in your content and focus on specific visitors so Google can recognize your page and determine its relevancy and ranking.
Content marketing and search engine optimization are not separate entities. Both require each other. SEO-friendly content marketing is essential for success. SEO and content marketing can work together to create a powerful force to be reckoned with.
6. Documenting your content strategy
Both established organizations and startups have successfully executed content marketing over the years without any formal documentation. The Content Marketing Institute found that 41% of them lack documentation to support their content strategy.
As content marketing evolves, the importance of having a clearly defined content marketing plan will increase. Documenting your strategy will help you stay organized and efficient in 2022 and beyond and make it easier to onboard new team members.
7. More specialized content
It’s difficult for startups to build brand recognition. So it’s crucial to simplify your content marketing plan to focus on the best aspects of your company and what makes you unique.
Staying informed about the latest developments in your niche is one way to do this. You can help your customers by paying attention to their evolving needs and providing solutions.
Doing this will enable you to achieve three goals:
- Create content that is relevant to your target audience
- Stand out from your competition and establish your brand
- Demonstrate your competence and knowledge.
8. Leveraging voice search
The popularity of Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices is a clear indicator that voice-activated entertainment demand is rising and will only increase in 2022. Millions of people have purchased smart speakers globally, the majority of which are Google Home Mini speakers. As a result, most homes today have an intelligent device that features convenient voice search capabilities.
Voice search is becoming more popular, so content marketers will be incorporating it into their campaigns. An estimated 132 million Americans now use a voice-activated assistant gadget.
FAQ content also lends itself to voice search and is an excellent opportunity to try it out. Your customers will always have questions, so it can be very successful if you use the right words.
9. Increased individualization
Data-driven content marketing techniques can help established and startup companies learn more about their target audiences. The data you collect can help you create the right content to address the needs and goals of your target audience at every stage of the buying cycle.
It’s easy to find information about your competitors these days. By carefully researching your competitors’ content and how your target customers react to it, you can position your startup to build content that will help you achieve your marketing goals.
10. ABM (account-based marketing)
Back in the day, all B2B marketers used the same sales funnel. This is no longer the case today and certainly won’t be in 2022. Account-based marketing is becoming the preferred B2B marketing strategy
ABM is not about putting out generic blog posts to try and catch leads. It’s the exact opposite.
It focuses on specific accounts and is more effective than general brand ads that appeal to your entire industry and drive more visitors to your site. ABM’s individualized programs are specifically targeted to win over business accounts via quality outreach and relationship-building — customized content and experiences are the name of the game.
Research conducted by the ABM Leadership Alliance and ITSMA found that 76% of marketers saw higher ROI with ABM than any other marketing strategy in 2020. Additionally, 71% of B2B organizations saw improved relationships with target accounts, experiencing a 55% increase in generated revenue and 34% increase to their brand and reputation following ABM adoption.
Takeaways
A well-planned content marketing strategy can help your business succeed in the face of the ongoing pandemic. So keep your eye on these 2022 trends as you plan for next year.
Read more: The Importance of Content Marketing in 2017 and Beyond