With search engines often changing their algorithms, it’s no surprise that businesses develop new content marketing tactics to stay relevant. It’s getting harder to reach the right clients through promotions these days. That’s why it’s always best to check what the latest top content marketing trends are.
One of the challenges of content marketing is consistently achieving the best results over time. The marketing method you use today might not be as successful in a few months. Fortunately, we have some tactics up our sleeve that can help you extend your reach online.
Here are the 10 top content marketing trends in 2020.
- Live Videos And Podcasts
- Niche Content Branding
- Influencer Marketing Evolution
- Content Driven By Technology
- Interactive Engagement
- Content Embracing Results
- Personalized Content
- The Featured Snippet
- Community Content
- Brand Authority
Top Content Marketing Trends In 2020
Live Videos And Podcasts
While the written word is still king when it comes to content, live videos are rising in popularity. Social media channels, like YouTube and Instagram, make it easier for companies to reach out and engage with their clients. It also provides the perfect platform for viewers to ask any burning questions.
Viewers enjoy live videos because it saves them from sifting through thousands of words in a blog. There’s also the human factor, where they see the person behind the brand. As a bonus, you can showcase your products or explain your services during the live stream, thereby drawing more clients.
Another trend that’s surging among the media these days is the recording of podcasts. Industry experts sit down and talk about what is happening in the markets or the latest news. While there’s no interaction with the audience during the podcast, they love to share their views in the comments or on social media after listening to it.
Live feeds and podcasts are both relaxed content marketing types compared to the formality of online articles. They can also be entertaining, depending on the nature of the discussions.
Niche Content Branding
When it comes to SEO, using keywords organically within the content is essential. Finding keywords may be easy, but have you looked at the competition for them? With almost every online business now focusing on improved content marketing, it isn’t easy making your mark in search rankings.
One of the latest trends is going for niche content. These topics have high search volumes, but very few writers focus on a single, specific element. If you corner the market writing about these subjects, you’ll have a higher chance of success.
Let’s work through an example.
Imagine that you have a website that reviews the latest applications on smartphones. This general type of content may bring some views, but you’ll be fighting against top sites online that produce the same information.
After doing your research, you might discover that many fishermen are looking for mobile apps that provide the latest fishing information for their region. You can hone your content to focus on fishing mobile app reviews, filling the market gap.
Influencer Marketing Evolution
The realm of influencer marketing is changing. It’s by no means a new trend. While influencers are still vital to marketing campaigns, it’s how brands are using them that’s evolving.
With Google’s shift to quality over quantity, businesses are doing the same. Gone are the days where they’re hiring influencers by the hundreds. Instead, they’re focusing on new campaigns where content is driven by user intent. It entails smaller teams with a much better focus.
So how can you make use of this trend?
Well, start by finding strong influencers in your industry or reducing the team to a select few. You can build better relationships this way while keeping a handle on the type of content you want to promote. It’s also possible to put specific team members in charge of individual projects; it gives them a sense of ownership.
Content Driven By Technology
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the top content marketing trends for the past few years, you’ll have noticed how technology plays a vital role. Putting aside computer algorithms and website development, look at how significant smartphones have become. There are more searches on mobiles today than on desktop.
While businesses are already adapting sites for mobile compatibility, the online search arena is shifting once again. Voice searches are on the rise, which means that you’ll need to start changing how you deliver phrases. The way readers search through writing and speaking are not the same.
Let’s develop another example of content marketing using this method. If you were to search for more information on this article’s topic via typing, you’d write ‘top marketing trends 2020’. Asking it verbally on Google Assistant or Siri, you’d say, “What are the top content marketing trends in 2020?”
The latter has a conversational tone, which sounds more natural than the text form. Furthermore, you’d use long-form keyphrases instead of short terms. It’s small nuances like this that will shape the content game over the next year.
In the same way that algorithms are molding how we find results, technology may also begin creating content for us. Businesses are looking for ways to save costs on freelancers. One of these methods includes the potential to insert search teams into a program and let the software write the article for you.
With how Project Lightning can create stories from images and posts on Twitter, we aren’t far from seeing automated content become a reality.
Interactive Engagement
Some readers enjoy consuming content marketing when they can interact with it in a fun way. A few examples include completing polls, surveys, or quizzes. It produces active engagement, rather than passively reading through a long page.
In the past, simple reader engagement consisted of commenting on articles or replying to social media posts. Companies often ignore these comments, especially when there’s a flood of readers who want their voices heard; or words read, in this case. Polls and quizzes provide an effective means of receiving proper feedback while allowing users to participate.
One way that technology and audience engagement intertwine is through virtual and augmented reality. Some online sites use VR for users to experience content in a different way, such as video tours or online gameplay. It’s a fresh approach that we’re sure will soon set stunning sites apart from the norm.
Imagery Brings Life To Content
If platforms like Instagram are anything to go by, it’s evident that readers love images. The medium tells stories differently, bringing life and color to the content hidden within it. Is it enough to drive the entire point home, though?
Imagine that our article on the top content marketing trends consisted merely of a marketing image, highlighting the list of the top trends. Would it satisfy your need to know the best methods, or why they’re so significant?
Written content with images is a marriage that pleases readers because it breaks the long line of text. You can combine pictures with content marketing by using vital keywords in the image’s alt text. It offers a double bonus of drawing readers to your posts and improving their experience.
Personalized Content
One content marketing trend that’s stepping up this year is personalized content. Expectations change, not only in different locations but also for various demographics. Knowing what a specific age group or gender is looking for in a product goes a long way to improving your brand awareness.
The major problem with personalized content is that you need a lot of supporting data. Collecting this data may be challenging, even with the best technology. Some sites use landing pages or pop-ups to collect this information through emails or surveys, but it only serves to annoy the audience. Better methods would be to use exciting giveaways, surveys, and polls.
Once you have the relevant data, you can start creating content marketing campaigns directed at specific groups or communities. Your campaigns can be posted online or sent through email newsletters. Whichever means you choose, the content looks at the group’s individual needs as opposed to the broader spectrum.
The Featured Snippet
Have you ever performed a Google search and found the top result embedded in a rectangle? That section is referred to as a featured snippet, also known as ‘position zero.’. Google finds the best outcome for your query with top-notch quality that it believes serves as the best answer and pulls an extract for your benefit. This summary highlights the specific keywords you inserted in your search.
You may have ignored it before, but every online business that wants to pull in the most site traffic aims to have their content showcased in the featured snippet. You can see it as free advertising for your site if you can manage to produce quality good enough to be snippeted.
It’s not merely about quality content marketing, though. There are a few tricks of the trade that can help you get there. Knowing how SEO and search engines work definitely helps in achieving that position. You can read more about it in our ‘10 Best SEO Practices in 2020’ article.
Community Content
Search engines and social media aren’t the only ways that readers can find your content. Platforms like Facebook and Reddit have communities or groups centered on a specific topic or industry. Online businesses and marketers are using the same platforms to communicate with their followers.
Reading through community comments is an excellent way to find what people are talking about regarding your website’s topics. Interacting with them may create leads to your posts. It can also inspire you to write new content, based on a common query within the group.
Some marketers make the mistake of overly promoting their brand instead of engaging in the discussion. This method of content marketing is a sure way of the community admin, removing you from the group. Members are protective of their online territory, and they don’t like it when businesses join just to poach new clients.
Once you get a handle on content marketing, make sure that you spread out to other platforms and groups. It takes time and patience, as well as getting to know the members before you gain a broad audience interested in your work.
Brand Authority
Whether you’re working on personalized, community, or interactive content marketing, it’s all about building your brand authority in the industry. After sufficient engagement, readers will learn to trust your information. You’ll also find that there will be more views on your site when you produce posts that align with their interests.
It’s isn’t only about individual interaction, though. Search engines scan sites for relevant topics when it comes to page and domain authority. It counts in your favor if you have a website that focuses on one primary subject. This feature generates what’s known as ‘topical authority.’
Let’s say that a reader is looking for an article that explains the various styles of bonsai pruning. Search engines and users will feel satisfied finding a website where most of the posts link to bonsais, showcasing the writer’s knowledge. However, the opposite is true if the bonsai article is on a site that has to do with iGaming. The bonsai website has a better chance of ranking higher due to its authority on the matter.
Creating content per industry has led to the trend that businesses are developing multiple websites. You may have read the phrase ‘sister site’ when a website refers to another one that provides information on a different topic. It’s part of the latest strategy to draw in readers with diverse interests.
If you’d like to know more about this subject, feel free to read ‘Domain Authority: Why it Matters & How to Boost Yours?’.
Final Thoughts On The Top Content Marketing Trends
We hope you’ve enjoyed our article on the top content marketing trends in 2020. It’s undeniable that we’ll see more patterns arise in the next year. We’ll do our best to maintain a watchful eye on innovations and keep you updated.
