In recent years, content marketing has become the essence of lead generation, branding, and even sales campaigns due to its effectiveness. However, the medium is always changing, meaning that it’s not something you should sit and wait around with. With more access to data regarding your buyers’ preferences, you need to constantly fine-tune your approach to content marketing. In fact, if you are not able to adapt, your competitors will leave you in the dust.
Not sure how to improve your content marketing strategy? Check out below for the top five emerging trends that have increased in popularity as of late.
Video Content Is the New Norm
Nowadays, most people are no longer interested in emails promoting your brand, products, and services. They want a more dynamic approach to marketing that can actually provide value. As a result, video content marketing has become increasingly popular, especially among young people.
But what makes video marketing so appealing? To put it simply, it keeps your audience engaged. However, that depends on how you deliver your content. For instance, your video marketing could be as boring as an SMS if you don’t adapt it to your target audience. You need to understand that it’s no longer just about promoting your products; it’s about giving your viewers a reason to watch.
Additionally, live streaming has become another important part of video marketing. Even though hosting a live stream can be scary, it’s an effective way to increase your brand awareness. People always want to see authentic feelings and experiences, so don’t think that an overly produced and clean livestream will do it.
You’ll have to focus on the personal side of your business and use video content to give people a sneak peek into how it works. By showing your audience how you do business and why you do it, they’ll understand your core values. That will increase customer loyalty, which translates into positive reviews and purchases. It will also encourage your current customers to tell others about your brand, turning them into ambassadors.
Personal Interactions Are a Must
Take a moment and think about how often you engage with your audience on a personal level. That means real one-on-one interactions, not just one-size-fits-all types of replies. Fortunately, social media can help you do that while also giving you more insight into the minds and needs of your customers.
There are lots of ways you can interact with your followers, such as addressing comments on your social media pages or setting up an email that you can check and respond to each customer. Doing so will give your company an identity and personality, which shows your audience that you care about them. That will drastically improve their opinion of your brand, ultimately increasing their loyalty.
You can also have conversations with your followers on social media. People will take notice of your responses and appreciate your willingness to communicate. And, if it’s a personal matter, you can even reach out to specific individuals by sending a private message or email. Just remember that public comments are more effective as they are something everyone can see.
Content That Has a Purpose Will Attract More People
Until recently, brands would create content just to rank higher in search results. And while some companies still do that, it is less effective. Now, search engines don’t rank based on keywords alone, but also on the quality of the content. If it has value and serves a purpose, your content will rank much higher than those that are filled with random keywords.
Here’s how you can create content with a purpose to improve your search engine results:
- Don’t try to push your products all the time. Come up with content that your audience can use, and they’ll look for your products if the content is engaging enough.
- Don’t shy away from data-rich research. People want facts in order to understand how your services or products affect the world. For instance, if you are manufacturing eco-friendly merchandise, you can show your audience how they reduce the amount of waste based on research.
- Try to understand your audience’s pain points and see what you can do about them. If your content can’t help, you might have to rethink your target audience.
- No matter what type of content you rely on, always include images. While words are important, images help keep your audience gripped. You can even use infographics to summarise your content for those that don’t want to read it.
Podcasts Are More Relevant Than Ever
It goes without saying that people are busier now more than ever. Some are so busy that they do not have the time to read an article or watch a video. However, they can listen while they are driving, running, or walking. As a result, podcasts are more relevant than ever, as they are an effective way to reach your audience without disturbing their daily routine.
What’s best about podcasts is that you can adapt the format to your own needs:
- News Podcasts: By sharing news about your industry, you can demonstrate your expertise. That makes you look more knowledgeable and trustworthy compared to similar brands, especially if you can add your professional or personal opinion on the coverage.
- Interview Podcasts: You can use podcasts to interview influential people in your industry. That way, you will share important information with your followers, which adds value to your content. You’ll also be able to use the insight of your guests to solve the pain points of your customers.
- Entertainment Podcasts: Lastly, you should remember that not all podcasts have to be serious. You can entertain your audience, make them laugh, or just help them forget about their problems for a couple of minutes.
Encourage and Promote User-Based Content
Making engaging content is not enough. You also have to rely on your audience and encourage them to interact with your brand. Any sort of user-based content, such as pictures or videos, will further improve your brand awareness. You can convince your viewers to participate by organising contests, giveaways, or just requesting their feedback.
Not sure how to do that? Here are some phrases you can incorporate into your content to promote user interaction:
- Tag a friend that could use our product the most.
- You can show us how much you enjoy our product by posting a comment down below.
- Show us your best pose while wearing our merchandise.
By getting your audience to interact, you can discover their pain points and other information about your products that you can use for future marketing strategies. As an example, you might learn that your customers like a certain product more than others. That way, you’ll know which marketing strategy works best, so you’ll be able to use it for all of your products.
Keep in mind that there are many other ways you can encourage user interaction. You’ll have to experiment to see what works best for your followers.
Additionally, you should avoid forcing your users to interact by withholding information from them until they do a certain action. For instance, don’t tell them that you’ll reveal new sales once a specific number of comments or pictures are posted. That will only turn your audience away and make your company look unreliable.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, adaptability is one of the most important traits of successful businesses. If you want to use content marketing to beat your competition, you’ll have to mix it up constantly. Relying on the same old tactics will only show your audience that you don’t understand their needs and that your company is unable to evolve. So, take a look at your current marketing strategy, research any new trends, and make changes to keep up with your biggest competitors.
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