Top Trends in Content Marketing

Content marketing is far from a novel concept, and although ROI may start off slow, it is still an essential part of online branding and hugely profitable in the long run. Yet, like everything else in the online world, it is ever-changing to meet the needs of the searchers.

The online audience is tech-savvy, demanding, and insatiable. Thus, keeping up with content marketing trends is crucial if you want to bring virtual visibility to your product or service. Stay up-to-date with the newest trends, and you will also notice an increase in conversions. 

Read on to get a rundown of the top trends in content marketing you should include in your marketing strategy right now.

1. A Variety of Formats

The attention span of today’s audience is short — so grab their attention by using a variety of formats to stop their minds from wandering off.

Blog posts of over 2500 words indeed rank high in search engines; but, they are quite dull to read. Give the content some color and motion through images, podcasts, infographics, and videos — it is sure to attract more website visitors.

That does suggest that you would need to diversify your skillset to be able to produce varied content. But, you could try content repurposing and republish the content several times in different formats. For example, you could convert a video into an audio file, which you could then use as a basis for a (guest) blog post.

Video

The video format is able to entice a wider audience. It is accessible, engaging and carries more information than text and images. Videos come in handy for a variety of purposes:

• presenting new services and products
• reviews
• interviews
• webinars
• tutorials.

Compared to other content, it is also able to capture the attention of the audience and hold it the longest.

You can also use video for UGC (user-generated content). Reach out to your consumers and ask them to post YouTube videos with their thoughts on your product or service based on personal experience.

What is more, short, under 2-minute videos are the most captivating. Most of today’s online customers are millennials who prefer short content as it offers them instant gratification.

2. Focusing on Quality

Google requires your content to have strong E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to rank well in the SERPs.

Google updated its algorithm back in 2018, which resulted in quality online content rocketing in rankings. In turn, visits to the websites that put more emphasis on content quantity plummeted.

Make sure you produce content that is well researched, up-to-date, and that taps into your audience’s needs and interests. It should contain examples, recent stats, links to relevant sources, videos, images, or infographics.

These guidelines apply not only to individual content material but to your website as a whole. A website needs to have many articles on topics within the same field to be recognized for expertise. 

Apart from expertise, Google looks for the authoritativeness of the content. This means that Google keeps track of how relevant others think you are on a given subject. For instance, it measures how frequently others cite your content.

As far as trustworthiness goes, promote it by having clear contact information, a secure website domain, return policies, and refund options. If you are transparent about the way you do business, it will build trust in your customers and Google will take notice of that.

In addition, well-written content is likely to be even more important for search engine ranking with the introduction of the BERT algorithm. In essence, Google is now able to better understand natural language, as it analyzes the wider context in which every word is used. 

Get Expert Help

If producing high-quality content is not a part of your skillset, turn to professional content writing services. They will prove to be an investment worth making, as they guarantee quality content that follows the best SEO practices.

3. Guest Posting

Another way of diversifying your work is through posting on someone else’s blog. Although it is still blogging, it will attract a whole new wave of readers through referral traffic. Alternatively, you can invite other bloggers to contribute to your website and give your readership a taste of something different. 

Guest posting is an excellent way to increase traffic on your site, gain new subscribers, and add variety to your content.

4. The Importance of Data Analysis

Base your marketing strategy on what the data points to. Analyze previous business plans and pinpoint which approaches turned the most profit. That should help you produce similar outcomes in the future. 

With that in mind, make sure to do keyword research to check if your keywords have been effective. Also, you should track the click-through rate, dwell rate, and bounce time because monitoring such user behavior influences rankings. 

It can be hard to resist the urge to predict what readers would be interested in but try not to go with your gut. Focus on your marketing data analysis or hire a professional to do the job for you.

Data analysis is so useful to businesses that data analyst specialists are the most sought-after hires today. So, jump on the bandwagon and expand your team.

5. Voice Search Optimization 

Experts keep on pointing out the importance of optimizing online content for voice searches. 

Digital assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, and Microsoft’s Cortana are available with smartphones, computers, and smart home devices. It is now possible to search the Internet without even looking at the screen, and 50% of searches will likely be made by voice commands by 2020. 

You can expect that percentile to change and grow higher down the line. So, it comes as no surprise that businesses need to include SEO for voice control.

For your content to be among the top results when using voice assistants, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Voice search functions in the form of questions and answers instead of mere keyword searches. In other words, when users type they use only keywords as their search queries while in voice search mode they say full sentences.

Your content should reflect that difference. Include longtail keywords and give answers in full sentences to keep it conversational and mimic natural speech. But, don’t forget that answers to queries need to be not only concise and straightforward but informative and helpful at the same time.

Bottom Line

Implementing the newest content marketing trends is essential if you want your online business to stand out and thrive.

Try changing your content a bit to keep readers engaged, or opt for guest posts to expand your readership. Analyze data to learn from past mistakes and create trustworthy high-quality content to conquer SERPs. More importantly, stay relevant and explore the voice search universe.

What remains is for you to identify what your audience needs and which of the trends would be the most suitable to use now. Which approach is most likely to keep your customers satisfied?