Top 5 Trends That Show How Content Marketing Strategy Will Change in 2023

Stay ahead with your content marketing strategy in 2023 by following the top continuing trends in the industry.

Content marketing is and always will be an audience-centric practice. It is just the areas of communication with the consumer that are in a constant state of flux. Everywhere the ongoing pandemic has pushed businesses to quickly capitalise on digital savviness. For creating a content strategy that works, identify the changes that have affected the content marketing approach. To cut through the noise, check out some industry predictions on how content marketing strategy will change in 2023.  

1. Video marketing prevails
2. Importance of data-driven content 
3. Rise of audio-based content 
4. Use of different formats with emerging technologies
5. Google’s E-A-T guidelines on content creation and content marketing strategy

What Has Changed In Content Marketing Strategy In The Last Few Years?

The lockdown has not only made marketing communication online but also continues to impact how different industries use digital marketing to reach out to their prospects. Customers now demand more one-on-one interaction with a brand and are likely to be put off by unwanted messaging. 

Before jumping on to the new trends that are going to shape your content marketing strategy, have a look at what content marketers have been facing for the last two years. 

Increase in Marketing Budget – Content marketing budgets rose in 2021. This was a survey from Content Marketing Institute according to 43% of marketers who were aware of spendings done by their respective companies. About two-thirds of the same group are expecting an increase in budget this year. From this group, some believe that budgets will increase to more than 9%.

Personalised Content – According to Smart Insights, 63% of consumers stop buying from brands when their personalisation tactics are poor. Another study by Epsilon showed that 80% of consumers are likely to make purchases from a brand that is able to offer personalised experiences. 

Building Brand Awareness & Credibility – The 12th annual content marketing survey by Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs in 2021 highlighted that 80% of B2B marketers achieved success by making brand awareness the primary content objective. About 75% relied on building credibility. 

Key Trends that will Shape Content Marketing Strategy | 2023

This year the challenges and opportunities for content marketers will depend on how they are able to offer a unique yet better experience to customers. That means, brands can succeed with content strategies when they engage consumers consistently. Such kind of content regularity has to pull the consumers’ attention across every relevant digital channel. 

Even if brands have been creating content for fulfilling their audience interests, the focus is shifting to create the best interaction through all the customer touchpoints. Now content marketers have to shift gears to engage more yet stay informative. In other words, each and every piece of content must originate from the customer’s perspective. 

So this means, content marketers while creating a content marketing strategy have to 

• Be at par with the latest technological innovations
• Use statistical data for informative content that helps ranks on search engines and possibly, meet all the benchmarks of Google’s algorithm updates 
• Experiment with the relevant social media networks and engage audiences the best meaningful way possible 

To meet such demands, these are the predictions to check out. 

Video Marketing Prevails 

Video marketing has worked great as a content marketing strategy in the last two years and continues to do so. Back in 2021, a Wyzowl report showed 86% of businesses used video as a marketing tool. Now this year the focus is on how innovative you are. 

For instance, sharing videos on Instagram or Facebook worked before. Now eCommerce businesses are going for shoppable video content on these platforms that link to their own websites’ inventories – so that the user does not have to manually click on a separate link and visit another page. While shoppable videos were adopted by 40% of marketers back in 2020, you can certainly expect more this year. Think of incredible animations that draw more users’ attention that help them buy products too easily.  

Again, there is a huge popularity of short-form videos (no more than 3 minutes) that content marketers cannot ignore. You have Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc. A Marketing Industry Trends Survey from HubSpot shows 51% of marketers plan to increase their budget for short-form videos this year. Influencer advertisements, user-generated content, giving a snapshot of company culture to engage personally with audiences, etc are some ideas for a working content marketing strategy. 

Importance of Data-Driven Content 

As there are hundreds of similar pages to compete with, ranking on search engines is already too difficult. To put out information that is unique, content marketers need to research extensively and use statistical data for providing the target audience with an all-rounded picture. Many experts say that analysing data is going to be more important than just collecting data and using only pieces of it.

Analysing and using data correctly for a content strategy will help in personalising communication even more. Using artificial intelligence, data analytics, etc, content marketers can automate unique consumer experiences through predictive modelling and such. 

Rise of Audio-Based Content  

By 2021, the podcast advertising expenditure crossed 1 billion USD and Statista further forecasts it will go up to 2.7 billion USD by 2025. While the written form and visual medium are here to stay, audio content will thrive this year. And, there are other ways to reach out to the audience though. Brands can offer free audiobooks instead of ebooks, for instance. Then there are various creative ways of using podcasts for brands in the form of live streaming, hosting celebrities, and so on, for a content marketing strategy. 

Another point to note here is that podcast listeners are likely to have smart speakers – as per Edison Research. Voice search is equally important for a content strategy this year. Specifically, voice search SEO. Content marketers, in fact, need to offer every opportunity to the consumer to find their brand across all search formats. 

Use of Different Formats with Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies will make content marketers create more unique content. According to Research and Markets, the AR and MR market will reach 103 billion USD between 2021 and 2026, at a CAGR of 79.2%. With such technologies in the marketing mix, consumers are likely to enjoy an immersive experience. So content marketers will have to explore the virtual, augmented or mixed storytelling experience. 

Google’s E-A-T Guidelines on Content Creation and Content Marketing Strategy

This recent update on Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness is one indirect Google ranking factor that content marketers need to be wary of. With it, Google will decide whether your content should rank or not. So a content marketing strategy should not miss out on this aspect. 

Parting Thoughts 

Content professionals everywhere are realising that nurturing long-term relationships with their target audience can be achieved with a focus on what is relevant for them and when the marketing information is useful. 

Take, for instance, the edtech space. It grew exponentially, especially because content marketing professionals could inform about the advantages of higher education degrees despite any geographical barrier during the pandemic. 

You should be ahead of all trends to fulfil your prospects’ needs anywhere in the digital space to create a solid content marketing strategy in 2023. 

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