The world of content marketing never stands still. With exciting new ideas being tried and tested all the time, top content marketers are always on the lookout for the next big thing. Thankfully, there are plenty of intriguing new content marketing trends to choose from, from technology-focused trends that put AI in the spotlight, to community-inspired ideas that help to improve productivity levels and expand reach at the same time.
If you’re looking to create compelling content that sells, take note of some of the biggest trends of the moment. These are the content marketing trends that you need to pay attention to.
The Biggest Content Marketing Trends Right Now
We can’t help but feel inspired when we look at some of the biggest content marketing trends right now - and no doubt you will too. Here are some of the most exciting trends to watch out for, with ideas on how you could put these trends into practice in your next content marketing campaign.
1. Research-driven content
Gone are the days of poorly written, keyword-stuffed content. Today’s leading brands are now firmly focused on becoming thought leaders in their fields, and search engines are rewarding them for it.
To feature highly for competitive search terms, brands now need to create well-written, thoroughly researched content that provides real value to users. This means plenty of detail, with advice that’s backed up by real data (with linked sources!).
TIP: Read our guide on How to do Keyword Research Step-by-Step.
Step by step guides work particularly well here. As does long-form content that’s written by those who really understand the topic - and are well placed to offer advice to others.
For example, Business News Daily has put together this step-by-step guide to starting a business:
2. Dynamic skill sets
Leading brands are increasingly on the lookout for a more dynamic set of skills for their content marketing teams. By hiring those who have the knowledge and creativity to manage dynamic content campaigns, brands are ensuring that their content is always a step ahead of their competitors.
Top content teams now include video editors, graphic designers, illustrators, strategists and SEO experts. And these are just a few of the skills that the best content marketing teams need to create content that’s always imaginative, varied and engaging.
3. Repurposed content
With far more work going into every piece of content that leading teams produce, it’s not surprising that they’re keen to ensure they’re getting the maximum ROI every time. Of course, there’s always been a focus on ROI in content, but lately, we’ve seen this taken up a notch as teams start to repurpose content more than ever before. "In case purposing your social media content for email marketing, setup DMARC to ensure that your content reaches email leads inboxes.
Look out for key content pieces being given a fresh look and a new format, with successful blogs being used to inspire video content, vlog snippets featuring on social stories and reviews being talked about in podcasts. Infographics too remain popular, but they’re now being created using data and research taken from historic blogs along with brand new research.
Renderforest has written a great guide on repurposing content.
4. Content templates
It can be tricky to come up with brand new ideas every day, particularly if a team has been working on branded content for a significant period of time. But sometimes all it takes is something like a content template to get the creativity flowing.
Templates offer great value to users, as they’re easy to use and ordinarily free to download too. They’re also perfect for brands looking to introduce recurring content, such as a monthly template for users to download. And of course, they’re a fantastic data-capture tool too, as users can be asked to leave their email in return for a free template.
You can download Position Digital’s content brief template here.
5. Live content
Going live is becoming more popular by the day, and users are really responding to this content. Brands can talk directly to their audiences using the live features on Instagram and Facebook, immediately catching the attention of key demographics at a time when they’re most likely to be responsive.
Stories, short video content and quick interviews can all be used as the inspiration for live content. Take a look at what your competitors are doing and see how big brands are using live features to connect with new audiences via social media. The opportunities are endless once you get the hang of this highly engaging format.
6. AI on the rise
Artificial intelligence is already being put to great use in many marketing processes. While AI-powered technology isn’t yet capable of creating good quality content by itself, it’s proving worthwhile as a helping hand in many content-creation tasks.
AI is particularly beneficial when used analytically. For instance, it can be used to optimise content, using learned data on what particular users are more likely to respond to. Similarly, AI has also been leveraged effectively in other sectors such as image editing. For instance, platforms like Picsart are now equipping users with the ability to enhance photos using AI technologies. This enables amateurs to achieve professional-grade editing results. It’s also being used to help with content analysis, and it can significantly improve the capabilities of A/B testing to help content marketers get more accurate results, in faster timeframes.
Learn from the biggest content marketing trends of the moment
Content marketing remains one of the most engaging forms of marketing, and that’s why no brand can afford to overlook content when planning marketing strategies.
Whether you’re just starting out in the world of content marketing, or you’ve been producing content for some time and you’re stuck for new ideas, it’s always a good idea to look at emerging and developing trends to spark the imagination.
Keep an eye on the content being produced by other brands, and think carefully about the types of content that have resonated with you recently. Once you start exploring the content you’ve found most interesting, you may well spot a few recurring trends that you could use to inspire your own content in the future.
Content marketing trends easily translate into different formats, so they can be used in a whole range of different ways as you start planning your content. Try out new trends along with old favourites to create compelling content that’s carefully tailored to your audience. That way, you’ll quickly start to expand your reach, and you’ll significantly improve the success rates of your content strategies as you do so.
