Content marketing trends to watch out for in 2022

Content marketing strategies should always be tailored to certain factors such as your industry, product or service types, and your business goals. Below are some of the top overarching trends to keep in mind when crafting your digital marketing strategy for your business.

1. Move toward more empathetic content marketing

Recent world events have forced marketers to take a different approach and put customers at the center of their marketing strategies and work outward from there. Empathy on a personal level requires life from another perspective, and empathetic marketing takes it one step further still.

Speak to your target audience as humans and not just potential buyers. You may want to answer the following questions when building out your strategy:

• Who are our customers?
• What challenges and pain points do they have?
• What motivates them to take action?

2. Focus on a better content experience

CX is the driving force behind successful digital marketing strategies today. And it’s no secret that consumer preferences change – whether through search content type or presentation format of that content.

Stay up to date with customer needs and wants to create a greater all-around experience. Create a unique narrative and use it across the board to provide engaging, consistent messaging.

In 2022, content marketing trends are moving toward more cohesive structures in writing and format – tying each part with the overall overarching purpose.

3. Optimize your visual content

Blog posts continue to attract target audiences, but text content alone no longer suffices. Combining various content types across marketing channels will optimize CX further.

Well-designed visual content can increase customer interaction and move prospective consumers further along the buyer journey more quickly. One form we see being used more often is infographics.

4. Create targeted video short-form content

Why does video resonate so much with consumers? When done correctly, video creates a deeper connection by capturing a customer’s attention more readily. There is more accessibility to the relevant tools than ever, and video production is becoming less intimidating and easier to incorporate into content marketing strategies.

As people develop shorter attention spans with less time on their hands, getting to the point as quickly and efficiently as possible wins as a strategy. Short-form video content allows information to be passed in an easily understandable way as consumers can make decisions in less time.

5. Personalization and hyper-personalization approaches

As customers experience this standard personalization, brands are increasingly seeking out the best ways to demonstrate their understanding of an individual’s buying journey.

But what is hyper-personalization?

It goes deeper than just calling a customer by name, but taps into individual preferences, wants and needs. It is a data-driven marketing approach that utilizes data, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to create unique interactions with customers. Marketers can consider the persona of each of their buyers and cater content toward certain products, marketing channels and language.

A great example of this is Netflix’s movie/show recommendations based on your recent viewing history.

If an overarching theme can be determined from these content marketing trends, it’s that consumers are looking for an improved content experience, and an even more personalized approach. There is no room for cookie-cutter marketing strategies anymore - each business’s strategy should be unique to their brand.

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