When it comes to content marketing, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve to ensure that your clients stay engaged and that you’re able to make the most out of your marketing campaigns.
With that in mind, here are three content marketing developments to look out for next year, so you’re always one step ahead of the trends.
Interactivity is key
Once a site visitor clicks on your content, you only have a very short window of time to secure their attention before they swap to another site.
Huge blocks of text, a lack of imagery, and a confusing site layout are some of the biggest reasons why site visitors may give up on content. This is why we’re beginning to see a rise in the popularity of interactive content that grabs readers’ attention from the outset.
Articles with bright images, interactive diagrams, and even pop-up quizzes are far more likely to be read in full by site visitors, ensuring that your marketing is as effective as possible and boosting your overall conversion rate.
Furthermore, the prevalence of interactive content may become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, as not only are site visitors proven to engage with more interactive or customized content, but search engines are also beginning to favor articles that prioritize user experience.
If you’re unsure about what your customers would prefer to see, it’s worth researching the interests and characteristics of your client base. Creating an engaging feedback form is not only a handy opportunity to learn more about what your readers like but is also a way to add interactive elements to your content – it’s truly a win-win situation!
AI will rise in popularity
AI has already gained a foothold in the marketing sector but it might soon become prevalent in some surprising areas.
In the past, AI-created content has sometimes been unreliable, but with a variety of content-creation software that’s rapidly increasing in intelligence now available, AI will likely take on a bigger role in content writing and marketing.
Not only this, but with template-based content also seeing an upturn, AI-created templates will rise in popularity, with algorithm-suggested formats based on the desired topic, host site, length, or tone of your content.
If you’re concerned about implementing AI systems into your content marketing strategy, it’s worth starting to research early in order to find the tools that are right for you. Remember, the amount of automation your business uses is your decision, and it’s fairly simple to tailor it to your needs.
The rise of alternative searching
In many ways, technology makes our lives far more convenient, and that includes carrying out research.
Whilst conventional online searching is undeniably the most popular choice, with the majority of smartphones and other smart techs now including AI assistants, the use of voice search for online research is much more common.
Therefore, content marketers will need to adjust their optimization procedures to ensure they rank well when voice search is used. For example, spoken language is often far less concise, more informal, and can include phrasing variations depending on dialect, so it’s suited to long-tail keywords and web pages with a variety of FAQs.
Going forward, marketers will need to strike a balance between optimizing for more conventional research styles and optimizing for voice search, to avoid prioritizing a certain search style and missing out in the rankings.
Are you prepared for the future of content marketing?
When it comes to preparing for future shifts in content marketing, the best approach is to stay informed and thoroughly research trends as they appear.
Whilst some upcoming trends will undoubtedly have a large impact on the industry, not every technological development will be right for your company, so don’t be afraid to be selective with what you choose to implement.
