5 Content Trends That Will Rule 2020 and beyond
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Content marketing is a burgeoning industry that’s all set to cross the $400 billion mark by 2021. The global content industry is already enjoying a healthy CAGR of 16 percent. That’s the level of trust and confidence businesses have in content.
As we enter into 2020, content marketing remains the most powerful and cost-effective method for brand building and targeting audiences. However, with better access to data, the introduction of new technologies, and changing customer preferences, the content marketing realm has been constantly evolving.
So, what does 2020 hold for the content marketing world? In this post, we have put together the top content marketing trends that marketers should be aware of.
Table of Contents
1. Ultra-Personalized Content Experience
The trend for dynamic, real-time, and tailored content is already on. However, this trend will continue to be prevalent in 2020 and beyond. This is because ultra-targeted content resonates, engages and delights customers, developing audience trust and boosting customer experience.
In an Evergage personalization survey report, 88 percent of marketers agreed that personalization helps deliver better CX.
It is estimated that by 2020, there will be more than 30 billion connected devices across the globe. Since people are getting more hyper connected each day, marketers get an opportunity to connect with their audience across various devices. However, this trend also increases the relevance of personalized content experience.
Disruptive technologies like big data and machine learning (ML) are supporting the personalized content trend. Deep learning (DL) is allowing content marketers to gain access to more personal and accurate data points and make sense of the user intent.
For instance, predictive intelligence is helping marketers understand individual customer preferences and offer content that appeals to the audience. Thus, technologies like ML and DL are helping marketers decipher the ever-changing world of content marketing and offer awesome content experience to their customers.
Amazon has taken content personalization to the next level. The ecommerce giant uses everything from contextually-relevant advertising to personalized onsite content to engage its customers.
Source: https://optinmonster.com/ecommerce-personalization-examples/
Netflix too has its content personalization game all sewn up. This leading media service provider offers films and television recommendations based on the content accessed by the user in the past.
Thus, in the coming years, marketers will focus on creating personalized content to make sure that their content reaches the right customer, at the right time, in the right format, and through the right channel.
2. Visual Storytelling Content
Narrating an awesome engaging story that resonates with the audience can never go out of style. Research shows that human brains connect with compelling stories. In fact, according to a One Spot survey, 92 percent of customers want businesses to make advertisements feel like a story when consumed.
Source: https://www.onespot.com/blog/infographic-the-science-of-storytelling/
With a host of mediums available today (videos, immersive environments, social media, and others), content marketers are using narrating captivating brand stories to engage their audience and boost conversions.
In the coming years, an increasing number of marketers will use data-driven storytelling, mini-ads, customer-led storytelling, and immersive storytelling to inspire, engage, and educate their customers. The baffling success of Pokemon Go has encouraged several businesses to invest in immersive storytelling.
IBM, for instance, is coming up with a virtual reality app in collaboration with The New York Times to build a virtual museum that’s inspired by the NASA-themed Fox movie ‘Hidden Figures.’ The museum allows users to know about the lesser-known people from history in an immersive environment.
Similarly, content marketers will get more efficient at leveraging the colossal amount of data generated each second and create highly visual and targeted stories.
3. Interactive Content
In recent years, immersive technologies like virtual and augmented reality have grown in popularity due to their ability to make the content more engaging. Further, interactive content is immensely shareable, allowing the content to go viral and improving brand awareness.
In fact, since 5G is being commercially deployed in most countries this year, we can safely assume that by next year, marketers will be able to deliver 5G-compatible interactive content to their audience. This will allow them to offer a deeper product experience, engage users in real-time, and accelerate the buyer journey.
The interactive content trend is particularly relevant in the B2B domain. According to the 2019 Content Preferences Survey, 86 percent of customers are seeking innovative experiences and more interactive content. Hence, more and more marketers are using immersive technologies to offer interactive content to their audience.
Source: http://jai-un-pote-dans-la.com/vous-pouvez-essayer-cette-paire-dadidas-grace-a-la-realite-augmentee/
Several brands like L’Oréal, Madison Reed, and IKEA are adopting AR to share content and engage their tech-savvy shoppers. Adidas recently paired with Snapchat for AR-powered lens that enables users to virtually try running shoes.
Interactive content allows marketers to create innovative content that stands out from the online clutter and engage audiences within a short time. Hence, it is expected to be a raving trend in the coming years.
4. Ephemeral Content in the Social World
Videos have always superseded other forms of content when it comes to user engagement. However, in recent times, ephemeral content, content that disappears after a certain period, is gaining massive popularity among social media users. This is primarily because ephemeral content takes advantage of the fear of missing out (FOMO), triggering an immediate response from the audience.
Ephemeral content like live videos and Snapchat Stories appeal to audiences as they are authentic and offer behind-the-scenes content. An infographic shared by Digital Information World reveals that by 2021, 13 percent of all internet traffic will come from live videos. This trend is only expected to grow in the coming years.
An increasing number of businesses are using Facebook Live, Spotify, and Instagram Live to allow customers to see their business in action. In fact, LinkedIn also recently introduced LinkedIn Live, enabling businesses and individuals to broadcast video content in real-time.
5. Voice-Optimized Content
Smart devices are slowly becoming an important part of our day-to-day lives. Globally, 55 percent of households are expected to own a voice-enabled device by 2022. What’s more? By next year, half of all the online searches will be voice-based. Since voice search is becoming ubiquitous in our lives, marketers cannot afford to ignore the importance of voice-optimized content.
Google’s algorithm, RankBrain is programmed to recognize words and phrases and guess the searcher’s meaning and intent in a voice search query. It then delivers appropriate search results to the searcher. Therefore, in order to rank higher, marketers should optimize their content for voice search.
Also, Google has already reached an accuracy of 95 percent in voice recognition. As voice recognition continues to improve and the use of voice-enabled devices grows, voice-optimized content seems like a sure-shot way to gain an edge over the competition.
Summing Up
Content marketing has always been an indispensable element of a firm’s digital marketing strategy. However, like other domains, the content marketing arena is also affected by technological breakthroughs and ever-changing customer behavior and expectations. In order to stay relevant and gain a competitive edge, content marketers should not only be aware of these trends but also proactively plan to embrace them.
The upcoming content marketing trends shared in this post are here to stay! Stay on top of these trends and use them to inform your content strategy for 2020 and beyond.
