Previously, companies could simply have a standard website, pay for Google ads, and expect potential customers to come on their own. The content marketing trends for 2022 are much more subtle, requiring more relevance and precision.
Content marketing experts have become an integral part of any B2B marketing team. You can’t just have ill-conceived content. Rather, you need video content, virtual events or any type of robust editorial plan, complete with all types of content. You need robust blog content, visual content, video content, a marketing strategy for Email, and a social media strategy rich in active engagement with your audience. This can all include your content marketing. And don’t forget to invest in good customer service on your website to keep your audience coming back again and again.
Let’s take a look at 7 content marketing trends for 2022:
1. The proliferation of storytelling in content marketing
Even with the advent of chatbots, video, and virtual reality, classic storytelling remains incredibly effective. In many ways, getting this basic fundamental principle right is far more important than the added contrivances of some other content marketing trends in 2022.
Bidforwriting.com says: “To create strong content that people connect with, it’s best to introduce more elements of conversational marketing into your content marketing that tell a great story”
Different methods of storytelling can be used in content marketing:
Some companies might use a shorter video that condenses things in a more personal way.
Others might focus on insightful blog posts that increase readership and customer loyalty.
You could tell stories that your customers care about in a way that they can easily understand.
2. Big investments in content marketing
Your investment in content marketing is an important component of your marketing strategy that should not be ignored. According to a 2021 Content Marketing Institute survey of content marketing professionals, 43% of marketers familiar with company spending reported higher content marketing budgets in 2021, and two-thirds of that group expect even more content marketing spending in 2022.
Reasons for increased investment in content marketing:
The pandemic has limited personal contacts and connections, so companies have had to rely more on quality websites and content to get their message out.
As the digital marketing industry evolves, people are tired of playing “kill the mole” with unwanted pop-up ads and videos. They’re looking for real connections to brands that feel relevant and authentic. As a result, companies are getting a much greater return on investment in a high-quality content marketing plan than they are in impersonal advertising.
3. Emphasis on relevant, in-depth content
The trend in content marketing is content relevance and relevance. For example, an irrelevant 300-word article will not rise to the top of search results as it might have in the past. Since the goal of search engines is to provide people with answers to their search queries, they value thoroughly prepared, detailed content over trivial clickbait. Google Ads remains a lucrative industry and can be a very effective content marketing strategy, especially for transactional searches such as shopping. But most users click on organic results for most information queries.
For content creators, this trend in content marketing means:
Put an emphasis on creating thoroughly prepared, high-quality content of at least 1,000 words. It’s better to make less quality content than a lot of superficial garbage.
Invest time and effort in creating an editorial plan to make sure you produce content that resonates with your target audience. If that’s the case, it will pay off.
4. Mobile technology matters
An important trend in content marketing will be to use mobile technology even more. If you’re happy with the content on your site, but it’s not optimized for mobile devices, you’re missing out on a huge percentage of your potential audience. Statistics show that up to 60 percent of searches in 2021 were conducted from mobile devices, including about 50 percent of B2B searches. So expect content marketers to continue to focus on this large demographic.
The development of mobile devices is also opening up opportunities for voice search in the form of content. Internet of Voice continues to gain momentum as people happily ask Siri or Alexa about any random statistic or company they can imagine. This growth means that answering questions in the form of long-form keywords will remain a critical component of content creation and one of our top content marketing trends for 2022.
5. Optimizing old articles
One important trend in content marketing is to supplement and update old articles. This can yield excellent results, often with less effort than creating new original content.
To optimize old articles, you need to:
compare the article to the current best options;
Identify keywords;
analyze whether those relevant keywords have changed since you wrote your article;
if the keywords have changed, what’s worth fixing the article.
In addition to keywords, check technical SEO components such as mobile optimization, photo size and speed. Simply tweaking these aspects can result in a significant improvement in your site’s overall performance.
6. The importance of key metrics in content marketing
As algorithms and search engines become more sophisticated, high key metrics lead to better search engine results. Thus, speed for both computers and mobile devices, optimized images with the right tags and tags, and even a map of your site are all elements that marketers should consider.
These technical elements are just as important in making your content visible to your users. If you don’t have the proper structure or basics, you’ll end up with a mess that no one will notice. You can’t have that for your content. Invest in technical SEO to make your content accessible to the masses.
7. Large amounts of video content
As language search and processing technology improves, expect to see more video content as part of your standard content marketing strategy. Not only is it easier to convey complex concepts with video, but it’s often more interactive and easy to broadcast when you’re performing multiple tasks at once or on the go.
In addition, as the Internet of Voice and Natural Language Processing trends continue, it becomes easier for machines to analyze voice content. Thus, video is not just a nice extra feature, but the use of such content marketing can also be a reliable means of increasing SEO effectiveness.
Still, instead of blindly following all the latest trends in content marketing, it’s better for companies to focus on their business and their audience. This will create an effective approach to content marketing. Content marketing trends are not as important as creating relevant content as the foundation of your content strategy.
For example, Tiktok may be a trendy platform, but if your target audience consists of people over 50 who can’t stand short videos, you’ll be wasting your time and money trying to compete on these digital channels. Instead, focus on where your target audience might be and reach them there.
We may also see Influencer Marketing become more widespread in 2022, so B2B marketers should be incredibly strategic in using this type of marketing strategy. That doesn’t mean you should avoid any well-known micro-influencers who might contribute to your content marketing strategy in the form of a guest blog post. But you shouldn’t waste your time with Influencer Marketing if it won’t increase your credibility and trust with your target audience.
