Are you wondering what the content marketing landscape looks like in 2022? Thinking about where you should invest your money, time, and resources when it comes to content marketing? Then you need to stay abreast of the current trends in the space.
By understanding how factors such as the pandemic have affected people’s content consumption habits, preferences and expectations, you can identify where to divert the most resources to get the best results from your content marketing efforts.
Let’s take a deep dive into the interesting trends shaping content marketing in 2022.
Content marketing trends in 2022 so far
Video content
Video content is a content format that adopts the production and sharing of relevant videos. Common forms of video content include vlogs, animated GIFs, live videos, recorded presentations, and webinars etc.
As of 2021, the amount of online video watched per person is at 18 hours per week and this has increased since 2018.
For the third year in a row, short-form video has taken over as the main type of media used in all content strategies. In 2022, 89% of marketers plan to keep investing the same amount in the channel or increase their investments. It is important to note that the videos you make and the platform you use to share your video content is dependent on your business objectives. Also, Wistia has discovered that shorter videos typically have the highest engagement rates.
Videos are a powerful content medium for storytelling. It can have a big impact on the success of your promotional campaigns and content marketing efforts. As it serves as an effective way to convey complex ideas, it is engaging and it is a tremendous tool for improving your SEO performance. Thus, any business, regardless of its size or budget, can gain from a solid video marketing strategy.
Short lived content
Short-lived or Ephemeral content is any visual content that disappears after a 24-hour window. It provides a brief time frame for viewers to interact with it.
Statista reported that as of 2019, Instagram’s story features were used by 500 million daily active users, followed by WhatsApp with 450 million daily active users .
Stories are a form of ephemeral content available on several social media platforms — including Instagram, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, and Facebook and these stories disappear after 24 hours. Often these types of content are saved as highlights on Instagram.
Many social platforms that host ephemeral content, provide a feature for shopping. Business accounts on Instagram can set up a storefront in stories — like with beauty brand Fenty Beauty.
This ad is shoppable. With a couple of taps from a shoppable story, you can make a new sale.
Overall, there is a sense of urgency emerging because of social media’s emphasis on fleeting content. This temporary content that takes advantage of the fear of missing out (FOMO) and is devised to elicit an immediate response from people, it can also make them stay longer on the social media platform as they feel that they are missing out on quality content if they are not active.
Brands must carefully consider how they express their story and keep up with the times. “This dynamic, short-lived posting is equivalent to creating a social moment as viewers feel the pressure of the time limit. Also, considering how often retailers change their physical store, it is understandable to change social media content frequently, too.
Mobile Optimisation and Voice Search
Mobile optimisation is the process of adjusting the content of your website so that users that access it through mobile devices can enjoy a user-friendly experience tailored to their specific device
Optimised content seamlessly transitions between desktop and mobile platforms to deliver a pleasant user experience.
when an optimised site identifies that the user is on a mobile device, it provides larger navigation buttons, optimised pictures, and reformatted content etc
In 2021, mobile devices accounted for up to 60% of searches, including a projected 50% of B2B inquiries. The development with smartphones has paved the way for voice search content. Voice-search or voice enabled is a cutting-edge technology that uses voice commands to conduct a search on the internet, app, website etc.
It comprises an open-domain short keyword query. For example, in Google Voice Search, Cortana, Siri and Amazon Echo, the voice search is an interactive dialog system, involving several rounds of exchange between the user and the system to accurately grasp what the speaker is saying.
Since becoming a viable alternative to traditional search, voice search helps facilitate quicker and easier access to websites and apps, which may be essential when on the go. Maybe interacting with virtual assistants is just more enjoyable than search engine queries.
Also, websites that are mobile-responsive have a chance to appear on the first page of mobile searches because they are quicker and significantly enhance user experience. Thus if your website content is optimised for mobile use, your company might be the first smart assistant and voice search suggestions. As voice searches has skyrocketed over the last few years, incorporating voice search into your digital marketing strategy is essential to ensure success in the constantly evolving digital world.
Generation Z
Generation Z (aka Gen Z, iGen, or centennials) refers to those born between 1997 and 2012, after millennials. As the first generation born in the digital age, Gen Zers are different from older generations. As they are tech savvy and tend to set high standards for their online experience.
Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse and largest generation in American history, and they surpass all other generations before them in embracing diversity and inclusion. As of 2022, there will be more than 41 million US Gen Z digital buyers.
By 2026, Generation Z will become the most pivotal generation for retail, and many will have enormous spending power. Gen Zers are a growing cohort, and many businesses need to start building relationships and understanding their expectations & tendencies to have a slice of this market.
Chatbots
Chatbots are software applications that mimic human conversation. To simulate real-life interactions, they adhere to a set of pre-designed rules. Therefore, it helps to improve the online shopping experience as they help alleviate pain points customers often face.
According to Insider Intelligence, this industry will experience rapid growth over the next few years, rising from roughly $2.8 billion in 2019 to $142 billion in 2024. Consumers now expect 24-hour support in a variety of fields. As a result, businesses are working quickly to create chatbots and virtual assistants to respond to customers’ questions at any time of day. Also, the interaction between users and chatbots, provides businesses with information to better understand user intent. In addition, chatbots may give your business a voice and a personality so that users can better understand who you are as a company.
Podcast
The word “podcast” is a mashup of the words “iPod” and “broadcast.”
A podcast is a collection or series of online-accessible digital audio recordings that can be downloaded or listened through via podcast hosting service or platform.
Audio content allows its audience to multitask. People can listen to them while participating in different activities if the task at hand allows for divided attention.
A podcast’s length often allows for in-depth discussion of subjects or a long chat between two people. The ability to adjust playback is one of the best features of listening to podcast episodes that have been downloaded.
It is enjoyable to go at your own pace and to have the option to rewind and fast-forward when listening to a podcast.
Podcast audio content gives listeners the ability to dive into topics without having to set aside time to read or watch a video.
With the Apple podcasts app or Spotify, each podcast consumer can choose to subscribe to their favourite shows and have each new episode downloaded instantly.
As the podcast trend continues to grow each year, one thing is clear: people love to listen to each other talk.
Augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a perfect fusion of the digital world and the physical elements to create an artificial environment and it is being used by forward-thinking content marketers to promote everything from cosmetic products to charitable causes.
In a world where everyone is clamouring for consumers’ attention. These virtual environments can engage audiences in new and intriguing ways that they’re eager to explore, morphing the mundane into a unique and immersive digital experiences
AR is simpler to adopt because it doesn’t require a headgear like virtual reality does. You only need a smartphone with a forward-facing camera to use the technology, which alters the real world by superimposing digital content into the physical world.
Tech firms are committed to enhancing the smoothness, quality, and accessibility of AR experiences. Spark AR Studio was created by Facebook to help designers and developers.
The Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea offers its IKEA Place app that combines iOS with ARkit to enable customers to scan a room with their Apple devices and see how furniture appears and fits in various positions.
The app is a supplement to the company’s catalogue, making browsing and choosing goods as easy as possible. It also offers easy placement and 98% scale accuracy for the best viewing of a product.
Before making the effort to visit the warehouse, shoppers can visually arrange possible purchases across their homes to ensure that they genuinely look beautiful. In addition, anyone may use the free software for fun; it’s not just for serious consumers.
When used correctly, augmented reality can enhance the content creation process
Despite the widespread use of virtual reality, videos, chatbots etc. The art of storytelling remains at the heart of content marketing. Understand your users’ intent and craft content that speaks directly to their needs. Hence when correctly executed all these new components work together to achieve a common goal and although it is important to stay on top of trends and ideas, you must also create content that satisfies your company needs and resonates with your intended audience.
