13 Content Marketing Trends to Monitor This Year

Content marketing trends come and go, but they can be extremely helpful to increase your reach, drive engagement, and grow your audience when they are at their peak. Staying on top of trends in content marketing can make the difference between moving along with a steady flow of traffic, and coming to an abrupt halt in your content marketing plans.

I have put together 13 content marketing trends to monitor and implement this year, to make sure that you are making the most of available tools, and keeping neck and neck with others in your niche. Most, if not all of these, you are probably aware of. That being said, continue reading through because their impact maybe bigger than you think or you might not be leveraging them enough.

What are the trends to monitor this year? First up: a look at trends in artificial intelligence.

AI Content Trends

AI content is becoming ubiquitous in content strategy, so staying on top of the latest in AI trends is valuable to make the most of the technology. Although there are plenty of AI applications in content marketing, not all of them are worth your time, and not all of them will deliver on the most recent trends and practices.

The AI trends I have put together below are the trends that you have likely seen from your own accounts, and those that are currently offering the most value to content marketers and their audiences. While you do not need to use all of them to successfully leverage artificial intelligence, all three can be used together to improve workflow and increase productivity.

1. AI-Powered Content

AI-powered content, or AI-generated content, is any piece of content created primarily through the use of AI. This is the biggest content marketing trend for sure, and it literally needs no further explanation! However, the impact that AI-generated content on search engines is beginning to be seen, and it will be important to keep an eye on this as well as other potential ethics and biases surrounding the use of generative AI content in your business as a whole.

2. AI in Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing is another instance of using AI in content marketing strategies, and typically involves the use of AI chatbots embedded into a website. This is a great way to create interactive content without exerting a great deal of additional energy. A common way to use this is to use it as a means of responding to direct messages, comments, and more.

Called conversational marketing for its ability to carry on a passable conversation with current and potential customers, using AI can dramatically reduce the amount of time producers and marketers spend directly engaging with customers without sacrificing engagement with their target audiences.

3. AI and Automation

AI offers a wealth of resources for content creators to save time and increase productivity, and this is also true of automation. Automation has been around for quite some time, and if you are anything like me, you are no stranger to the idea of scheduling posts and making use of existing automation tools. AI tools can help take marketing automation one step further.

Automation tools that send out emails, follow up with messages, and more are certainly worth content marketers’ time, but AI tools in the same vein improve on the original idea by creating a more personalized and teachable element. Rather than simply reaching out to a potential customer with a canned response, for instance, AI tools can personalize the email using details from their visit, their messages, etc. This is only one example, but using AI to steer your automation tools can help lend more connection to your ideal audience.

Video Content Trends

Video content is often at the top of a team’s content marketing efforts, but staying on top of trends and creating high-quality content at the same time can be a challenge. From short-form content like that found on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, to content marketers using video as a whole, there are three important video trends marketers can use to stay on top.

4. The Continued Popularity of Video Content in General

Video content has long been an important part of user experience in marketing, from the TV ads we all grew up with, to the blips that can be seen on just about every social media platform. Video content is easy to absorb, visually arresting, and compelling, and it needs to have some role in your overall marketing strategy.

Video content can be short or long, and can be informative or entertaining. Pay attention to the different trends that are making the rounds in your niche; if short-form video seems to be the most common way to reach your target audience, make sure you are featuring that content in your social media posts.

Further Reading: What Exactly is Video Content Marketing? Here’s Why It’s Important

5. Short-Form Video Content

Short-form video content is everywhere. It comes up in search engines. it grabs your attention as you are scrolling your own personal feeds. It feeds the attention spans of this generation and our current world, which continue to prove themselves compact and often limited. Short-form video content is frequently seen as the future of content marketing, due to the rate at which it has taken over social platforms.

Short-form video content can take on any tone or content. From small, entertaining blips that use humor, to simple and informative content that focuses on educating, short-form content is highly digestible for any audience. Content creation in this vein can be completed ahead of time and dispersed throughout the day or week.

6. Live Video Marketing

Live video marketing has been adopted by a range of companies, but offers something unique: a sensation of connection with the company or brand due to the live nature of the experience. By offering purchases in real time, customers can experience interactive elements of purchasing, without having to leave their home.

Live video marketing can be done in several ways. A common option is to create personalized content or content designed to demonstrate the use and value of a product or service. Live video marketing can also involve simple demonstrations, question and answer sessions, and even live reveals of new products. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Social Media Content Trends

Social media content relies entirely on original content to garner likes and comments and turn heads, but within that original content are the trends that pop up on a daily or weekly basis. Social media content trends do have some basic parameters you need to work within–think using relevant keywords, conducting research, and maintaining a connection to your niche–but there is plenty of playing room within those parameters to make sure you are keeping up with trends.

How do you do this effectively?

I have put together two vital ways that I am staying on top of trends and have seen others using: making use of social media influencers, and leveraging user-generated content.

7. Social Media Influencers

Influencer marketing is an important part of most teams’ marketing strategies, as influencer marketing continues to be an excellent way to drive audience engagement, increase your reach, and connect with new and existing customers. Social media influencers act as a bridge between you and your customers, leading to the prevalence of influencers in standard digital marketing strategies.

Influencers are often seen as subject matter experts to their audiences, as they are seen as providing a human touch to a subject while speaking with authority on a subject or product. Influencers can create a significant amount of helpful content to drive more views, increase exposure and awareness, and ultimately encourage people to use your products or services.

8. User-Generated Content

User generated content is one of the best ways to lend a human touch to your overall marketing presence. UGC is helpful content for anyone looking to improve the accessibility of their brand and garner a sense of trust. This is simple enough: potential and existing customers may be more likely to trust a company who has shown that they have and maintain relationships with customers.

User-generated content can be as complex or as simple as you’d prefer. Some UGC offers a deep dive into a product or service, while others offer little more than a quick blip. UGC can be created by influencers, or can just be images and videos developed by actual users, which can then be leveraged by your content marketing team.

Other Content Marketing Trends

Content marketing trends have so many different areas of focus, and so many different approaches. I have put together some of the most recent trends in content marketing overall, whether they involve the customer journey, company promotion, or content ideas that encompass a range of ideas including conversations with industry experts.

Although I can recommend these marketing trends as useful and keeping you top of mind, remember that you may not need to utilize every trend that arises. For some companies, podcasting may not be possible; for others, refreshing outdated content would be a logistical nightmare.

9. Podcasting

Podcasting is certainly not new, but it continues to grow increasingly well-loved and useful as a form of marketing. The exact approach to podcasting that you utilize will vary; some companies find that audio content focused on education performs best. This may be true of health and wellness companies, who can use medical experts to support use of their product. Others might find it best to rely on well-known figures within an industry, as might be the case with a sportswear company bringing on famous athletes for interviews.

Another important benefit of podcasting is the content creation process: unlike content created entirely by the company, podcasts are often a collaborative effort and can take some of the pressure off of the marketing team.

Further Reading: AI Content Assistants: 13 Tools to Assist in Your Content Creation

10. Content Quality Over Quantity

Plenty of people will tell you to appease algorithms by churning out a relentless stream of content, but new and existing customers increasingly often are not looking for quantity. They want quality. Focus on diverting your content marketing budgets to quality content planning, to make sure your content team is producing high-quality and compelling work. Consistency is an important factor, but that could mean only posting once each week–provided that you post around the same time and on the same day.

Posting quality does not have to be rigid; good quality content can also be spontaneous, such as posting images of workers and friends with followers at a convention, or putting out a thoughtful address to a current event. In either case, make sure that the piece or post you are putting out pays more attention to contents than exposure.

Further reading: 12 “Secrets” to Writing High Quality Content for Your Blog

11. Refreshing Outdated Content

You need not let go of all your work with out of date statistics, or long-ago-discussed topics–simply bring them into the current landscape! I have posted about this very topic in years past, but continually need to review, revise, and republish, to accommodate what is happening in the here and now. This is an excellent way to maintain consistency across your brand, while making sure that you deliver the best and most up to date information for your followers.

Refreshing outdated content can be as simple as swapping out old statistics for new ones, updating images, or completely rewriting and revamping an old post or article. Your archives can be a great source of inspiration, so make sure you do not sleep on the posts you’ve already created.

By the way, this blog post is a prime example of refreshing outdated content and republishing the results! Look at the URL for the post to see when it was first published ;-)

12. Content Diversification

Diversity is key to virtually everything in life, and content is no exception. By diversifying your content, you are opening yourself up to more audiences, more interest, and more exposure. That being said, there are some basic rules to follow within the scope of content diversification, the most important being to focus on formats and channels, rather than branching out into topics that are entirely out of your niche or unrelated to your brand.

What does content diversification look like in action? If you are currently honed in on one app to the exclusion of others, diversification might look like branching out into new social platforms. If you are currently focusing almost entirely on educational materials in your marketing habits, consider relaxing the reins a bit and showing more personality for your brand or even your team. Essentially, make sure that your content topics, type, and location are staying fresh and interesting rather than growing stagnant.

13. Content Repurposing

Content repurposing is similar to refreshing, but with one important divergence: rather than updating content, you are actually repurposing it into an entirely different format. In action, this might look like taking a YouTube video, and fleshing it out to create a blog post. A blog post can be broken down into an infographic, and posted on your social platforms. A social post can be used as a springboard for a podcast episode. All of these are common examples of repurposing.

Content repurposing helps reach your intended audience across different channels, without having to sift through a constant stream of new content ideas. If you already have the information at your disposal, why not use it to reach new audiences and educate or inform?

Further Reading: Repurposing Content: 15 Specific and Popular Methods

Conclusion

Content marketing trends may come and go, but marketers can increase efficiency, improve engagement, and stay on top of their game by engaging with those trends while they last, and use them to their advantage. I keep track of trends in my own content, to make sure that I stay relevant no matter the season, and no matter the changes and shifts that may come in content practices.

What’s your take on the most important content marketing trends to monitor these days? Let me know in the comments!

Hero photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash