24 Essential Content Marketing Trends Every Marketer Needs to Know
Content marketing is among the most important parts of digital marketing today. It’s also among the most rapidly changing ones. For that very reason, it’s essential for every marketer to stay up to date on the latest content marketing trends.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to assist you by providing a vast and extensive list of all the important trends that you need to know about. They will help you improve your marketing strategy and help you get ahead of the game in 2019, and possibly even the next year.
Keep on reading to find out about all of them!
Current Trends in Content Marketing (Editors Pick)
- Video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2021.
- Using video in marketing amounts to 49% faster revenue growth.
- 91% of consumers are willing to reward a brand with a purchase if the brand is authentic.
- Content longer than 2,000 words ranks better on Google and brings more shares.
- Posts with only one image get 2x more shares than posts without images.
- One of the bigger content marketing trends, podcasts saw a rise in 2018 of 6 million weekly podcast listeners compared to 2017.
- A staggering 98% of consumers use more than one device every day, prompting the rise of omnichannel marketing.
- 90% of B2B content marketers place the informational needs of the audience in front of the sales and promotional message of their company.
- AI is seeing increased use in content marketing and its continued use will likely become one of the most valuable content marketing trends.
Source: Curata.com
1. Lengthy content ranks better.
Content marketing statistics show that Google rewards lengthier content by placing it far up in the search results. People are looking for trustworthy sources now more than ever, and posts above 2,000 words are more trustworthy than shorter ones because they take more time and effort to create and are thus unlikely to contain misleading and low-quality content.
2. Longer content gets more shares on social media.
OkDork analyzed the top shared articles, and the results indicate that the lengthier the content, the more social media shares it gets. The most shared posts are those between 3,000 and 10,000 words. However, even posts above 2,000 words get more than a significant number of shares. All in all, the future of content is longer posts, and your marketing strategy needs to take that into account.
3. Create content clusters.
Lengthy content is one trend, but another equally important one for 2019 is topic clusters—multiple pieces of longer content that focus on a single or very similar topic. Google is recognizing this type of content more, which makes complete sense because, with several detailed pieces on a single topic, you’re showing Google that you mean to create valuable niche content for your audience and not simple keyword-stuffed articles. Content clusters have been among the more notable content marketing trends for 2018 and will continue in 2019 and on.
4. Authentic content is essential.
The 2018 Global Consumer Study and 2017 Authentic Brand Study clearly shows the importance of authenticity in content marketing. Consumers emphasize authenticity when deciding whether or not to trust a brand such that 91% are completely willing to reward a brand with a purchase because of it. This goes on to say that honesty and authenticity play a vital role in marketing and represent some of the most important content marketing trends for 2019.
5. Avoid clickbait completely.
In the mind of the consumer, clickbait is the worst kind of content, and people are getting more desensitized to it. 78% of consumers feel that relevant and personal content will get them to make a purchase, not clickbait. By avoiding clickbait, you’ll not only be able to make more sales, you’ll be able to retain your audience. All of that makes avoiding such content among the most important digital content trends you need to follow in 2019.
6. One image changes everything.
Experts always keep on saying that compelling images increase engagement. That usually applies to social media posts, but it also applies to written content as well. Data from BuzzSumo shows that posts with only one image double the number of shares you get. The trend is likely to stay for a long time as visual elements will remain attractive and make every written piece look better.
7. Video is increasing in importance.
The marketers who care about their content marketing growth need to use videos now more than ever. Research shows that those who use video as part of their strategy increase their revenue a stunning 49% faster than others. That’s more than enough to start investing in videos. What’s more, research already indicates that video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by the year 2021, showing that the importance of video will only get bigger.
8. Podcasts continue to be a growing trend in content marketing.
The past few years have proved to be great for podcasts, and they will likely have a continued impact on 2019 content trends. The number of people listening to podcasts has grown such that 25% of Americans listen to podcasts regularly—and 2018 saw a rise in 6 million weekly listeners when compared to 2017.
9. Smart speakers are essential according to 42% of Americans.
According to NPR research, a further 65% of smart speaker users say they couldn’t return to their lives without them. Now, what does that have to do with content marketing? It means that your content marketing strategy for 2019 needs to include more audio because the popularity of voice search is still on the rise. More and more marketers are going to take advantage of this trend, and we’ll probably start seeing new advertising platforms that incorporate it as well.
10. Incorporating chatbots in content marketing works wonders.
Chatbots are going to play a big part in the future of content marketing. More and more companies are using them for personalizing and improving customer engagement as chatbots are only getting better and smarter. With natural language processing and machine learning, they are answering many frequently asked questions in the best manner possible, all by finding the best response online.
11. There’s an increased use of artificial intelligence in content marketing.
Chatbots are one thing, but a huge content marketing trend for the next year is bound to be a bigger use of AI. Already plenty of marketers are using AI to decipher the unimaginable amount of data collected online. It’s vital when making crucial marketing decisions, and you can stay ahead of a great deal of your competition if you get in on the trend as soon as possible.
12. Use automatically generated content.
One of the many content trends over the past few years has been the use of AI to generate content. Generic articles and news pieces with simple information sharing are already quite easy for an AI to create. You’ve probably already read several AI-generated articles without noticing anything out of the ordinary. Yes, AI is still a long ways from creating content like a human can, but it’s useful for simpler pieces and will become even more useful in 2019 and the years that follow.
13. Take advantage of omnichannel marketing.
One of the newer content trends, the importance of which is growing, is omnichannel marketing and its improved effectiveness. Almost all consumers, some 98% of them, use more than one device every day. Besides that, companies that use this type of marketing see a 91% increase in retention rates every year when compared to those that don’t. It’s clear that people want to see the same or similar content on many channels, and it thus matters for every business to work on its content marketing for several channels, not only a few.
14. Understand the importance of micro-moments.
Even the content marketing trends we’ll see in 2020 are likely to place huge importance on this, but we have to explain for those not familiar. Micro-moments are a classification made by Google for all instances when people want to find quick solutions online. The importance of micro-moments is rising as people mostly want quick solutions. If you want to follow the trend, your content marketing should reflect that by answering the questions people have in a clear manner that doesn’t dive too deep. However, that doesn’t mean you should neglect your more thorough content.
15. Facebook continues to be the primary platform in the realm of social media.
One of the clear content marketing trends for quite a while now involves Facebook. Regardless of what’s been happening to the company recently, it’s still going strong. Pew Research’s internet studies for 2018 show that 68% of adult Americans have Facebook, and 74% of Facebook users visit the site daily. These numbers still put Facebook in the dominant spot among all the social media that lets you share your content. But what about the other platforms?
16. Aside from Facebook, the most popular platforms are Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Pew Research also states that 35% of Americans use Instagram, 29% use Pinterest, 27% use Snapchat, 25% use LinkedIn, and 24% use Twitter. When you look at these numbers, Facebook’s 68% makes that platform a clear winner. Using these platforms in your strategy was among the content marketing best practices for 2018 and will continue to be so in 2019 as well. It’s also worth noting that an average American uses at least three of these top social media platforms.
Source: Pew Internet
17. LinkedIn had the biggest user growth in 2018 (145%).
While Facebook has the most users and Instagram still boasts consistent growth, LinkedIn was the winner when it came to user growth in 2018. Such growth cannot be overlooked and makes the use of LinkedIn essential in your content marketing strategy for 2019.
18. Collaboration between brands sells.
The content marketing industry has recognized the benefits of collaboration between brands for a while now, but it’s becoming more apparent how useful it is. The type of content best suited when you want to collaborate with other brands are podcast interviews, collaborative research, case studies, and social media takeovers.
19. Use influencers in content marketing.
Influencer marketing is continuing to grow, so if you’re looking to get in on the big 2019 marketing trends, you should use it as well. However, you don’t need to do the same thing as everyone else, i.e. using an influencer to promote your brand. You could always invite them to create content on your own channel. However, that content needs to be in line with your brand’s values and mission.
20. Interactivity will matter more than it used to.
Interactivity has mattered for a while now, especially in content trends from 2018. There are several reasons for this, and it all goes in line with the consumers expecting to be engaged more by the content they find. Interactivity enables you to differentiate yourself from competitors, enforce trust and credibility in your brand, and create an improved type of engagement from your audience.
21. Transparency continues to build trust and increase sales.
This has been a big trend in content marketing since 2018, as well as in previous years, but it’s becoming more and more important. The statistics that support this are as follows: 73% of consumers claim that they would pay more for brands that promise transparency, and 94% say that they will remain loyal if the brand promises complete transparency. Providing transparency in content marketing shouldn’t be difficult since the key is to create informative, deeper content that shows your audience what happens in your business and how it works.
22. B2B marketers put the biggest emphasis on the informational needs of their audience.
Or at least 90% of the top B2B marketers do, making this one of the most important B2B content marketing trends from 2018 and thus for 2019 as well. The informational needs of the audience are more important than the company’s sales and promotional message. Most top B2B content marketers base their strategy on this, and you should too, if you’re looking to be successful.
23. The top two methods B2B content marketers use to nurture their audience are email and educational content.
We already discussed the importance of your audience’s informational needs, which explains why educational content is one of the top two ways of nurturing the audience. As for strong email campaigns, no doubt they will also still be among the most important ways to maintain your audience in B2B marketing in 2019.
24. The top content marketing concern of most B2B companies surrounds changes in SEO.
SEO has evolved a lot over time, and Google won’t ever stop changing it, so it’s no wonder that so many B2B companies feel that SEO is their main concern in content marketing. The next most important concerns are changes to social media algorithms and using content marketing as revenue centers.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
