Content Marketing Trends: AI, Videos, Personalization & More

Content marketing is a technique for creating and sharing valuable, appropriate, and steady content to attract a defined audience. However, content trends change each year, and companies need to constantly respond to these changes in order to stay steady with their performance. So, if you are looking for content marketing trends to follow in 2023, you have come to the right place!

In this blog, we will discuss the meaning, some important statistics, and a few content marketing trends in 2023 to help you achieve your goals.

Summary

Content marketing is a planned approach focusing on creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage a target audience. Moreover, it includes creating and sharing content in various formats, such as articles, blog posts, videos, infographics, social media posts, and more, to provide value to the audience.

9 Evergreen Content Marketing Best Practices 

However, before talking about any content marketing trend, here are some important factors to keep in mind always while creating content. 

Clear Goals and Objectives

Clearly define your goals for content marketing. Identify what you want to achieve, whether it’s growing brand awareness, driving website traffic, generating leads, or nurturing customer relationships. Having specific goals helps you measure the success of your content marketing efforts. 

Understanding Your Target Audience

Thoroughly research and understand your target audience. This includes their demographics, choices, needs, challenges, and interests. Also, tailor content to address their pain points and provide information that connects with them. Additionally, consider tailoring content for accessibility, ensuring that everyone, regardless of abilities, can engage with your message effectively. One of the ways to achieve this is to use software to transcribe audio to text to enhance accessibility by providing alternative formats for individuals with hearing impairments.

Developing a Content Strategy

Create a defined strategy, draft your approach, key messaging, content formats, channels, and distribution tactics. It should also incorporate a content calendar to plan and organize your content production and publication schedule. 

Quality Over Quantity

Focus on creating quality content that offers genuine value to your audience. Avoid producing content just for the sake of it. Because quality content is more likely to be shared, engage readers, and establish your brand as a trusted authority in your industry. 

Variety of Content Formats

Experiment with different content formats to cater to your audience’s choices. For example, consider creating articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, case studies, whitepapers, and more. Diversifying your content formats helps you reach a wider audience and keeps your content strategy fresh and engaging. 

Consistent Branding

Maintain constant branding across all your content to reinforce your brand identity. Use a tone of voice, visual elements, and messaging that aligns with your brand values. Generally, this helps in building trust. 

SEO Optimization

In the first place, to optimize your content for search engines, focus on structure, meta tags, URLs, and keywords. Use clear headings and subheadings to create your content. 

Besides, craft good meta titles and descriptions. Ensure descriptive and keyword-rich URLs. Incorporate suited keywords naturally throughout your content. Indeed, these SEO techniques improve visibility and attract organic traffic.

Promote and Distribute Your Content

Don’t just create content; promote and distribute it through various channels. Utilize social media platforms, email marketing, influencer collaborations, guest blogging, and other promotional tactics to expand your content’s reach. It will attract a larger audience. 

Analyze and Iterate

Regularly analyze the performance of your content marketing efforts using metrics such as website traffic, engagement, conversions, and social media metrics. 

Moreover, identify what works well and what needs improvement. Use these insights to refine your content strategy and optimize future content for better results. 

Some Crucial Content Marketing Statistics 

• There are more than 600 million blogs online as of 2023.
• According to a report by Semrush, over half (55%) of website owners witnessed an increase in their website traffic by implementing a strategy of creating and publishing content more frequently.
• Global content marketing industry revenue would increase to 72 billion in 2023 and expand to 107 billion in 2026.
• A report by the Content Marketing Institute shows that 70% of content marketers plan to invest in content creation.
• Around 69% of marketers and entrepreneurs plan to expand their spending on content marketing.

9 Useful Content Marketing Trends You Should Try Out

Here are some top content marketing trends that you must know in the coming years:

1. Short-Form Video to Take Center Stage

Short-form video is the most popular trend among marketers, with the highest ROI and future growth. 90% of short-form video marketers will increase or maintain their investment in 2023. 

Tip to Follow:

• Keep videos concise and focused, getting attention quickly.
• Use captions or subtitles to make videos engaging.
• Optimize videos for mobile viewing, as most short-form video consumption happens on smartphones.
• To reach a wider audience, experiment with platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts by utilizing an online video editor to create and edit them.

2. Brands to Emphasize Values in Marketing Content

Another leading content marketing trend is value in marketing content. A study commissioned by Google Cloud found that 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with theirs, and 75% of consumers would part ways with a brand over conflicting values. 

Tip to Follow:

• Clearly define your brand values and ensure they are reflected in your content.
• Conduct market research to understand your target audience’s values.
• Use storytelling techniques to communicate your brand’s values.
• Collaborate with influencers or organizations that share similar values to amplify your message.

3. Influencer Marketing to Retain Vital Importance

Almost half of the consumers depend on suggestions from influencers to determine the products they want to purchase.  In fact, 1 in 4 marketers currently leverages influencer marketing, which offers the 2nd highest ROI among marketing trends. 

Tips to Follow: 

• Identify influencers who align with your brand’s values and target audience.
• Establish genuine relationships with them and focus on long-term associations.
• Encourage you to create authentic, relatable content displaying your product or service.
• Track and measure the impact of influencer campaigns to assess ROI accurately.

4. Humor, Trends, and Relatability to Become Crucial Content Elements

Relatable content is expected to grow significantly, with 46% of social media marketers planning to leverage it for the first time. Among those already using it, 49% plan to increase their investment, while 43% will maintain their current investment level. 

Tips to Follow: 

• Stay updated with the latest trends to create timely and apt content.
• Inject humor into your content when appropriate, but ensure it aligns with your brand’s tone and values.
• Use real-life examples and storytelling to connect with your audience personally.
• Test and analyze different types of relatable content to understand what resonates best with your audience.

5. Social Media to Remain the Preferred Channel for Reaching Gen Z

According to the most recent Gez Z social media usage statistics, over one-third (38%) of Gen Z consumers in the US spend over four hours utilizing social networks daily. 

YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are the top three social media platforms preferred by Gen Z, making them the primary channels for product discovery and engagement. To maximize your presence on TikTok and get more TikTok followers, schedule TikTok posts strategically to ensure optimal reach and impact.

Tips to Follow: 

• Understand the preferences and behavior of Gen Z on different social media platforms.
• Create visually appealing and shareable content to increase engagement.
• Leverage influencers or user-generated content to enhance authenticity and reach.
• Utilize platform-specific features such as Instagram Stories, TikTok challenges, or YouTube collaborations to engage Gen Z effectively.

6. Strategic SEO Tactics are a Must-Have

Strategic SEO tactics are essential in content marketing for maximizing online visibility and driving organic traffic. Marketers must focus on keyword research and optimization to understand the search intent of their target audience and create relevant and valuable content that aligns with those keywords. 

Moreover, search engines are giving more value to in-depth, comprehensive content pieces. Therefore, long-form content will come back as it provides value and builds authority.

Technical SEO optimizations, like improving website speed, mobile responsiveness, and user experience, increase search engine rankings. Link building remains crucial, as earning high-quality backlinks from reputable websites enhances credibility and authority. 

Tips to Follow: 

• Perform thorough keyword research to identify relevant topics and optimize your content accordingly.
• Create comprehensive and in-depth content that provides value and answers user queries.
• Optimize your website for mobile devices and ensure fast loading times to improve user experience.
• Build high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites to boost your search engine rankings.

7. Data, AI, Automation, and the Metaverse to Be Leveraged

Technology advancements allow marketers to collect vast amounts of data, enabling hyper-personalization of content and achieving better results. AI can assist in content creation and generation, helping brands produce more in less time. 

According to a report by Capterra, 82% of marketers believe that content created by AI or ML software is equal to or even better than content produced by humans.

Whereas in another report by Influencer Marketing Hub, 44.4% of marketers have utilized AI for content production, which is unsurprising given its proven effectiveness. 

Automation simplifies content production, saving time and increasing efficiency. Although AR, VR, and the metaverse are mainly used by big businesses now, considering their future integration can give you a competitive advantage.

Tips to Follow: 

• Leverage data to gain insights into your audience’s preferences, behavior, and content performance.
• Use AI-powered tools to automate content creation, curation, and personalization.
• Experiment with emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to provide immersive experiences.
• Keep an eye on developments in the metaverse and explore ways to integrate your brand into this evolving space.

8. Personalized Content to Take the Spotlight

Personalization continues to be a dominant trend in content marketing. Personalized content helps build stronger connections with the audience, increases customer satisfaction, and improves conversion rates. 

By tailoring content to individual preferences, demographics, and behaviors, brands can deliver more relevant and engaging experiences.

Tips to Follow: 

• Utilize customer data to segment your audience and create tailored content for different segments.
• Also, use dynamic content elements to personalize emails, landing pages, and website experiences.
• Implement personalization strategies based on user preferences, browsing history, or previous interactions.
• Continuously analyze and refine your personalization efforts based on user feedback and data.

9. Interactive Content to Drive Audience Engagement

Interactive content is gaining popularity as it actively involves the audience and encourages their participation. This type of content, such as quizzes, polls, assessments, calculators, and interactive videos, boosts engagement and creates memorable experiences. 

Interactive content allows brands to gather valuable insights and data from their audience while providing an engaging and valuable user experience.

Tips to Follow:

• Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, polls, or assessments into your content strategy.
• Encourage audience participation and provide rewards for engagement, such as giveaways or exclusive content.
• Use interactive videos or calculators to deliver personalized experiences and drive conversions.
• Collect and analyze the data gathered from interactive content to gain insights and improve future campaigns.

Conclusion

By including these content marketing trends in your content strategy, you can engage your audience, drive results, and stay ahead of the competition. One way to achieve this is by creating interactive content that captures your audience’s attention, drives engagement, and captures leads. 

That’s where Outgrow comes in. With Outgrow, you can easily create a wide range of interactive content, i.e., quizzes, assessments, calculators, etc. These experiences allow you to deliver personalized content that connects with your target audience, keeping them engaged and interested.

To start with Outgrow’s interactive tools and create captivating interactive content, sign up for the free trial right here. Take your content marketing to the next level and deliver unique experiences that leave a lasting impression on your audience.