In today’s ultra-competitive B2B marketplace, brands now realize the value of content marketing in generating sales. HubSpot’s recent survey shows that content marketing now takes up to 29% of B2B budgets. 72% of marketers believe content creation is the most effective SEO tool for their brands.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend how brands conduct their business. The one lesson that has spread across the board is that you are doomed without an online presence. All companies have continued to upscale their digital marketing efforts, which is revolutionizing how marketers approach content creation. Here are three trends Athena Integrated believes will be critical in the coming year.
1. Live Video Consumption Will Play a Significant Role
Many brands have hosted or attended a live product launch or conference during this period. It’s clear that companies still trust video content to reach out to more customers. As a sub-category to digital marketing, live videos and webinars provide businesses with unique possibilities of highlighting their products’ essential aspects.
The videos are unscripted, resonating more with the target audience. The set-up is also more engaging. 70% of B2B buyers will watch some footage before making a purchase decision. Streaming an informative video that tells them everything they need to know about a specific product during a virtual trade show can be a major asset to your content marketing strategies.
2. Voice Content Marketing Will Be At the Core
Experts have noted that the rise of voice search in influencing content creation. A 2018 report by Voicebot shows adoption of smart speakers in the US grew by 38.9%, with 26.2% of adults already having access to at least one smart speaker.
2021 will see more than half of all searches conducted via voice. Brands will need to craft a robust voice content strategy to meet the increased demand. Focusing on getting to the featured snippet section and learning the kind of searches that end up in that section is one way to accomplish this. Remembering that how we speak doesn’t typically align with how we write; you may need to optimize your content to natural language search.
3. Repurposing Old Content Is the New Norm
Content marketers no longer have the luxury of the ‘set and forget’ mentality anymore. It now takes more than just basic website design and SEO to keep quality leads streaming in. With too much content and a shortening attention span, it is now harder to engage your audience. Content needs to be concise and interactive to create a lasting impression.
One way to achieve this feat is by looking at old content and repurposing it to increase ‘content experience.’ Personalization of your brand message can increase your sales opportunities by 20%. We predict that brands will look into breathing new life to old posts by re-accessing their content creation processes.
Bottom-Line
As a digital marketer, the coming year provides fascinating content marketing trends to look forward to. Embracing enhanced web design, live video, voice content, and repurposing content can inspire new ways to engage with your target audience. More trends will continue to emerge as content creators look for new ways to pass along their brand messages in 2021 and beyond.
