10 Content Marketing Trends To Watch In 2022 [Infographic]

The drastic changes in consumer behavior and informational needs brought on by the pandemic have sent content marketing trends and opportunities across the surface.

As consumers shifted online en masse and the world went down, we learned, a plethora of questions arose—and people looked to the brands they do business with for answers.

in 2021, 43% of marketers have seen content marketing budget increases, and 66% expect to see it rise again in 2022.

Video, digital and real-time events, owned media assets and paid media are among the top areas of content marketing investment for the coming year, according to CMI’s latest B2B Content Marketing report.

In this column, we’ll look at 10 specific content marketing trends that are driving this increased investment and activity.

For each, you’ll find tips and takeaways below the infographic to help you leverage them for marketing success in 2022.

1. Demand for the quality, relevance, and trustworthiness of content

Google’s core updates, Page Experience and Core Web Vitals, and anti-spam initiatives continue to raise the bar for creators and marketers who want their content to be discoverable in search.

EAT — Google’s desire for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness in searchable content — is a mantra that will continue to heavily influence marketers’ minds well into 2022.

Since it lacks a quantifiable and cannot be measured, the concept of EAT is always a SEO challenge.

And while this is certainly more important in some types of content than others, mediocre content will not work in any area where there is exceptional content.

Tips:

• Create exceptional content experiences by integrating audio, video, text, AR/VR, manipulation, and other interactive elements.
• Create content with your dream client or client in mind – what will it take to win their business?
• Focus on showing empathy and building trust in every piece of content you create.

Read more about SEJ:

• Google’s EAT: Overcoming 10 of the Biggest Misconceptions
• How to improve your EAT website

2. A renewed and intensified focus on understanding consumer intent

What is the purpose of the search?

Marketers and SEO professionals who remain too focused on keywords and their performance are missing out on the opportunity to truly connect with their audience in meaningful ways.

Understanding not only what people are searching for but why is essential in planning and crafting content that speaks directly to that need.

Tips:

• Leverage real-time research insights to gain a deeper understanding of what drives your prospects at the moment.
• Work through your customer journey to find breakpoints, content gaps, and other opportunities to create a smoother experience.
• Use topic, keyword, and competitive research to inform the content that best meets each searcher’s goal.

Read more about SEJ:

• How people search: Understanding user intent
• Beyond Traditional User Intent: Why and How to Become Likeable

3. The need for smarter data-driven content planning and documentation

Seasoned marketers go beyond using last year (or even last month) performance insights as a roadmap for moving forward.

Today, there are more touchpoints and interactions that marketers can track and analyze on their own.

Your content strategy for 2022 doesn’t have to be laid in stone by January 1st. Instead, your strategy should include having people, processes, and tools to analyze and act on data to inform content throughout the entire year.

Tips:

• Re-evaluate your current Martech collection with a sharp eye for inefficiencies and tools that don’t work well together.
• If you don’t have data-driven interiors yet, now is the time to work on upskilling or outsourcing to augment your team.
• Document workflows and processes that work, making your efforts repeatable and scalable.

Read more about SEJ:

• How to manage your data-driven content marketing calendar
• 4 data sources to use to create the right content and keyword strategy

4. More compliance with SERPs and Google Guidelines

Convincing Google that your content is the best answer to a relevant query is no easy feat.

You can start by making sure you follow through Google Guidelines.

But also be aware of the many opportunities you have to appear at the top of the search rankings, aside from the traditional blue link results.

Featured snippets, people also ask, video swirls, photo hits, top stories, and more all offer opportunities to be seen.

Tips:

• Analyze the SERPs where you want to appear and optimize the content for the types of search results that will get you there.
• Revise and update your old content, improve new ranking opportunities and types.
• Use appropriate schema markup to help Google understand exactly what your content should deliver.

Read more about SEJ:

• 10 Ways To Get Multiple Membership Google Page 1 Rankings
• How to Optimize Google Featured Snippets: A 12 Step Guide

5. Dissemination of content through audio, video, and visuals via mobile and social media

Focusing only on content size is wrong. However, you can’t arrange it if you don’t produce it.

In 2022, challenge yourself and your team to really think about the ways your stories and information are presented.

Could this article be a more compelling video? Will producing an audio version help expand your audience?

On mobile and across social channels, consumers crave short and fun interactive content. Will you give it to them?

Tips:

• For each new piece of content you plan, consider complementary content assets you can use to engage your audience and expand your reach.
• Invest in the tools and talent you’ll need to branch out into new content types.
• If you’re not sure which content formats or platforms resonate with your audience, ask them! If you’re just looking at your analytics data, only you know what’s really working and you’ll never realize these untapped opportunities.

Read more about SEJ:

• 6 video marketing tips for a smarter strategy
• How to repurpose one blog post into 80+ pieces of content
• 10 tips for creating mobile-friendly content

6. Growth in the importance of real-time insights and experience provision

Real-time tracking better informs your upcoming campaigns.

But more than that, it fuels real-time optimizations—which we’ll talk about next.

Real-time monitoring and insights reveal what changes might be affecting your SEO in the moment so you can take action before it interrupts the customer experience.

This is especially important in enterprise organizations where developers, marketers, IT and others may be making changes to the website.

Tips:

• Use a real-time tracking platform that includes other real-world insights – weather, elections, spending trends, etc.
• Set up custom alerts to spot issues and opportunities as they occur.
• Also keep an eye on your competitors’ insights, so you can see when they add new features or products/services to their pages.

Read more about SEJ

• 6 types of user behavior to track on your website and the tools to do it
• SEO for Enterprise: The Importance of Insights and the Value of Action

7. Rise in dynamic content creation and freelance work

Of course, sometimes real-time insights require immediate action. This no longer requires a human being to stand by to make improvements.

Automated content creation is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Using AI and machine learning-driven technology allows you to set the rules and conditions under which the tool makes improvements in response to opportunities detected in real time as well.

Tips:

• Look for opportunities where your content can be customized based on expressed needs, local conditions, content trajectory, or other factors that can be determined by query, user signals, or behavior.
• Explore platforms that are able to monitor these opportunities and animate that data through real-time content optimization and personalization.

Read more about SEJ:

• Do more with less: Create high-quality, automated content
• Automated title tag optimization using deep learning

8. Fusion of formats such as AR, VR, audio and text

Think of the stories you enjoyed as a child. Which one do you remember most clearly?

Your fondest memories are probably of those stories that you enjoyed in a variety of formats—not just the book, but that it was read to you aloud as you remembered it.

Perhaps your favorite song was acted out in a children’s show, or from a movie you particularly liked.

This blending of content formats helps us connect more deeply with the story. When we not only read, but hear, hear, or even smell and touch, our emotional reaction to the content is much stronger.

Tips:

• Look at every story and message you share and ask yourself, How can we augment this with media in another format?
• Use an accessibility lens too – are there potential customers who might not get this message because of the way we present it?
• Be aware of the current state of AR/VR in marketing, and if you haven’t already, start thinking about how you can make your content experiences more immersive in the near future.

Read more about SEJ:

• 9 emotional hooks that will make your content 10 times better
• Marketing Crash: 5 Ways AR and VR Are Reshaping Digital

9. Balancing the art and science of storytelling

Even as we dig deeper into automation in content and SEO, creativity and human connection has never been more important.

Savvy marketers learn to leverage the efficiencies and intelligence of machine learning and artificial intelligence without sacrificing the empathy that drives the best content into the hearts of its audience.

We need machines to analyze the massive amount of data generated by the countless points of contact with consumers. But then we need creative and talented people to craft stories around these ideas and messages as well.

Tips:

• Ensure that your new creative staff keeps up with the rapid advancements in content technology. More than a certain level of knowledge, you’re looking for a mindset of being open to working with technology versus feeling threatened by it.
• Likewise, it is important that your technical staff have some creative abilities as well. Numbers and data will only get you so far.
• In small teams, you may be challenged to find these characteristics in a single position, while in larger organizations you need to structure teams to ensure that these professionals collaborate well and complement each other’s skill sets.

Read more about SEJ:

• 9 tips for creating the best SEO content this year
• Creative brief tips and tricks for more successful content projects

10. Content Integration in Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Account-based marketing, which is a close collaboration between sales and marketing, is becoming increasingly important in B2B.

Consumers are looking for seamless transactions and will not tolerate the disconnect between what they have already learned or done with marketing content and the experience they have with sales.

Because of the impact that getting it right can have on your company’s revenue through increased sales and retention, this is an area where you definitely want to sharpen your focus.

Tips:

• For each campaign, meet with sales to align the objectives, tactics, and success metrics by which they will be measured.
• Create your best practices and create a guide that you will use and adapt as you achieve success with your ABM campaigns.

Read more about SEJ:

• Account-Based Marketing 101: Avoid These First Campaign Mistakes
• 5 great ways to combine traditional and digital marketing

conclusion

The changing search landscape and the ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic are just a couple of factors driving new content marketing trends and changes in consumer preferences around content.

And with this changing behavior come great opportunities to exceed researchers’ expectations.

The bar is high Medium content will no longer work.

Leverage these content trends for a more innovative and ultimately successful marketing strategy in 2022.

More resources:

• 100 Types of Content: The Ultimate Guide for Marketers
• 8 essential content marketing roles and what each one does
• Content Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

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Featured image: Shutterstock / ViewApart
Infographic: Andy Bates and the Search Engine Newspaper