If you’re a marketer, you know that content marketing is not a one-and-done, surefire way to generate immediate conversions. Sharing content that consumers find valuable to draw them into your sales funnel is a long game where unspoken rules and “goal posts” tend to shift from year to year.
In 2022, the world of content will continue to expand and evolve along with brands’ marketing strategies. Depending on your goals, there are emerging and continuing trends in content marketing that can be leveraged to help shape your approach and refine your tactics. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share 16 content marketing trends they see having the biggest impact this year, along with ways for brands to leverage their power to reach target audiences.
Forbes Agency Council members share top content marketing trends for brands to stay on top of in 2022.
- A/B Testing Of Website Content
So often, A/B testing is left to paid advertising landing pages and not utilized for organic search traffic on high-value SEO pages, such as pillar content pages and blogs. In 2022, try running an A/B test on your website’s most popular blog post and see if it helps increase conversion rate. – Brandon Amoroso, electrIQ marketing
- Podcasting
Audio is a key trend in 2022, particularly podcasts! U.S. consumers listened to nearly 15 billion hours of podcasts in 2021, up 25% from 2020. This is a nascent platform and an incredible opportunity for marketers. – Andrea Palmer, Publicis Health Media (PHM)
- Marketing In The Metaverse
An estimated 85 million people used augmented reality or virtual reality in 2021. Usage has been growing steadily and has more than doubled since 2017, as technology advances have made VR and AR more enticing. If marketing in the metaverse isn’t already part of your strategy for 2022, it needs to be. Understanding how to market in it is critical to engaging younger consumers. – Mary Ann O’Brien, OBI Creative
- Video Marketing
If a picture says a thousand words about your product or service, then how many does a video say? Videos are a great medium to showcase company culture and in-depth benefits of what you provide, and they’re an easy way to get people excited. Also, moving ads can be more effective in social media marketing than still images. – David Kley, Web Design and Company
- The Launch Of Shoppable Links
One of the most important trends of 2022 is the launch of shoppable links that are created to ensure customers can go where they need to without having to leave the area where they first saw the information. This is one of the key features of marketing in 2022 that will change the marketplace. – Jon James, Ignited Results
- Building Human Connections Through Experiences
Video, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, voice-search optimization and a personalized experience are all content marketing trends in 2022. Content marketing is about the experience a business provides to its lead in order to create a series of follow-up campaign touches that lead to reengagement, retention and referrals. Connection—true human connection—is key, and those four areas will be areas to watch in 2022. – Vix Reitano, Agency 6B
- Leveraging Data-Backed Insights From External Sources
The difference between good and great will be a brand’s ability to leverage data-backed insights from external sources to inform content production. Content marketers have used internal data-backed insight for years, but that’s only half the picture. The other half is uncovered by using external audience, market and competitive insights to empower marketers to create more impactful content. – Charlie Grinnell, RightMetric
- Brands Turning Individual Content Creators Into Ambassadors
We will see another spike in content creation by individuals, using podcasts, blogs, vlogs and social media to put out entertaining or educational content. Brands that acknowledge the power of that content and incorporate it into their strategies will be leading in 2022. This allows them to identify trends instead of working with commonly used keywords and turn content creators into brand ambassadors. – Melanie Marten, The Coup
- Focusing On Usability And Conversion Prowess
Brands need to take every Google algorithm update and success indicator focusing on user experience to heart when it comes to their marketing as well. Every piece of content is either going to help users convert or drive them into the arms of your competition. Businesses need to stop focusing on the volume of their content and focus on usability and conversion prowess. – Bernard May, National Positions
- Leveraging UGC And UDC
I expect to see brands lean into leveraging user-generated content and user-directed content. The world has lain dormant over the past two years, and consumers are eager to get out and be active again. The result is endless amounts of usable content. Brands and agencies need to create strategies to best gather and use UGC and UDC content for their creative marketing purposes. – Annette Sally, Blue Sky Agency
- Using 3D Imaging and AR For E-Commerce
This entirely depends on what industry you are in or the audience segment you are after, which will determine the channel and the content that is appropriate for the channel. Is it B2B or B2C? For B2B, video has been hot for a while, but using 3D imaging and AR for e-commerce is coming into its own, giving customers more visibility into products and how they may fit in their own spaces. – Megan Devine, d.trio marketing group
- Using AI Tools
Artificial intelligence content tools, such as Jarvis, will have positive and negative impacts on the world of content. The positive side is that average marketers will be able to put out larger quantities of content with less effort. The negative side is that the internet could be flooded with AI-generated content to the point where authentic content, while better, will be harder to find on search engines. – Christopher Carr, Farotech
- Fueling Band Growth With Mutually Beneficial Partnerships
From television and film to music videos and social influencers’ content, the understanding of the power of organic, authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships to fuel brand growth has increased. Brands will be leveraging other people’s content even more in 2022. – Stacy Jones, Hollywood Branded
- Leveraging Social Media Video Platforms
The top content marketing trend for 2022 is social media videos, as seen on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Leveraging these platforms’ trends—such as challenges, hashtag videos, lip-syncing videos and more—has the potential to be the most impactful strategy for brands. – Tellef Lundevall, Accelerated Digital Media
- Leading With Empathy And Value-Driven Content
Value-driven content will become the norm in 2022. Compared to before the pandemic, customers now expect brands to speak authentically and with empathy. This includes addressing sustainability, social responsibility, inclusivity and diversity. But leading with empathy also extends to more mundane but crucial communications, such as relaying shipping times and product shortages. – Donna Robinson, Collective Measures
- An Increasing Focus On The Hybrid Agency Model
In 2022, there’s going to be a focus on the hybrid agency model. This is a way of doing business in which agencies can delegate a part of their fulfillment work to a partner who actually understands it better and can provide much better service in less time. It’s extremely effective, as it allows agencies to still focus on their core responsibilities while filling in their weak spots. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS
Check out my website.
