It is expected that in 2023 there will be changes, new innovations and new technologies that will shake things up in one way or another. Content marketing, after all, is all about experimentation and, as online habits continue to evolve and the industry in general continues to mature, it’s important that companies ensure their strategies are keeping pace.
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So today, we're gazing into our crystal ball and bringing you our top 3 content marketing predictions for 2023.
However, before we do so, it’s important to remember that no matter what else changes, great content will always be great content. New technologies may help us distribute it better, new tools may help us make it more personalised and there may even be new social networks emerging somewhere down the line that may help us share it farther and wider. But, at the end of the day, if the actual content you create for your target audience doesn’t resonate, no amount of digital wizardry will make it work for you.
The key focus for content marketers in 2023 and beyond remains to create content that aligns with the latest content marketing trends. No matter what changes the future brings, the ability to create engaging and valuable content will continue to be crucial for success in this field.
So, taking that as a given, let's now move on to our content marketing trends for 2023.
3 Content Marketing Predictions for 2018
1. Content Marketing Roles Will Continue to Evolve
Content may still be king – but we’re not just bowing down to written content anymore.
Years ago, when digital marketers talked about “content”, it was typically the written word – the blog – that was being referred to.
In 2023, a content strategy that solely relies on writing will no longer suffice. To keep up with the dynamic online audience, organisations must prioritise hiring content marketing teams with a diverse skill set that aligns with key content marketing trends. Such a comprehensive approach is vital to ensure the success of a content strategy in the current digital landscape.
The format is still going strong of course, and indeed, a solid blog will still form the cornerstone of all content marketing efforts (for SEO purposes if nothing else). But, the time is coming where organisations will need to move beyond the blog and consider other formats much more seriously.
Video marketing will continue to rise in importance, as will all aspects of visual marketing. Audio, such as podcasts, will also need to feature in many organisations’ strategies.
For next year, it will be time to consider expanding your content marketing team to include people who not only have writing skills, but video production and editing skills; graphic design skills; photography and photo-editing skills; and audio production and editing skills as well.
The latest figures from the Content Marketing Institute do indeed confirm these trends – in 2017, the average company used eight separate content marketing tactics in their strategies. And we might go out on a limb here and say that we predict this figure will grow in 2018.
(Image source: contentmarketinginstitute.com)
2. More Mobile-optimised Content
Recent research from comScore found that mobile now accounts for a massive 69% of all time spent on digital media.
(Image source: comscore.com)
And this holds true even for a site like YouTube – again, seven out of every ten minutes spent consuming video on YouTube is on mobile.
What’s more, there is a growing audience that relies exclusively on mobile for internet access, with the largest cohort being women aged 18-24 (22%).
(Image source: comscore.com)
As consumers increasingly shift towards mobile devices and abandon desktops, it's highly probable that brands will focus more on creating content that is tailored for mobile screens. This includes not only optimising content creation for mobile devices, but also creating more video content, which is well-suited for mobile consumption.
What's your content marketing strategy for mobile in 2023?
3. More Ephemeral Content
For many years, many content marketing teams have focussed a significant proportion of their efforts on creating evergreen content – i.e. content that can be almost continuously recirculated for months (if not years) on end.
And this tactic does of course make good business sense. Creating content is a time-expensive endeavour – and so investing that time in the creation of evergreen content delivers the best chance of a good ROI.
However, today, the digital world is a fast-paced environment – especially in the realms of social media where most content is promoted.
Snapchat was the first big company to really pioneer the concept of ephemeral content – photographs that vanish into oblivion just seconds after they’ve been viewed. It’s become a massively popular platform, especially amongst young people. Brands are using it more and more to connect with their audiences.
Indeed, it took a couple or three years perhaps, but it wasn’t long before first Instagram and then Facebook followed the ephemeral content suit with their own “Stories” features that essentially mimic the Snapchat offering.
The great thing about ephemeral content of this nature is that it keeps consumers coming back for more. Evergreen is always there when you need it, but when you want to engage regularly with an audience and keep them entertained in near real-time, it’s Snapchat, Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories that will likely continue to grow in importance over the coming year – particularly (if not exclusively for the time being) in B2C.
An example below of Instagram Stories marketing from menswear retailer J.Crew.
(Image source: instagram.com)
Some Final Thoughts
Content marketing is a dynamic industry that is constantly changing. As such, it's essential for content marketing roles to evolve in order to keep up with the industry and meet the demands of consumers. With the increasing popularity of short form video and content marketing strategies, content marketers must adapt and integrate these new approaches into their overall strategy to stay competitive.
There was no such thing as ephemeral content just a few short years ago, but now that the biggest social media platforms in the world have created a space for it, marketers will have to fill it, as that’s what consumers will expect. Finally, as the world continues to go mobile, so too must content marketing – video will continue to be the most important format in this regard as well.
If you need to expand your content marketing in a new effort for 2023, get in touch with the growth experts here at Incisive Edge today.
