The evolution of content creation and delivery in digital marketing never sleeps. As we head deeper into 2022, changes in consumer habits and new digital marketing strategies will continue to emerge. While it’s easier to go with “what has worked before,” it’s a risky proposition that can result in marketable leads drying up as the competition adopts new strategies and technology, leaving you behind.
How content is developed and delivered changed significantly in 2020 and 2021. While progress is being made in the fight against COVID-19, the fact remains that many of the changes in how business is done will remain with us as part of the “new normal.”
While your industry, business goals, and product type or service all play critical roles in developing and evolving your content marketing strategy, there are a few general trends that all marketers should consider adopting to keep up with the competition in 2022.
Content delivery formats are expanding
1. Interactive content
I expect to see interactive content gain even more traction in 2022. Reimagine how you can make your static landing page content interactive with tools such as interactive eBooks, reports, guides, animations, and expandable infographics. Interactive content keeps prospects more engaged on your website, which increases time on page and improves SEO. And the longer you can keep a prospect engaged, the better the opportunity for improving you brand preference and driving conversions.
2. Video marketing
According to a HubSpot survey, more than 75 percent of marketers who use video says it’s their most effective content format. As video’s popularity continues to grow, it will become even more important to find a way to stand out. This may require specialists who are well versed in both the development and technology available to deliver high-quality video marketing assets. The good news is that making videos in-house is no longer a cost-prohibitive proposition.
Additionally, specific practices are being developed to deliver focused strategies in video marketing:
- Some businesses are adopting a Video First strategy, making video content the very first step in content development. The videos are then repurposed into text and audio mediums to support more traditional content strategies.
- Interactive videos are another approach where the call to action and potentially other interactive features are integrated into the video format. Combining interactivity with video brings two powerful content strategies together and allows for a more seamless customer experience.
- Short-form video content is another approach that promises to be a big trend in 2022. As we have collectively increased our screen time during the pandemic, our general attention spans have diminished. Getting right to the point is more important than ever and respects the viewers’ time while helping them make a more informed decision. Expect to see more Short Form content in the marketplace going forward.
3. Hybrid events
As people slowly come out of their virtual cocoons, customers are looking for a better balance of the virtual space and real-world, in-person events. We can expect to see a continued return to live events such as conventions and workshops; however, with the ever-present threat of new COVID variants and the proven efficiencies of virtual events, a hybrid approach is recommended for 2022.
4. Virtual sales meetings are here to stay
In-person events and meetings are starting to make a comeback, but some markets have decided to stick with virtual sales meetings — which means live product demos, video tutorials, and webcasts are here to stay. They’ve adapted to online and virtual meeting room interactions while still delivering high-quality products and services. Without the benefit of a salesperson physically present to convince and convert, creative solutions were needed to help customers cross the decision point. Some of the most effective solutions include delivering product demos via video tutorials and live webcasts, and pivoting to a “self-service” model with landing pages and microsites, allowing for self-paced discovery and education.
5. Audio content
Podcasts and on-demand streaming services continue to grow and compete with content marketing strategies that rely heavily on text and video. Savvy content developers are transforming existing video and text content into audio content to get more mileage out of the content on hand. One of the biggest advantages of audio content is its portability and ease of consumption while engaging in other activities. Customers and prospects now pop on a podcast or streaming service while shopping, exercising, or commuting. Podcasts are predicted to trend higher into 2022 and beyond. If you’re curious about how the Demand Generation team does podcasting, visit demandgenradio.com.
6. Infographics
As I mentioned in my blog post last year on the power of data visualization, the human brain is particularly adept at processing visual content. People are naturally wired to remember what they see better than what they read or hear. Need to see it to believe it? Check out these stats. Visual content like infographics provide an easy-to-digest and stimulating method of conveying useful information quickly and efficiently. And with our collective attention spans taking a hit over the past two years, think more visual content, not less.
7. Optimizing content for voice search
Voice-activated technology and services such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant continue to become more ubiquitous, meaning that content optimized for voice search will be an important consideration. This means reevaluating customer intent in the form of questions, not the more conventional conversational format of most text-based queries. This will require some experimentation to figure out how to deliver the appropriate content in response to questions, while not impacting how the content ranks in text queries on search engines.
New trends and proven strategies
8. Multi-platform social marketing
The value of marketing automation is proven and recognized as an essential tool for improving bottom-line growth. This includes automation in social media marketing as well. Some industry analysts have called 2022 the year of automated social marketing. The rise in multi-platform social marketing has created a demand for social advertising automation tools to help navigate often chaotic and confusing social media platforms. As new social tools are rolled out and gain popularity, marketers need to learn how to adapt to those platforms and reach targeted audiences with relevant content. Social marketing automation tools can help streamline time-consuming manual processes on these platforms and manage multiple campaigns, track consumer journeys, and capture valuable customer data.
9. Personalized and empathetic content
As customers look for more relevant experiences from the brands they interact with, they will continue to gravitate to those brands that provide personalized content. Hyper-personalized content, which goes beyond just including a first name, provides unique interactions tailored to individual customers through the use of data, analytics, and automation. Empathetic content marketing puts the customer first with content that speaks to who they are and their unique needs and challenges. Showing that you understand your customers, through personalized content and empathetic marketing, goes a long way toward building trust and delivering an authentic customer experience.
10. Machine learning and AI-assisted platforms
Machine learning and data will work together to drive engagement efficiencies. By analyzing data to determine which products and services a prospect will most likely be interested in, AI will help drive targeted marketing in concert with big data. AI can then select or create targeted content to deliver to those prospects. As AI learns more about individual behavior and trends, it can begin to predict future interest. Chatbots have become standard and are becoming so sophisticated that it’s becoming difficult if not impossible for a prospect to know when they are interacting with AI or a human. Customers have already become used to engaging with chatbots, proving their acceptance and effectiveness. The level of sophistication and active interaction with bots will only continue to rise throughout 2022. Chatbots will become even smarter and see deeper integration with third-party software.
11. Customer lifecycle management
Businesses want to create an engaging and evolving experience throughout a customer’s lifetime as their needs and values evolve. This requires moving from a static product- or service-driven approach to a dynamic, behavioral one that approaches customer segments based on where they are in life (e.g., college student, young professional, senior in their career, retired). Customer lifecycle management is more about understanding where a customer is in their personal life as opposed to where they are in the buyer’s journey. Brands will need to study a user’s behavior to better understand the motives behind their searches and purchases and how those align with the user’s changing needs over time — and adapt their content, messaging, and channels accordingly.
12. Customer retention will be valued over acquisition
Given that 90% of customer lifetime value occurs after the first purchase, a bigger focus will be placed on customer retention instead of acquisition. The customer experience is moving to a more cross-functional journey that will drive future campaigns based on previous engagement and response. Marketers need to figure out which platforms and messaging channels (e.g., social, mobile, email) are most effective to retain clients for the long term.
13. Mobile-first initiatives
As mobile continues to become many people’s primary device, marketers will continue to build strategies that leverage tools like push notifications, SMS marketing, mobile wallet, and in-app notifications. It’s predicted that about 72 percent of internet users worldwide will only access it from their smartphones by 2025. Understanding their platform preferences and figuring out how to gain and keep your prospects’ and customers’ attention on their phones now will help ensure a positive customer experience down the road — no matter what device they use.
14. Relevant and personalized messaging for each stage of the buyer’s journey
No change here. Providing relevant digital assets across all aspects of the buyer’s journey creates more opportunities for a wider audience to engage with your business. Succeeding in this area requires creating a lot of content that aligns with your various buyer personas’ interests and needs at different points in time. The result? Prospects can choose when and where to access content and to what depth, allowing for more informed choices. A key aspect of this approach is delivering the right content to the right audience at the right time. This agile approach to communication — as opposed to traditional batch-and-blast campaigns or pushing a product or service with no consideration for where the prospect is in the buyer’s journey — is still proving to be critical for businesses moving forward. Just pushing products isn’t enough. Customers are looking for authentic messaging that is proactive, personalized, and timely. Businesses that understand and adapt to how customers want to be supported and engaged will be the ones to succeed.
Deliver the content your customers and prospects want — the way they want it
The bottom line is that customers are less patient and have access to more channels than ever before. Failing to acknowledge and adapt to these trends will lead to static content, loss of brand loyalty, and diminishing conversions.
This doesn’t mean you have to rebuild your content creation and delivery strategies from the ground up. Take the time to evaluate your current strategies and assess how they stack up against the growing trends in your industry. Determine where you can repurpose existing content into new formats and where you can implement new strategies for the most ROI. BDO Digital offers a wide array of services — from MarTech and Digital Transformation assessments and strategy development and training to MarTech deployment and integration services and Expert Services that supplement your existing demand generation or Marketing Ops teams — so you don’t have to go on that journey alone.
As a Client Engagement Manager, Mike Jacobanis works closely with clients to understand their objectives and guide projects to successful completion. With over 20 years working with digital agencies and the large enterprise, his broad expertise spans demand generation, lead generation, marketing automation, database marketing, and marketing operations. His early experience as a software developer serves as a solid foundation for coming up with forward-thinking technical solutions to solve even the most complex business challenges.
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