Top 12 content marketing trends you should follow in 2024

Content marketing continues to be a cornerstone of marketing strategies, offering a cost-effective way to promote businesses. However, the landscape is ever-evolving, and staying updated with the latest trends is essential for marketers and businesses to remain competitive.

Over the past decade, content marketing has evolved significantly, from a mere checkbox on the marketing checklist to a driving force behind accelerated growth. What worked last year may not yield the same results today, as the strategies and tactics continue to evolve.

Let’s delve into 12 key content marketing trends that will redefine your approach and elevate your strategy in 2024.

1. Create interactive content
2. Go niche with your content
3. Create content to accommodate natural language search
4. Podcasts
5. Content remarketing
6. Personalized content experience
7. Length of the content
8. Importance of video content
9. Short video content
10. Influencer marketing
11. Leverage AI-powered content creation
12. Tap into data-driven insights

1. Create interactive content

Interactive content is still one of the most popular trends in the digital marketing industry. It is a great way to engage users in a fun and creative way and make them feel like they are part of the story. Interactive content can be anything from quizzes to games, to polls.

Interactive content can be used in a variety of ways to engage with customers and provide them with an experience that they will remember. For example, if you’re promoting a new product or service, interactive content can be used to collect feedback from customers and use it to improve your products.

Some common uses for interactive content include:

• User-generated content
• Interactive tutorials
• Interactive calculators
• Social media polls, quizzes, and surveys
• Interactive infographics

2. Niche content marketing

Being a niche expert means that you establish yourself as an expert in a particular area that makes you stand out from the crowd even though you are serving a wider public.

Whatever industry you’re in, there’s likely to be an over-saturation of content. With this level of content saturation, it’s impossible to be regarded as an authority in all fields. Therefore, focusing on niches is the best way to be recognized as an expert within a specific field.

Below are some of the benefits of niche content marketing:

• Reduced Competition
• Increased Visibility
• Increased Brand Loyalty
• You Need Fewer resources

3. Optimize for natural language search

With the invention of personal virtual assistants such as Alexa by Amazon, Google Assistant, and Cortana by Microsoft, It is evident that the giants have recognized the importance of audio search. Audio search has taken the past few years by surprise.

According to a survey, 71% of people aged 18-29 use personal assistants and voice commands to search online. Teenagers, in particular, use voice search extensively to get help with their homework.

In view of the argument presented above, content marketers can not overlook the importance of creating content to accommodate natural language search. Writing content that is in sync with how we talk will have more visibility.

For example, when writing an H1 for a web page, “Top-ranked marketing courses in Australia,” instead, the pattern should be “What are the top-ranked marketing courses taught in Australia.”

Considering the conversational nature of voice searches, content marketers must write long, detailed, and naturally phrased sentences.

Related Read: How to build a comprehensive B2B content marketing strategy

4. Harness the power of podcasts

According to Statista, “ In 2006, only 22 percent of the US adult population was aware of podcasting. By 2022, this figure had risen to almost 80 percent. This number is projected to rise even further, reaching over 110 million listeners by 2029.”

Audio content marketing is a relatively new marketing channel. It is an excellent way to communicate your message and engage your audience. Podcasts are a great way to do audio content marketing as they can provide the listeners with an in-depth look into your company and its products.

Podcasts are an engaging, convenient, and time-saving way for people to consume content on the go. They are also an excellent option for those who struggle with reading or don’t have the time to read anymore because they allow people to take in information in a different way.

5. Embrace content remarketing

This huge surge in corporations’ marketing budgets cements the fact that remarketing has made a comeback against all odds.

One major factor contributing to its success is remarketing. Remarketing allows websites to show targeted ads to past visitors while watching videos on YouTube or shopping online.

The conversion rate for remarketing is going through the roof. Setting up a campaign isn’t difficult at all. Some major platforms contributing to remarketing are Google ad remarketing, and Facebook remarketing. Such a huge number of user base from these platforms ensure that your remarketing campaign is bound to increase sales.

If you consistently share content on your social media channels, you can take advantage of platforms such as Replug, which can be used for retargeting whenever someone clicks on it.

A few worthy mentions of businesses that used retargeting to generate considerable profits include Mazda & Merchenta, Watchfinder & Periscopix, eBags & Google and Lumension & Just Media. If you want to read individual case studies on retargeting, you can check out the ConversionXL article.

6. Personalize the content experience

Suppose you call your mobile operator and are greeted by your name, told that you are a valued and priority customer, and treated very respectfully. This will definitely increase your confidence in your service provider. The same patterns are being applied to the digital and content marketing arena.

Websites accumulate data such as name, email, website URL, and designation to present you with a personalized greeting message. You will also have recorded their previous visit activity and suggest similar actions.

More and more digital marketers believe that a user-specific content experience is critical for converting online sales. Businesses could potentially show customized discounts or alter the general layout of their sites to funnel conversion.

7. Strike the right balance with content length

The past few years have seen a race amongst content marketers to produce lengthy articles ranging from 3000 to 4000 words. The idea behind such articles is that they should cover all aspects of a particular topic in detail so that the reader can deduce concrete results from the statistics presented. This approach works great for attaining better results in SERP. The graph below shows a relationship between word count and SERP.

Source

The flip side of the coin is that the young generation tends to lose concentration while reading articles exceeding 1000 words. Some experts have labeled it as the “Goldfish attention span”. Our analysis is contrary to that.

We believe that the millennials are able to extract more information from shorter content especially if the text is aided by some sort of visual content i.e. video, picture or infographics, etc.

The inclination towards social media platforms has further shortened the length of the articles being published.

This can be verified by Backlinko’s case study

8. Utilize video content

Video marketing is a great way to communicate with your customers and build brand awareness. According to Social Media Week, 78 percent of people watch online videos each week, while 55 percent of those watch online videos on a daily basis.

Videos are an excellent way to engage your audience because they are easier to consume than text-based content. This is especially true if you’re trying to reach a younger demographic. Studies have shown that people process visual information more efficiently than text, so videos are an excellent way of telling a story quickly and concisely.

Within the digital marketing community, video content persistently aids in lead generation. A video allows you to see the face behind the case and gives you a sense of confidence when making an online purchase. 

Related read: AI-powered video marketing

9. Short video content

The popularity of short-form video content has increased exponentially in the past few years. Short-form videos can now be seen on every platform. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook compete to promote short video content because the audience is now more inclined towards short videos.  

According to HubSpot, ”short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy.”

Many companies are starting to use short-form videos to promote their products because they are more cost-effective and have higher conversion rates.

A short video is a perfect way to interact with, engage, and educate your audience. It can showcase a product or service or introduce a new idea. Short videos are also great for social media posts and ads.

Read-up: How to make short-form video content that stands out in 2024

10. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing has been steadily gaining momentum in the last decade, to a point now where 90% of individuals trust the recommendations and propositions made by influencers they don’t even know.

This is a huge number compared to the ROI achieved against the budget spending on traditional marketing channels such as TV.

One thing is for sure, influencer marketing is here to stay, how it will be utilized, will change.

For businesses and individuals to ride the tide of influence marketing, below are a few noteworthy recommendations:

• Cherry pic top brand influencers pertaining to your industry
• Specifically targeting marketing campaigns toward shortlisted influencers
• Track key parameters of the marketing campaigns to judge the efficiency

Related read: Top 15 social media trends for marketers

11. Leverage AI-powered content creation

Utilize cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology to streamline your content creation process and produce high-quality content efficiently.

AI-powered content creation tools analyze data and trends to generate relevant ideas, saving time and resources while delivering personalized and engaging content to your audience.

12. Tap into data-driven insights

Harness the power of data-driven analytics to gain valuable insights from your content marketing efforts. Comprehensive analytics dashboards like ContentStudio’s allow you to track key metrics such as engagement, reach, and conversion rates, providing a deeper understanding of your audience’s preferences and behavior to optimize your content strategy for maximum impact.

Stay ahead of the curve with ContentStudio

Stay ahead of the curve and elevate your content marketing strategy with ContentStudio. With its comprehensive suite of tools and features, ContentStudio empowers you to discover trending content, create engaging visuals, schedule posts across multiple platforms, and analyze performance metrics – all in one platform. Sign up for a free trial today and take your content marketing to the next level with ContentStudio.

ContentStudio is creating a one-stop content curation and marketing platform that has the ability to produce niche-specific content for targeted marketing. Using the latest techniques in AI content generation, machine learning, and data science, fresh content is mined from the internet and customized to fulfill the reader’s appetite.

FAQs

Is content marketing a trend?

Content marketing is not merely a passing trend; it has become a fundamental strategy for businesses to engage with their audience, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. Its effectiveness lies in providing valuable, relevant, consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. As consumer behavior evolves and digital platforms proliferate, content marketing continues to adapt and grow, solidifying its position as a cornerstone of modern marketing strategies.

What are the 5 C’s of content marketing?

The 5 C’s are: Content, Context, Clarity, Consistency, and Connection.

What is the future of content marketing in 2024?

The future of content marketing in 2024 will be characterized by innovation, personalization, and a deeper focus on building meaningful connections with the audience.