From skimming through an encyclopedia to searching on the internet to asking Siri or Alexa for an answer, the content landscape has grown immensely. But, it’s not the end. With technology changing our lives every day, a strong content marketing strategy can survive these changes by staying abreast of future trends.
Before we dive into the future, let’s look at the journey content has taken over several decades.
How has content marketing grown over the years
Content marketing is a technique that rightly justifies the proverb actions speak louder than words. It helps you establish your authority in the industry and share the expanse of knowledge you have about it in a way that benefits the audience and the business.
Related: What does content marketing mean for your business
Content marketing is not a very recent phenomenon, but something gained immense traction over the last decade or so. An influencer in driving its growth are search engines, especially Google.
The search engine recognises two aspects of good content marketing –
- Relevancy of content to your audience
- Content engagement and user experience
Following this was the advent of social media channels like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok that pushed the boundaries for what content could do for businesses.
The pace of change has never been more rapid. As we write this article, Facebook has changed its name to Meta, and Google released yet another update on its algorithm.
So, just like that, with these updates, the present of content marketing is already its past.
Challenges of content marketing today
Content marketing faces an endless challenge from search engines and social media channels as their algorithm updates affect its reach. It may also dilute the quality of content as brands may shift their attention from customer-focused to being SERPs-focused. There are several other challenges that content marketing faces:
Growing competition
Your brand is among the 200 million businesses on Facebook or 37 million creators on YouTube who upload 500 hours of video every minute. This kind of competition makes it tougher to reach your audience.
Shrinking attention span
The first 6 seconds of any video you watch or create are critical. It is because the attention span of humans is only decreasing with time. A Statista report revealed that the attention span dropped to 8 seconds in 2013 from 12 seconds in 2000.
Competing with platform features
Notice how the first result on searching ‘calculator’ on Google is its very own feature? Same with searching flights, weather, diseases or even Covid-19 updates. Search engines like Google or even social media platforms want you to use their products and stay on them. Midst this, brands need to compete with these features to present their ideas and products.
Future of content marketing
Brands approach content marketing as a means of adding value to their customers. While algorithm changes are beyond control, it is essential to create and distribute content that survives them. Good content marketing does not rely on one channel to drive business growth. It requires a holistic approach, with user experience at its core.
The future of content marketing looks promising with exciting new channels and trends:
Audio Content
From audiobooks to podcasts, there is a steady rise in audio content by brands and creators. It’s an easy to consume content format that often functions in the background.
AI audio content
Thanks to artificial intelligence, getting answers to queries is much like speaking with another person. The likes of Alexa and Siri are changing the world. Brands will need to adopt a content marketing strategy that enables algorithms to choose them over others.
Related: How AI affects digital marketing?
Exclusive content
Riding on FOMO, brands and platforms provide exclusive content to its audience who subscribe to its services. It works well for brand loyalists who love the brand and want to know more about it.
Video
Videos are visual storytelling media and are here to stay. With numerous tools like Canva and InShot that make video editing a breeze and increasingly incredible camera quality on mobiles, video content is all set to grow. Both long and short-form video is thriving to serve the needs of the audience. While short videos are gaining popularity among small businesses, it’s not long before established brands will recognise it’s true potential.
Non-intrusive content and content curation
Content that fits seamlessly into various narratives without being sales-oriented will win. Additionally, brands will adopt methods to curate content than just creating it. It is essential to provide value to the audience, and if small pieces of information from various sources help build your case, it will work.
The content marketing landscape is dynamic. While we cannot outline what the future would look like, creating awareness of the possibilities that may influence it will help. Building brand loyalty is tougher than ever, so unless you can build your industry authority, the future of your business may seem bleak.