Optimal content creation is becoming increasingly challenging. Vast amounts of content get churned out daily, but only some get recognized.
To get the most out of your content marketing strategy, try following the latest content marketing trends for 2022.
Table of Contents
- Short-Video Content is King
- Optimizing Content for Voice and Visual Search
- AR/VR Content Creation Trends
- More Interactive Content
- Infographics Trends in Content
- Podcasts
- Niche and Specialized Content
- Personalization and Hyper-Personalization Approach
- What’s Not Changing in Content Creation?
- Wrapping Up
Short-Video Content is King
Video content continues to grow, and 2022 will be no exception. The creation of short videos is one of the top global content marketing trends.
Concise and informative videos allow businesses to quickly connect with customers. According to a Wyzowl survey, 86% of companies use video as a key marketing tool.
Five most trendy video formats to follow in 2022:
- Commercials
- Social content
- Explainers
- Product videos
- Testimonials
Quick Takeaways about Video Production for Business in 2022
- Live videos should be a top priority
- Videos should be SEO optimized
- Vlogging is the best format for brand storytelling
- Social media stories help to interact with customers daily
- AR/VR videos such as “try before you buy”
- Optimized video for silent viewing
Optimizing Content for Voice and Visual Search
With digital assistants like Siri or Alexa, searching for information has become more accessible and faster. People even make purchases through voice, and this is projected to become more popular over time. It’s not just about content marketing for tech companies; it’s for everyone.
Voice shopping will reach $40 billion in the U.S. by 2022, so you should optimize all your existing and new content for voice search. Here are some tips on how to deal with emerging trends and issues in marketing:
- Use long-tail keywords. If you’re developing facial recognition software, try not to use the keyword “software,” since there’ll be a lot of competition. Try “free facial recognition app for photos.”
- Optimize content for local search. According to Neil Patel, local searches make up around 46% of total searches and attract highly-engaged buyers.
- Create content that answers your customer’s questions. You need to provide detailed answers to the most common question in the field. The “people also ask” section on Google can help you with this.
- Provide clear and easy-to-read content. Avoid long and complex phrases; try to write like people speak.
Visual search impacts SEO optimization with the appearance of search technologies like Google Lens and Pinterest Lens.
Using machine learning, they allow our smartphones to recognize objects and products through the viewfinder.
It’s predicted that the visual search and optical recognition market will reach approximately $40 billion by 2025.
Visual content marketing trends should therefore be followed and adopted as soon as possible.
Tips to Optimize your Content for Visual Search:
- Add multiple images to your product page. It will provide more visibility in image SERPs and guarantee a better user experience on your website.
- Use detailed metadata in the description of images. Add descriptive file names, alt text, titles, and captions to drive traffic to your website and specific product pages via images.
- Create recognizable and unique brand styles. Reflect your brand and message. A memorable visual identity will also help current and potential customers easily recognize your brand anywhere!
AR/VR Content Creation Trends
International Data Corporation (IDC) research says that the VR and AR market will reach €15.5 billion by 2022. AR/VR apps are top rated in mCommerce because of how much information they provide about products.
Undoubtedly, businesses will continue to experiment with videos, games, and 360 degree video formats.
Companies have already created pilot programs for AI use in writing advertisement copy, digital ad buying, creating buyer persona composites, and hosting immersive virtual meetings.
VR and AR technologies make content more enjoyable because of their immersive nature.
However, the cost of AR/VR devices tends to be a hurdle, though thanks to increasing investments in the sector, they are likely to become more and more affordable in the future.
More Interactive Content
To compete with the vast amount of available content, you need to provide creative formats to grab customers’ attention. Static content — like articles and ebooks — is good, but it’s also important to think about promoting more interaction. When people are dealing directly with the content, they are more engaged.
Choose the formats that fit your target audience and think about implementing them into your content strategy.
Best formats of Interactive Content 2022
- Quizzes
- Interactive infographics
- Widgets
- Image sliders
- Games
- Interactive maps
- Motion graphics
- Calculators
- Timelines
Infographics Trends in Content
Infographics are still one of the most potent visual formats for delivering information to customers. For sure, good text matters, but people only remember 10–20% of what they read. Pictures make learning up to 400 times more effective.
Infographics are the best way to pack helpful information in one graphic table that could easily complement or replace a large text.
The most common types of infographics are visual resumes, timelines, data visualization, visual articles, comparison, and list-based infographics. Which type of graphic to use depends on your marketing goals.
Do you want to educate your audience with valuable tips? Or show pros and cons in comparison with competitors?
Podcasts
Podcasts are one of the most established trends in content creation; the podcast is a long-form media format that lends itself to discussing a topic more deeply and with confidence.
For sure, audio content is nothing new, but it still works well as a passive format for sharing information with people who are busy or multitasking. In 2022, the most important things to focus on will definitely be good audio quality in short form (from 5 to 10 minutes).
Niche and Specialized Content
Small companies and startups are struggling to stand out among competitors. To be recognizable, you need to create a face for your brand.
Define your company’s advantages and unique features and create more specific, niche content to raise brand recognition.
Watch out for the latest tendencies in your niche and create content that provides solutions to your customer’s needs. Show your competency and establish your brand.
In short, your content strategy should become part of the customer’s world.
This means that marketers should spend more time researching their target audience’s needs and providing content based on them.
The process looks like this: invest in surveys and planning, create a stand-out strategy, and create well-created and engaging content.
Personalization and Hyper-Personalisation Approaches
In 2022, simply mentioning customers’ names in newsletters will not be enough. What are your clients’ needs, wants, and preferences? These are the issues that hyper-personalization works with.
Hyper-personalisation uses artificial intelligence and relevant real-time data to deliver the most pertinent information to a concrete, individual customer.
The most effective AI-based approaches for hyper-personalization are predictive analytics, user experience (UX), and content creation/curation applications.
What Has Not Changed in Content Creation?
Even though content marketing is changing the game, there are still some essential basics that need to be followed.
- Backlinks still matter
Google changes SEO optimization rules all the time, which leads to odd jumps in statistics, but backlink-oriented content is still a must.
- Outstanding content is still crucial
We’ve said above that we need backlink-oriented content, but that can’t be the extent of your strategy. Think about your customers and help them with creative and well-written pieces of content.
- Mobile optimization is a necessity
We are all living on our smartphones, and we can buy and pay with just one click. So, no matter how perfect your content is — optimize it for mobile.
Wrapping Up
In 2022, your content strategy demands high-quality content, optimized for local and visual search, and delivered to a concrete customer via a hyper-personalization approach.
Start with revising and reoptimizing the content you’ve already published and adapt it in a considered manner following new trends in content marketing.
About the Author
Katsia Radziuk is a Content Writer at Exadel. New tech, startup development, agile and screenwriting are among her interests. Contact Katsia at LinkedIn.