The holidays are upon us. Starbucks is rolling out festive drinks, crockpots are reappearing on kitchen counters, forgotten gloves are resurfacing in coat pockets, and content marketers are pulling out their calendars to prepare for the new year. To help you plan your 2021 content strategy, we consulted industry professionals to gather insights on the most anticipated content marketing trends—the strategies they’re eager to test, what they foresee, and the reasons behind their excitement. Here are the seven most significant content marketing trends you should be aware of as we head into the new year:
- Cultivating content communities
- Embracing live video and webinars
- Enhancing content experience
- Prioritizing products and services
- Experimenting with AI-generated content
- Reinforcing SEO efforts
- Repurposing content across multiple platforms Let’s dive right in!
1. Cultivating content communities
It’s no surprise that the biggest content marketing trend for 2021 revolves around building communities. With the surge of Slack communities in the tech world and the emphasis on personalized marketing during the pandemic, marketing teams have been actively fostering communities throughout the year. By establishing communities specifically for content sharing and creation, marketing teams can extend their reach, even with limited resources.
Image source Lauren Pope, content marketing manager at G2, believes that restricted resources and high output expectations will propel this trend forward in the coming year. “Eventually,” she notes, “every content team reaches a point of maximum content velocity, where each writer is producing as much content as possible without compromising quality.” She also highlights the advantages of expanding your brand’s reach by leveraging a network of contributors. “You gain access to the substantial audiences of these writers on platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and through word-of-mouth marketing, resulting in more experts eager to contribute to your publication.” While expanding your reach significantly benefits brand awareness—and, naturally, your metrics—this type of inclusivity also strengthens your relationship with your audience by nurturing a sense of community. Masooma Memon, a SaaS content marketer, anticipates that this inclusive, community-driven approach will have a positive effect on audience engagement. “Whether it’s content for social media, your blog, or a webinar, the focus will continue to be on making your audience feel like they belong to a community,” she observes. “People appreciate this sense of community; it makes them feel valued, so this trend should gain momentum.”
2. Embracing live video and webinars
With in-person events on hold this year, video and webinar content have taken center stage—and their prominence isn’t waning. “My prediction is that video marketing, particularly the surge in live video, will persist in 2021,” Masooma forecasts. This isn’t solely due to limitations on in-person gatherings; live video was already on an upward trajectory before the pandemic. “The reason? Video offers a swift and compelling way to convey your message and educate your audience. Consumers today seek quick access to information and learning, and video marketing excels in this domain.”
The fact that a majority of marketers report a positive ROI for video marketing certainly doesn’t hurt either. The increased attention on live video and webinars presents an opportunity. “As a result, we’re likely to witness innovative approaches to webinars,” says Patrick Whatman, content marketing lead at Spendesk. “Expect to see more intimate AMA sessions and masterclasses, fireside chats, and other interactive formats gaining traction. People are increasingly less interested in passive viewing of 30+ slides; they crave interaction and the ability to ask questions. This aspect excites me as well. While I’m constantly involved in webinars, I rarely attend them as a participant because I find that the information is more readily available (and accessible on my own time) in blog posts. However, the opportunity to engage directly with experts in a smaller group setting remains highly appealing.”
3. Enhancing content experience
Have you ever clicked on an intriguing article only to be bombarded by pop-ups and intrusive ads? It’s an incredibly frustrating experience that often leads to closing the page without reading a single word. Conversely, I find myself drawn to tools like I Miss the Office simply because they look interesting—even though I certainly don’t miss the sounds of coworkers chewing.
The takeaway is that the way you interact with content can be just as crucial as the content itself. This is why prioritizing content experience will be a key content marketing trend, whether it’s through novel, interactive content or improved UX. “To achieve ROI with your content, focus on the content experience. This means ensuring users stay engaged on your website, resonate with your writing, effortlessly find what they need, and ultimately enter your sales funnel,” explains content marketing expert Adam Enfroy. “Pat Flynn’s learning pages serves as an excellent example of a remarkable content experience. They seamlessly incorporate text content, courses, webinars, videos, podcast episodes, and strategically placed calls-to-action. If brands haven’t already adopted a similar content silo page approach to generate leads, now is the time to start.” >> How to Conduct a Content Audit (+6 Free Templates)
4. Prioritizing products and services
Another enduring content marketing trend anticipated by experts is a heightened focus on bottom-of-the-funnel content directly related to core offerings. This emphasis will be partly driven by budget constraints or cautious marketing strategies. “I anticipate businesses will strive to remain as lean as possible, at least for the next 6-9 months,” Patrick remarks. “This applies to content marketing as well. Therefore, I believe content marketers will prioritize laser-focusing on their key buyer personas and core topics. Now is not the time for venturing into uncharted territories.” This laser-focus translates to greater attention to bottom-of-the-funnel content, specifically tailored to key buyer personas and closely aligned with the product or service being offered. It can also contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of content ROI. G2 already embodies this approach, according to Lauren. “Recently, we’ve placed a much stronger emphasis on developing content that directly supports product launches, user integrations, and more,” she explains. “This makes it considerably easier to attribute content marketing’s influence on revenue and reinforces the exceptional work of our other internal marketing teams.”
5. Experimenting with AI-generated content
My initial experience with an AI-powered content tool this fall left me impressed by its novelty and futuristic potential—with a hint of apprehension (but we’ll delve into that later). Upon further investigation, I discovered that content specialists have actually been predicting the rise of AI in content for quite some time. With tools like the API GPT-3 and Contentyze, which harnesses AI to transform data into summaries, captions, and even complete blog posts, becoming more readily available, this trend is poised for significant growth in 2021. “I’ve been on the GPT-3 waitlist for what feels like an eternity,” shares Rachel Pilcher, a B2B and SaaS conversion copywriter. “This is the tool I’m most excited to explore for my own content marketing endeavors. The recent breakthroughs in AI technology hold intriguing possibilities for marketers, so I’m incredibly hopeful that I’ll gain access to it in 2021 (fingers crossed!).”
As for the potential threat to content marketers, I don’t believe there’s cause for alarm. The PPC industry has been grappling with the prospect of automation replacing jobs for years—and if anything, automation has empowered account managers to achieve even greater results. Moreover, I’m confident that AI-generated copy will still demand more content editing than your average blog post.
6. Reinforcing SEO efforts
Certain trends never completely fade away but rather cycle in and out of prominence. In fashion, it’s corduroy. In beauty, it’s blue eyeliner. In content marketing, it’s SEO. “I anticipate high-quality SEO will remain a fundamental aspect of content marketing in 2021,” states Sales Hacker Head of Content, Brooklin Nash. “Second-movers will need to discover ways to set themselves apart from the dominant SEO players—targeting niche and long-tail keywords and generating content that surpasses the ubiquitous ‘Ultimate Guides’ and ‘Top 55’ lists in terms of engagement.”
Perhaps we’ve taken things too far. This signifies that investing time in crafting a robust SEO strategy and delving into keyword research to uncover those valuable long-tail opportunities will be even more critical for your content marketing strategy in the coming year.
7. Repurposing content across multiple platforms
This might be my personal favorite content marketing trend. With the emphasis on maximizing output with fewer resources, it’s logical that next year will witness a stronger focus on repurposing content across different channels. When you dedicate time and effort to producing high-quality, engaging content, it makes sense to share it with the widest possible audience. Repurposing is the most effective way to achieve this. “I’m particularly excited to observe how content teams approach content repurposing instead of starting from scratch,” Brooklin comments. “Brands have largely mastered the virtual event landscape in 2020. In 2021, content teams will shift their focus to identifying the most impactful ways to leverage content from webinars, roundtables, podcasts, and conferences to fuel their content engine. Every panel discussion holds the potential for at least five social media posts, a blog post, and a newsletter mention. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—just find ways to make it spin faster.” A content audit can be immensely helpful in this regard! Make sure to explore our blog post on conducting a content audit (complete with free templates!).
Capitalize on these emerging content marketing trends now
As you formulate your content marketing strategy for the year ahead, keep these trends at the forefront of your mind. The overarching theme for the coming year is creating high-quality content that delivers exceptional value for your business—without necessarily demanding additional resources. This is a principle we can all embrace to enhance our content creation efforts and surpass our marketing objectives in 2021.