Is content marketing dead in 2022?
Every week, you can search for an article declaring that content is over …
Why?
It’s too hard to reach an audience. Creators in all formats are abstaining. Social Media sites are narrowing intake. Ranking higher is getting increasingly difficult. And Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals can’t move the needle organically.
Big content marketers are reading the last rites and sounding the alarm about the field.
We’ll take a look at some of the content marketing trends over the next few years and explore whether or not it’s still a viable strategy. Spoiler alert: It is! Read on to find out why.
Too Many Channels With Nothing On
Content creation has never been easier. An eight-year-old with a phone can record, edit and post something on the internet that will be competing with other low-cost, easy-to-produce content.
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Gone are the days of major motion picture studios, TV networks and print Goliaths that monopolized distribution. Their content was force-fed to the audience. Today, everyone has a motion picture studio in the palm of their hand.
This present content glut was a given. You’d be an idiot not to see this trend. Content may be king, but it is overexposed.
What Is Content Marketing?
Marketers are like IT people and speak their own hard-to-understand language. Uh, like, what is content marketing?
Let’s explain the buzzword.
It is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive a profitable customer action.
When done right, content marketing has been proven to provide ROI far greater than many other traditional marketing channels.
Content Marketing Strategy Explained
Better content can increase traffic by 2,000%. Creating killer content marketing efforts requires more than just writing well-crafted words and publishing them online. To be truly effective, content needs to resonate with the target audience and stand out from the crowd.
A key prerequisite to a winning content marketing strategy is thorough research. You need to thoroughly understand your audience so that you can create engaging, relevant content tailored specifically to their needs and wants. In order to take your content strategy to the next level and create compelling, high-quality content that performs well across multiple platforms, start researching, refining, and optimizing the copy. The payoff will be worth it – in terms of both engagement and ROI. The content marketing industry is expected to grow by USD 417.85 billion from 2020 to 2025.
CONTENT MARKETING ISN’T DEAD, IT’S JUST HARDER!
Some digital marketing gods have declared that there is a glut of content and the big platforms (Google, Facebook, etc) are discouraging inbound content by reducing outbound links (social media) or making sure the plants in their own garden get all the water (Google prioritizing their own content).
Full podcast is here https://t.co/AaxVbP9UL8 where we cover a load of topics related to SEO's waning ability to drive competitive marketing advantage pic.twitter.com/glACvUIkTz
— Rand Fishkin (follow @randderuiter on Threads) (@randfish) October 28, 2021
SEO Veteran Rand Fishkin claims that the ‘’Golden age of SEO is gone.’’
He reminisced about the good old days when he used to work at Moz.
At that time, SEO was relatively low-competition. You could rank easily, and when you did rank, Google made sure to send people to your website, not keep them on Google.
But today, the situation is a whole lot different. You cannot rank number one by pointing to three anchor text phrases. Every keyword today has 10,000 competitors and SEO is much more complicated.
It’s not just marketers sounding the alarm, but governmental officials as well.
Last year, the Ohio Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Google, declaring the internet Goliath should be a public utility when it comes to search.
Google uses its dominance of internet search to steer Ohioans to Google’s own products–that’s discriminatory and anti-competitive,” Yost said. “When you own the railroad or the electric company or the cellphone tower, you have to treat everyone the same and give everybody access.
“Content is … the biggest challenge in 2022”
To steer back to digital marketing legends, Neil Patel echoes the same sentiment saying that ‘Content is going to be the biggest challenge in 2022.’
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There are over 1 billion blogs on the internet and almost 1.7 billion websites. And when you think about it from a content perspective, roughly 7.5 million articles get published every day. Which comes out to 2.7 billion articles being published per year. So, the market is more saturated than it was ever before.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that the era of content marketing is over by any means. It just stresses that what’s going to give you an edge over your competitors is creating distinctive content.
Mind-Boggling Stats
According to a global survey conducted in 2020, 37% of marketers said their organization spent up to $10,000 on content marketing efforts that year and according to 2% of industry professionals, their content marketing budgets for 2020 range from $500k to 5 million dollars.
43% of marketers had an increase in their content marketing budget, and 66% believe it will climb even more in 2022. The following are the primary content priorities for 2022, 45% of businesses want their brand to be more famous, 37% aim to increase website traffic, 36% want to generate leads with content marketing, and 23% strive to improve customer loyalty with their content marketing.
Top Content Marketing Trends
What are some of the content marketing trends that are flying under the radar in this rapidly changing landscape? Some experts believe that 2022 and on may bring about a resurgence of long-form blogs and white papers, as consumers seek more in-depth information online. Others believe that new formats such as augmented reality (AR) will gain even greater traction over the next few years, offering brands exciting new ways to connect with their customers. Some still swear by the effectiveness of interactive videos and video marketing in general.
Whatever the future holds, one thing is clear: creative content marketing is here to stay, no matter what changes come our way. And while some trends may slip through the cracks now and again, those who can stay ahead of the curve will continue to reap rich rewards in the years to come.
Native Content > External Content
Native content now has greater importance for awareness infiltration. Social media platforms are working to reduce the reach of any form of content that is not native.
Why?
By directly posting native content on social media instead of a link, users are glued in immediately, free of surfing to other sites. Therefore, Facebook and others don’t want to facilitate user jaunts to other sites. Such platforms also want users to spend as much time on them as possible.
Deservingly so, they want material for their platform. It’s not about links only. Any proprietary sign is also included.
For instance, your Instagram Reels won’t be effectively reached out to your audience if they have the TikTok watermark on them.
So, posting native content elicits more views and keeps Goliath happy. Moreover, native content messages cut through just as well as directing messages elsewhere. It might take more time to deploy this tactic but heightened ingenuity – and elbow grease – are in demand today.
Empathy is the New Search Engine Optimization
In strategic content marketing, algorithms dictate the engagement game. Are creators the game changers? Rather than scurrying to adopt new SEO schemes to conform to – or beat – the system, maybe the game-changers are the content creators.
The arcane system that fed SEO suits is crumbling. But not content. Consumption of content has never raged stronger. Instead of wallowing in this quagmire of overpopulation, there needs to be audience empathy, something that has been lost on the current, “woe is me” SEO pushers.
The Content Strategy Revolution
Content that solves problems of the audience, that is aware of the pain points of the prospects and strikes the bullseye with a solution will win the day. You can do on-page SEO and optimize a piece to the gills with SEO tactics, but if you don’t do 1990’s Bill Clinton and feel your audience’s pain, then you won’t do as well.
Ultimately, you can add value by being a problem solver, not a technocratic keyword stuffer who produces content with a “good score” but is nearly impossible to read because it is so convoluted with SEO tactics.
2022: The Year of Creative Content
In fact, recent research shows that robust content marketing programs are likely to take precedence over SEO by 2022, as businesses recognize its true value in driving revenue and engagement.
So smart marketers focus on creating engaging and interactive content that speaks directly to your ideal customers – and let the power of SEO help amplify the message!
Yet Still, Myopia Persists …
Medically defined as nearsightedness, we think myopia also exists in content marketing. It’s when content marketers fail to focus on the long-term content marketing goal and hop on the latest content marketing trends.
This leads to the ignoring valuable data and insight into the decision-making process. Marketers will end up overlooking consumer intent, user-friendliness and the greatest king –customer-centricity.
It’s just a ‘Bad Workman Quarrels With His Tools’ Strategy
Some people have noticed that usually these arguments are hauled out by practitioners of said dead art/strategy.
When someone in marketing says:
SEO is dead.
Content is dead.
LinkedIn is dead.
YouTube is dead.
Or some variation…They’re usually just saying: “I tried and couldn’t make it work so let me impose my limitations on you as well.”
— Ross Simmonds (@TheCoolestCool) August 17, 2021
What Ross is saying if you can’t get players on base that doesn’t mean other teams can’t hit either.
SOLUTION: INSERT EUPHEMISM FOR UNBORING CONTENT HERE
Per Neil Patel, you need to create content that “stands out” and eschew tried and true formulas.
We argued in an earlier blog post, that “creative content” is the difference-maker:
The problem is that “creative” is entirely subjective. You might find projectile vomit to be creative or appalling. We find it creative but we’re all different, right?
Create and Execute the Perfect Marketing Strategy
Whether you are creating a new product, building a business or establishing yourself as an influencer in your industry, originality and creativity are essential for standing out from the crowd.
At the same time, competition is fierce in content marketing and any real content strategy. With so many people trying to capture the attention of potential customers, it can be difficult to break through all the noise and reach your target audience. This is where creative marketing agency like Content with Teeth comes in with done-for-you marketing.
Stand Tall
So if you want to get ahead in content marketing in 2022, remember: when it comes to content marketing trends, the key is that you need to create something that is truly #outside the box – something different and non-normal – in order to stand out from the rest.
The only way to succeed online these days is by being authentic and unique; by tapping into your true passions and interests. Run away from cliques and the status quo.
In other words: cultivate your voice, set yourself apart from the competition and take your creative vision all the way to 11.
Bolder, Braver Content in a Sea of Mediocrity
Insert your fav business euphemism for content that stands out. Our term of choice is UnBoring Content. Far beyond the “different” cliche of “creative content” is an underlying tactic called contrast, absolving content of normalcy and striking it with a complexion completely foreign to its adversary.
Google anything and you will instantly be bombarded with the same message over and over. Expect companies that differentiate themselves with a non-routine branding strategy and unorthodox content marketing strategy to widen reach, appeal to customer needs, increase revenue and elevate brand recognition.
Content strategy is like a business strategy. Aim to follow a blue ocean strategy instead of a bloody, red ocean strategy. In other words, stop following what everyone else is doing. Become a pioneer.
Contrast: The New Marketing Mantra
Contrast” is not the same as “different”. When a word becomes a cliche, it loses its spike, swagger, sincerity and prestige. Contrast has impetus and won’t be a cliche for years. It is a new rally cry that can be adopted to effect change in marketing department messages.
Good content marketing strategy dictates that in order to succeed, something must have its own category. Contrast has that and it can be advice advocated as a fresh approach. And it will be the umbrella for tactical, creative change. For instance, companies creating unique podcasts will enjoy growth.
CASE STUDY: EMAIL AUTOMATION FOR MACHINE TOOL SUPPLIER
We have a long-standing client who is a manufacturing supplier. They had an accessory that they were discounting and we suggested email automation in Mailchimp to generate interest among their target customer audience.
We created a blog post and promoted it with a mass email blast that used analogies in a colorful way to promote a machine tool accessory:
The email blast had 12k opens and only 20 unsubscribes.
We created automation in Mailchimp to reach out to contacts who opened the initial email blast.
Further automation was triggered by contacts who opened the previous email.
The automated emails had solid open rates. The click rate is down but only 1 of the 3 emails had buttons to click. The goal for these emails was for the prospect to reply back and we stripped out the buttons.
For all three automated emails, we didn’t “spam” people because we only had 11 total unsubscribes.
The campaign largely worked because the client reported they had several prospects express interest in retrofitting their legacy machines with the accessory that was on sale.
Looking at the numbers, the automation generated significant activity. For this client, quotes on accessories jumped in July 2021 (the month we ran the automation) compared to the previous July (2020) by 63.6%.
In short, by using email automation where the copy and design was useful and “UnBoring,” we were able to generate results for the client.
Let the Wizard of Words Be Your Differentiator
Have you seen or read everything that is recommended to you?
No. It’s impossible with the glut of binge-worthy books, movies, television shows, podcasts, video games …
In an age where the barriers to create are low, there’s a LOT out there. Content marketers can skirt the “Death of Content” dirge by“stand outing” and being exceptional problem solvers. Create useful content that is not a retread and boring.
Are you a business owner or CMO with questions about attracting customers with the help of experienced hand pressing the hot buttons on effective content marketing trends and sound content marketing strategies? We at Content with Teeth have decades of experience in copywriting, video production and other media. To learn more, call us at +1(888) 552-9235 or schedule a free consultation.
