Eighty-two percent of marketers said that personalization was their top priority in 2017, and it’s only going to become more important. We all want our information presented to us in a way that is relevant for us personally. Brands are embracing this trend by creating personalized messages (think: “Your next vacation awaits” or “A perfect night out with your friends”) while also automating responses based on preferences gathered from previous interactions with customers. It’s not just about providing an individualized experience -it’s about being able to deliver the right message at the right time, which can be true for anyone who has ever received one too many irrelevant emails in their inbox! While some predictions say that personalization will become less effective because consumers are becoming numb to the mass amounts of personalized messages they’re exposed to, others say that’s not true. The fact is that people love personalized content (it’s already proven), and brands like Birchbox who rely on customer acquisition through authentic communication are thriving.
The different channels used for brand communication will no longer be siloed. The different channels used for brand communication – email, social media, mobile push notifications, etc. – will no longer be siloed within their own teams. They’ll work collaboratively so that content can seamlessly move among them to reach the right person at the right time regardless of channel or device. Additionally, marketers will work closer with IT to eliminate the barriers between systems and databases so that all channels can easily share customer data.
For marketers, it’ll be more important than ever to start thinking about people first. Many brands will hire Chief People Officers (CPOs) in the next few years. It’s already proven that companies that prioritize their employees are better positioned for success, and as marketers it’s our job to help everyone understand what content is needed to support employees’ work efforts. That means thinking about the company from a consumer point of view – how can we make their lives easier? How can we use content to build a stronger relationship between the brand and each individual person who interacts with us?
As content marketing continues to evolve, it’s important to remember that the customer journey will evolve as well. By 2022, marketers will be able to identify which customers are most likely to become advocates for their brand and create content specific for them (a tactic known as advocate marketing). These actions can help better position brands in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
It seems that email marketing is finally getting the attention it deserves. Brands are now focusing their strategies around delivering timely, relevant messages to an audience that wants to hear from them. While there are still many marketers who think that email marketing is dead (just like that old MySpace photo of you), it’s actually evolving into a viable platform. According to an IBM study, marketers who prioritize integrated multi-channel strategies are far more successful than those who don’t. Email will continue to be a highly effective channel for reaching your customers, but your content strategy should be much bigger than just emails alone.
Brand storytelling will grow in importance. More than ever before, brands must deliver authentic stories that resonate with their customers to stay relevant. According to Mark W. Schaefer, author of The Content Marketing Institute’s 2016 State of content marketing report , marketers are struggling with how to create content that really moves the needle which is why storytelling has become so important.
New content marketing strategies in 2022
1. Better integration with other channels that are not email-based. For example, social media will become a better integrated part of content marketing strategies as it evolves to be more static and less interactive.
2. Testimonials from customers will be a big part of content marketing strategies – directly from the customer themselves or quotes from others who have written testimonials for them.
3. Customer engagement is going to be an important part of content marketing strategies, especially at a time when brands are struggling to figure out how to remain relevant in a world where consumers spend so much time on their phones and tablets that they don’t even have time to engage with the brands they serve.
4. Cultural orientation will become more important in 2022. Brands will need to take into account different cultural and regional values when creating their content marketing strategies because it won’t be possible for all brands to assume that people from all over the world think the same way, so to speak.
5. Customized content is going to become a big part of content marketing strategies – companies will want to include more personalized data in their strategies. Personalization is already becoming a big part of email marketing, so expect this trend to continue into the future.
6. More focus on customer rewards programs – companies will create better loyalty programs that reward customers for actions they take, including recommendations, testing new products, etc. Viewing the consumer as someone who is an extended part of the brand team.
7. More videos are going to be shared on social media sites, including YouTube and Vimeo.
8. Sharing automation will grow in popularity as brands struggle to separate themselves from competitors who may be better suited to share content on their behalf at the right time. This strategy will become even more important when brands realize that sharing automation can help them to save money that they would otherwise spend on content creation.
9. More focus on influencer marketing – many brands are already using influencers to promote their products, but this tactic is going to be even more important in the future when consumers will want more recommendations from sources they trust rather than traditional advertising. Google News press releases will continue to drive engagement.
10. More focus on helping customers with specific problems like how to get rid of dark circles under the eyes, etc. Every brand will need an “ask me anything” page where people can go and ask questions about your products or services; this is another way that companies can separate themselves from competitors who may not have the time or resources to offer this type of service.
11. More “real” advertising – brands are going to have to be careful that they don’t become too salesy, but more ads will feature real people who aren’t perfect or completely smooth while remaining carefully scripted. People want authenticity in the content they read and watch, so this trend is expected to grow in popularity as more and more people turn to digital content.
12. More hidden advertising – this will be a controversial trend, but brands are going to start hiding small advertisements or other types of information in the text of their articles because marketers will realize that they need to do something new and different than what their competitors are doing if they want to attract attention.
