The new year is upon us and in 2020, we will encounter a lot of changes in the content marketing and Digital Marketing industry. In other words – new decade, new rules.

In the future, the content will have to be more useful, helpful, and technical in order to be visible in the market. This means it will have to cater to user habits, preferences, and search needs.

The audience is getting smarter when it comes to researching, reading, and understanding the offered content. This is exactly why the content creators will have to step up and bring something a little bit different to the table. 

Therefore, if you want to utilize Content Marketing power, here are some of the trends you simply have to watch out for in 2020.

Improved Visuals in Content

Despite the fact that the new decade will definitely change the content marketing game, the written word will remain one of the best ways to promote your product/service and educate your audience. However, considering that grabbing the attention of users, especially the younger ones, is not a simple task these days, the written content has to be upgraded with new and exciting elements.  

Dynamic, interactive, and custom imagery will be the key in the years to come. 

As you probably know, millennials and other younger generations value visual content above all else. Competing with YouTubers and social media influencers is not a simple task, so implementing entertaining and engaging visuals into your content is something you will have to do in the future.

Here are some of the visual trends you should consider next year:

• Creating your own GIFs from video clips, movies, and TV shows by using Giphy and similar apps,
• If you don’t want to use already existing GIFs, you can create custom GIFs of yourself
• Make sure to use videos
• Take helpful screenshots
• Make high-quality and engaging visualizations

 

Content marketers will be taking advantage of interactive and custom imagery in 2020. So, if you don’t want to be left behind, you should definitely take this trend seriously and adjust your content.

Content Tailored Specifically for Voice Searches and Smart Devices

Another important factor that is going to change how the content marketing game is played in 2020 is the increased usage of smart devices. 

In other words, writers will have to dedicate their time and resources to creating content that can easily be found by using voice searches via a smart device.

The main reason for this is the increased use of voice chat and voice search options. Some experts predict that 50% of all web searches will be conducted by voice by 2020. 

This should be a good enough reason for you to start optimizing your content for voice searches.

Here’s how to do this successfully:

Before you start optimizing your content, you have to make the effort to understand how users conduct voice searches.

For example:

In a written search query, they might type something like this

– best horror movies of 2019.

On the other hand, their voice query would probably sound more like this

– what are the best horror movies of 2019.

Analyzing the voice queries of your target audience will help you to figure out what type of content they are searching for. Understanding these little differences and the natural spoken language of your readers will help you to write better headlines, blog posts, and long-tail keywords.

Improving the E-A-T of your Website

Ever since Google’s algorithm update back in August 2018, better known as “the medic update”, digital marketers, SEO experts, and writers have been paying a lot of attention to  “E-A-T”.

In case you are not familiar with this acronym, E-A-T stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

Next year, this will be one of the most relevant trends in the world of digital marketing.

That said, websites, brands, organizations, and authors writing content for certain sites will have to improve their E-A-T. 

You can achieve this by:

• Earning backlinks or mentions from other websites with high authority
• Providing a detailed bio and credentials on your about page and author pages
• Linking reputable sources when providing your readers with stats, data, and facts
• Updating your site and content on a regular basis with relevant, accurate, and fresh data

 

Besides taking all the necessary steps we mentioned, you must also make sure that your content is exceptional. This is the only way you will be able to optimize content for the Google.  Remember, well-written and useful content will always be trendy.

Podcasts Will Be Rather Popular

Even though podcasts have been around for quite some time now, according to Statista, the number of podcast listeners has almost tripled in the last 10 years. Experts say this trend will continue in 2020.

However, one thing is different today. These days, people are not only listening to podcasts, but they’re also engaging and participating more. This allows creators and marketers to promote their product or service more directly while corresponding with their target audience and potential customers.

Having a podcast can benefit your business a lot, but only if you do it properly. So, here’s how you should approach this trend.

The very first thing you have to bear in mind is that creating a podcast just because someone else is doing it isn’t going to bring you results. Producing uninspiring episodes won’t bring you new listeners or increase your conversion rate. Quite the contrary, it will drive your audience away.

Therefore, if you want to make the best of this trend, you should always do your best and create audio content that will entertain your listeners and provide them with relevant information.

On the other hand, if you don’t have the time or resources to make your own podcast, you can appear as a guest on other popular podcasts your audience loves. It doesn’t matter if you are a host or a guest, you can use podcasts to get your message across and attract new customers.

Live Video is Something You Should Definitely Consider

If you’ve been in content marketing for a while, you probably know that live video is pretty popular among all generations of viewers. This is exactly why most brands have live videos on Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and Snapchat.

Live videos are rather popular these days and this is why it’s safe to assume that they will continue to be a trend in 2020. As a matter of fact, Facebook stated that the users on this social network spend much more time viewing live videos than traditional videos.

But why is live video so interesting and entertaining to viewers?

The reason is quite obvious really – it’s because these videos are shot in real-time. This makes them more authentic than the traditional edited videos audience is used to watching on social media. Live videos are not perfect and this is exactly what makes them so natural and relatable.

How can you use live videos to promote your product or service?

By recording live videos, you can offer two-way communication with your target audience. You can answer their questions, offer products, and ask them to give you honest feedback regarding your product or service. This type of intimate communication with your audience will definitely help you gain their trust and attract more customers. This is why you simply have to consider implementing live video into your content marketing strategy for 2020!

Data-Driven Content

Anyone who has been in content marketing for some time knows that it must never be approached without a proper strategy. In other words, having a detailed content strategy is the only way to provide your audience with purposeful content.

The future of content marketing is in creating data-driven content that will help your audience to learn something new and solve their problems.

Simply put, you will have to base your future strategies exclusively on hard evidence and data. Hence the name of the trend – data-driven content. This is the only way you will be able to tell what will and will not work in this market.

Also, one of the most important things you will have to do is make sure you are focusing on the right data during your research and writing processes. The data you are using must always serve your end goal.

This also means you will have to find the difference between metrics that are relevant to your cause and the so-called vanity metrics.

To do this properly, you will have to look back to your successful content marketing endeavors and identify what it was about this content that helped you to have better results, increase your conversion rates, and attract new audiences. Once you determine these things, use that data when creating new content.

Closing Word

We are entering a new decade, which means the game will definitely change. Therefore, in order to keep up with these changes and stay competitive in the world of content marketing, you will have to adjust. By having better visual content, optimizing your content for voice searches, improving your E-A-T, introducing podcasts and live videos, and by creating data-driven content, you will be able to achieve your marketing goals in 2020.