What’s hot? What’s not? 5 trends to help with your 2020 content planning
Where does the time go? 2019 whizzed past many of us, and here we are at December already. If you aren’t planning your content marketing strategy 2020, I bet you soon will.
Consumers these days rely heavily on social media content for their decision-making. According to a recent report by Accenture, 61% of B2B transactions start online and over 50% of consumers use social media for their initial research. So, touchpoints that are traditionally seen as B2C – social media, augmented reality, chatbots and such – are, in fact, impacting B2B outcomes.
With the gap between B2C and B2B strategies closing in rapidly, would the content marketing strategies adopted in 2019 work for you in 2020 as well? Here’s a list of trends that you can adopt in your marketing strategy to make your content useful and engaging.
Trend #1: Capture Those Micro-Moments
If your marketing efforts are planned based on the buyer funnel – dedicated content for awareness, consideration and decision – then your marketing strategy definitely needs an overhaul. The time taken by customers to make decisions is rapidly reducing. Your marketing strategy needs to focus on those intent-driven micro-moments when your customer is seeking solutions to their problems. These are the crucial moments when preferences are formed and decisions are made.
How can you achieve this?
You have to identify your customer’s ‘I-want-to-buy’ moments and be there with optimal content – in multiple formats! Or in Google’s words, you have to ‘Be There, Be Useful, Be Quick.’
This strategy though is a great way to create brand awareness and improve your customer experience. It works well only when you thoroughly understand your target audience’s expectations and emotions.
A classic example of a brand which used this micro-moment strategy right is PayTM. Remember ‘…PayTM Karo’ ad campaigns in India post demonetization?
Trend 2: Come Alive with Live Videos
Live streaming is set to drive more traffic and engagement in the coming year. A staggering 82% customers prefer to watch a live video as against a social media post, and 80% prefer watching a video over reading a blog.
How can you achieve this?
Give your customers a better understanding of your business – broadcast demos, events, Q&A sessions, interviews, or even a DIY-style video to connect with your customers and boost your business. The bonus? All these videos can be repurposed later on for a treasure trove of social media shares or podcast augmentation.
Trend #3: Optimize Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is set to intertwine into our lives at a rapid rate. It is estimated that, by 2022, revenue generated by AR will touch $15B with around 44% of the population worldwide using AR. Make the most of the immersive experience that AR provides – solve your customers’ problems by meeting them in their environment.
How can you achieve this?
Understand your customers’ pain points and use AR in product demos to help customers visualize solutions.
For marketers the biggest win with AR is helping customers visualize their interaction with a product: think of campaigns where you help your customer virtually decide if a piece of furniture gels with their home decor, or assist a buyer select a shade of lipstick, for example. You can use AR in a variety of ways across multiple touch points to provide your customer with the information they are looking for in their journey with your product.
Trend #4: Devise an Omnichannel Content Strategy
Action-oriented omnichannel marketing strategies will continue to gain momentum in 2020. Regardless of the platform that a customer uses, an effective omnichannel marketing strategy aims to provide a seamless customer experience. Omnichannel marketing strategy is completely different from a multi-channel marketing strategy. While multi-channel strategy treats individual channels in their own right, omnichannel content marketing is all about creating, managing and delivering cohesive content across multiple channels.
How can you achieve this?
Gain an in-depth understanding of your customers; develop and deliver content experiences across all marketing channels. Strive to fulfil your customer’s requirements in the channel of their preference.
Take the example of sportswear major, Adidas. Customers wanting to buy Adidas’ products are spoilt for choices. They can buy either visit Adidas’ brick and mortar stores, their online store, and their products are available for sale on other sportswear stores and marketplaces as well. Apart from this, Adidas has a mobile app and is also present on online sales channels like Instagram, Facebook and Google ads.
Trend 5: Become Your Customers’ Commute Partner Through Podcasts
An intellectual way to reach your customers would be ideally through podcasts. In the last decade, the number of podcast listeners has tripled and is growing continually. Podcasts provide an impactful medium to earn trust and customer loyalty.
How can you achieve this?
Understand the demand for audio content in your business space. Create content intentionally that augments and aligns with your marketing efforts. Subscribe to popular marketing podcasts like Call To Action, Marketing Over Coffee, Perpetual Traffic and Social Pros Podcast to know the nuances of how you can uplevel your marketing strategies.
Clearly Blue has entered the podcasting space with ContentED – the podcast about all things content – whether in marketing or sales, education or professional development, leadership or team building. Give it a listen to know the importance of content in defining a business’ success and failure.
Use these insights to make your content do the talking. Wishing you the best!