7 Content Marketing Predictions for 2021

What content marketing predictions do I have for 2021?

2020 saw a flood of livestreams, a TikTok takeover, Zoom over-usage (what can’t you do on Zoom?!), and many, many businesses shift to social media in order to continue connecting with their clients and audience. It was a year of the unexpected and unpredictable.

But one thing’s clear ­– content is key for communication.

2020 woke many people up to the possibilities of content marketing. Existing content creators experimented with new content formats on different platforms, while many businesses had to quickly pivot their content (or start creating it!) to meet their audience's demands or reach them in a new and improved way.

How will last year’s trends impact content marketing in 2021? I’m about to share my content marketing predictions for 2021…

Sharing my content marketing predictions has become somewhat of a tradition for me. If you want to see what predictions I’ve got right (or wrong!) in the past, check out my podcast episodes from 2020, 2019, and 2018.

Now, I don’t have a crystal ball and unfortunately, I can’t guarantee the future (if I could, I’d be a lottery winner by now!). But hopefully, by sharing my content marketing predictions it’ll get you thinking about your content strategy and start you off on the right path this year.

I have 7 content marketing predictions for 2021, press play to watch the video…

Social media platforms thrive on FOMO, the Fear Of Missing Out.

Social media platforms have evolved, become popular, and thrived because people are driven by social FOMO. What is social FOMO? It’s the fear of missing our socially. It’s the feeling you get when your friends share photos and videos of them enjoying a delicious restaurant meal whilst you’re tucking into last night’s leftovers. Or when you couldn’t make it to one of the best annual events in your industry, and you wind up seeing photos and videos of all of your favorite people having a blast at the always popular after-event party.

But we’ve started to see a massive shift of social media. The platforms that prevail are not driven by social FOMO.

Sadly, FOMO hasn’t been eradicated. Social media would die a death if FOMO didn’t exist! But there has been a switch, from social FOMO, to content FOMO.

It’s not, “what are my friends up to?”, it’s “what content have I missed out on?” and “what have my favorite creators been sharing?”

Content-led platforms are hugely influencing this shift. Think about it, TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform and it’s ALL about the content. Following friends and people you know is less of a focus, instead app users are following content by their favorite creators and shown an endless list of videos from different creators, whether you follow them or not.

Instagram is way more about the content than the social side these days. Especially with the introduction of Reels, alongside Stories, IGTV and livestreaming.

LinkedIn is all about the content too. The platform has really focused on developing its content features in recent years, giving businesses and brands a space to showcase their content. Video content, articles, live streaming and now Stories, are ways that LinkedIn is embracing new content types and diversifying itself as both a social and content-led platform.

Trust and transparency are key reasons to produce video content in 2021.

Businesses that’ve always had video on the “one-day” and “we must do more of” list, will finally start to embrace creating it. Why? Because, due to the global pandemic, it’s harder to get in front of customers than ever before.

Even if you’re not a traditional brick and mortar business, and you’ve been creating content for a long time, you might start to see more competition in your industry as more and more people move online. Your online content could start getting beat out by newbies entering the ring, because they’re more prepared to embrace video than you!

Trust is, and always has been, an important factor when it comes to consumer behaviour. And video is the best content type for establishing that human, trusting connection between you and your audience. People are yearning for transparency now more than ever.

We’ll see more businesses designate people to be the face of their video content, and a rise in “talking head” thought leadership-style videos created by business owners.

I think this is a great thing because video content can go on to be repurposed in so many creative and high-quality ways, so investing time and resources into the very top of the content pyramid makes perfect sense.

If you want to start creating video content, then you absolutely must get a free copy of our guide – The Simple Guide to Getting Started with Video on LinkedIn.

At one point in 2020 you couldn’t visit Instagram without seeing a whole selection of livestreams taking place…from workouts to interviews, to cooking shows, influencers, celebs, and businesses all started going live as a way to connect with their audience.

You could say livestreaming was a pandemic in its own right!

But, from a business content marketing perspective, it still hasn’t quite taken off like marketers keep predicting. Especially on LinkedIn.

Live videos are often low-quality and can be quite limited in comparison to pre-recorded content (not to mention the technical issues!). People are starting to ask themselves, is this really what my audience wants to see? Are the benefits of going-live outweighing the sacrifices you make to quality? Do my audience want to watch long livestreams?

I think that we’ll see people creating fewer live videos where the content doesn’t need to be live – e.g. interviewing experts and talking-head thought leadership videos – but a rise in higher-production quality content for livestreamed events such as delivering training and webinars.

Livestreamed events will be treated much more like in-person events. They’ll have a big build up with a strong investment in marketing, and a purpose with a defined outcome for the attendee. They’ll also make better use of interactive features, and I expect live video conferencing technology will continue to improve to meet the demand.

Let me first state, authenticity is very important. In fact, it’s a bit of a buzzword and somewhat overused, but it’s always going to be important to be authentic in your content.

However, being consistent with your content is what’s really going to set you apart in 2021.

Audiences rely on the brands, business and creators that they follow to share quality content in a consistent way. It’s what keeps them engaged. Quality content with a strong, consistent message beats pressurizing yourself to be authentic all the time.

An example is when we go to the dentist, we want them to be consistent. We want them to follow protocols, do a good job, and for the whole thing to be over with in a pain-free way as soon as possible! We don’t want them to tell us that they feel a bit unwell, or that their boyfriend just dumped them and they’re angry...no...that would be authentic but it’s not what we value the most. We want them to consistently be a good dentist.

That is what I mean here. You don’t have to share warts and all with your content, keep front of mind why your audience keep coming back for more.

Ultimately, substance is going to win over style.

How many hours did you spend on social media platforms in 2020? Was it more than in 2019? Sorry, I didn’t mean to depress you!

Did you use social media to communicate with businesses, brands, or people you wouldn’t normally?

I certainly have. I’ve found myself more vocal on social media than ever, and surprisingly, I noticed that on the whole, people were more responsive too.

Already so many businesses have utilized social media to reach out to their clients and customers at a time when traditional methods of communication just weren’t cutting it or possible. And I think that this is going to continue into 2021.

While some businesses are going to find their feet internally with social media and other types of content, others are going to invest like never before.

It’s getting harder to stand out in continuingly saturated markets so businesses that are already have social media and content strategies are going to level up. I predict that many are going to make big content investments this year and focus heavily on their ROI.

I think social media and content will become core to many business strategies. More businesses will partner with specialists or will recruit in-house, developing and strengthening their content marketing and social media teams.

A lot of people assume influencer marketing is something that only big B2C companies partake in, associating it with Instagrammers, TikTokers and YouTubers promoting brands.

But actually, it’s become an important way for B2B brands to gain that all important consumer trust as well.

I think that businesses will engage more in influencer marketing, but more so, they will start to work with niche or micro influencers (people with a small, but very dedicated following).

This is a great way to help get your message authentically across to the right people. If someone you trust recommends a product or a service, you’re more likely to want to know more as you already trust their opinion. That’s why influencer marketing can be such a powerful tool in your content marketing arsenal.

By using niche or micro influencers, businesses can really drill their messages down into their target audience.

After a year of endless scrolling on devices, Netflix binges, and Zoom calls, we’re all experiencing screen fatigue.

If you’re anything like me, then screens are probably the bane of your life and your saviour all at once!

When content can only be consumed through a screen, you run the risk of losing your audience. They do have their limitations after all. But if you diversify and create audio content, you might capture your audience in a new way, and even pick up some new followers while you’re at it.

If you are a video content creator, then it’s worth considering if you should repurpose your videos into podcast episodes. If you already have a podcast, then you can convert video to audio content fairly easily – are some of your videos a podcast episode in the making? Plus, you could even consider launching a brand-new podcast and repurposing videos into podcast episodes that way too.  

Podcast listening has been steadily increasing for years, but I have no doubt that it’ll continue to thrive as more of us look for entertainment beyond the screen.

In conclusion

So that’s it! They’re my 7 content marketing predictions for 2021. Now, I want to know do you agree with them?

Obviously, anything could happen this year (2020 proved that!) but I strongly believe that we’re about to see a real rise in high-quality content. Businesses are going to be competing more than ever for audience attention, and everyone will have to work harder to consistently get in front of people – but the benefits will be bigger and better for it.

So how is your business planning to compete with competitors this year? Are you going to create more video content? Start podcasting? Consistently upload content? Or all of that, and more?

If that sounds like your content marketing dream…but you just don’t have the time to realize it, leave it to the experts. At Content 10x, our services are designed to help you deliver lots of content, more consistently, and to a higher standard. Whether you create video, podcasts, or are striving to create content, we can help you and your business realize your content marketing dream.