What does the future of content marketing look like?
Content marketing is constantly developing. There are always new ways to reach people and connect with them. Technology is always advancing. Social trends change and evolve all the time. That’s what’s so exciting about the industry, and as creators we should keep up to date with latest developments.
Each year I take a look into my crystal ball and share my predictions for how content marketing and repurposing will change in the next 12 months. While we’ve become used to uncertainly over the past few years, one thing’s for sure: I will be sticking to this tradition!
In this blog post and podcast episode, I share six predictions about the developments we can expect to see in content marketing and repurposing in 2022. I talk about social media, content formats and experiences, the metaverse, and more.
Hit play to watch the video…
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...or keep reading to find out my content marketing and repurposing predictions for 2022…
The future of content marketing
If the last two years have proved anything, it’s that nothing is for certain. So, while I always give my best shot at predicting the big developments ahead in these annual prediction episodes, they are just my thoughts. That being said, I’ve got a pretty good track record of being right so far!
There are many more trends and changes I could have commented on, but I’ve chosen to focus on these six because I think they are relevant to you and hey...I know you don’t have all day!
If you feel I’ve missed any really important ones out, then do get in touch and let me know.
Now, without further ado, here are my six content marketing and repurposing predictions for 2022.
1. Preparation for the metaverse
I’m definitely not an expert on the metaverse (is anyone yet?!) but it promises big things for content marketing in the future, so it would be remiss not to mention it now.
Metaverse is being dubbed “the future of the internet”. So far, we know it’s about bringing augmented and virtual reality into our day-to-day lives. You’ll have a virtual identity, and live in a virtual world, buying things with virtual currency, attending virtual events, meetings…and so on.
Mark Zuckerberg is so sure that the metaverse is the future that he renamed Facebook (the overall holding company of the Facebook app, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger) to Meta, solidifying them as a leading authority in metaverse tech. The company is investing eye-watering amounts of money into AR and VR technology to bring the metaverse to life under their vision.
Undoubtedly, we’re a way off “living in the metaverse” but waves of it are already entering our lives (think about the recent popularity of NFTs, which is essentially unique digital art for sale). So what does this huge technological development mean for digital marketers?
I believe that the metaverse has the potential to revolutionize digital marketing as we know it. Just not quite yet but changes are seeping in.
As the technology develops, businesses may start setting aside time and budget to educate themselves about the metaverse so they’re ready to invest and jump on it when the time comes. After its initial adoption, I expect many businesses will dive into experimenting, working out how to create content that connects to users in this new space.
While it’s definitely a prediction that goes beyond 2022, I think it’s not a world apart from some of the technology that’ll be widely used this year. I’m thinking about webinars, livestreams, and online events…which I’ll come onto later…but just imagine what these will be like in the metaverse!
Quick question for you: how social are your social media channels right now?
I’ll be honest, what keeps me scrolling isn’t necessarily seeing pictures of what my friends had for lunch, it’s the engaging, entertaining, and informative content created by bona fide creators. Not people who I know personally, but creators, and to some extent brands, who create content that I enjoy consuming.
Last year, I talked a bit about social media shifting from social content to creator-led content. This year, I think I can safely predict that this is not just a trend, because it’s the content-first platforms that are leading the way.
Take Instagram Reels, for example. Instagram used to primarily show content from accounts you follow (with the exception of the Discover page). The Reels feature uses a different approach. Its incredibly smart algorithm identifies content similar to what you’ve already engaged with, and it will show you more of the same – not necessarily from accounts you follow.
We love watching creators jump on trends. We love watching people be creative. We love having quality content dished up to us with little effort from ourselves.
TikTok is just the same. We can spend hours getting lost in content handpicked by the platform for us.
As a result, we become more familiar with the kind of content we want to consume. And less forgiving of mediocre content.
For businesses, this means creating engaging content is more important than ever.
Of course, creating content to build an audience and engaging with them on platforms is the most important consideration for businesses using social media channels. But to reach more people organically on content-led platforms, you also have to think about how captivating your content is.
3. Owned content continues to be paramount
Remember when all the Meta apps – Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger, went down for 6+ hours in 2021?
Remember the rise and fall of Clubhouse?
If these memories make you shudder, it could be time to rethink your content strategy.
Third-party platforms like social media apps are brilliant for extending your content’s reach. But they shouldn’t be the be-all-and-end-all of your content strategy. They should be vehicles for reaching people, and transporting them back to your own land (e.g., your website/email list/podcast).
Platforms that you own and have control over are far safer for you as a content creator. If LinkedIn shut down tomorrow, and you lost your audience, where would that leave your business?
I predict that more businesses will create highly-valuable pillar content for their own land, and repurpose it into content for social media. This is a brilliant strategy as it really boosts the ROI you get from that pillar content, and, hey, it’s what we help businesses do.
Influencer marketing is proven in the B2C and D2C space, and the days of influencer marketing being a bit of a dirty word in the B2B space are definitely over.
Influencer and sponsored user-generated content has proven to be one of the most successful marketing techniques and I think more B2B businesses are going to embrace it this year.
Why is influencer marketing so powerful? It taps into one thing that just can’t be manufactured – trust. Influencers have a trusted fan base, so when they recommend a product/service/business, it’s as powerful as a referral from your friend.
Plus, real people sharing real stories is impactful. Combining all this leads to more sales and to better-qualified clients.
At Content 10x, we’re working with our client TechSmith on their influencer-marketing content strategy. We’re repurposing this awesome influencer content into blog posts and social media content to maximize its impact online.
TechSmith are a leader in the video tech industry, and I expect many more businesses like them will follow their example.
Influencer marketing isn’t just an activity for the big players. Niche businesses can also get in on the action by partnering with niche influencers, meaning more bang for their buck.
One trend I’m seeing rapidly gain traction is popular video channels and podcasts offering the same content in two different lengths/durations. Let me explain.
Here’s an example...Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO and The High Performance Podcast, two of my favorite podcasts, offer their longer-form episodes in bite-size form. So, say you don’t have an hour (or more...some episodes are over two hours), you could tune into the five-minute “moment” instead.
Or perhaps you’re not sure if that full episode is relevant to you? Check out the handpicked condensed highlights and then decide if it’s worth listening to the complete version.
Now, this is nothing new for content on social media platforms. I’ve been talking about chopping up your podcast episodes and videos and repurposing them into shorter versions and bitesize content for years! It’s something that we do as a business for our clients. We recommend creating short form content for social media platforms that gets intrigue and attention and leads people to the long-form content.
But this isn’t quite the same because the same podcast, is sharing the same content, but dishing it up in full length and short snippets – subscribers on the one platform make their choice.
When you create content in longer formats, putting out a mix of long and short versions of the same episode means dialling into different audience needs.
It’s a fantastic strategy to add more content, compound those views/listens, and get your message out there. Think about it this way, it’s much better for people to listen to 100% of a 5-minute episode, than 5% of a 100-minute one!
I predict this will expand in popularity this year for those who typically produce long-form interview-style content.
6. Maximizing hybrid and virtual events
With virtual events going nowhere fast and hybrid being the new norm, finding ways to boost the ROI of this content is going to become a key consideration.
I predict that repurposing the content from streamed and recorded events will be a huge part of the event-planning – rather than an afterthought.
This is what’s so great about virtual and hybrid events: it’s all video recorded. All that juicy content just sitting there ready and waiting to be reused!
Think about how much further all your event content goes when you have video footage because with quality video content comes quality content repurposing –some companies have already reached out to us to help with repurposing their events and we are all over this.
So we now not only help speakers repurpose their talks into fantastic content, but we help event organizers turn all their talks, seminars, round tables, and so on, into brilliant digital content. With so many events now streamed live or available in some virtual format, it’s just a no brainer!
If you’ve got an event coming up or have footage you’d like repurposing help with, do get in touch to find out how we can help.
Bonus prediction!
This year, I think B2B businesses will be smarter about how they create content than ever before.
Creating thought leadership content and sharing a point of view consistency is a fantastic way to market your business. But it requires a lot of time and effort that leaders and founders don’t often have. So how do you boost your brand with content, when you’re short on time?
Simple: work with a team who can gather your knowledge quickly and effectively and transform it into a multimedia library of high quality, brand-building content.
Content is a must for businesses that want to stay ahead of their competition and grow their presence online, so we developed a service to help you do just that.
Video 10x Exec is our most comprehensive service yet. It helps business leaders raise their profile and create content that leads to real business results – without adding more to your to-do list or requiring lots of your time (1 hour every 2 weeks to be precise). Find out more about it here.
I predict this service is going to be transformative for businesses in 2022!
One final thing to mention is that trends are always changing in the content marketing world. To stay on top of them and get all the content repurposing tips and advice you’ll need, make sure you’re following The Content 10x Podcast on your favorite podcast app.