The Biggest Trends That Will Shape Content Marketing and How to Prepare for Them in 2019

Content still rules for a reason, because it works very well. As a digital marketing technique, content marketing creates and distributes content that is informative and entertaining to a target audience. Providing consumers with valuable information, successfully interacting with them, and building brand awareness are vital for today’s companies. Here are the biggest trends that will shape content marketing, and how to prepare for them in 2019.

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Generation Z Has Come of Age

Millennials have long been the focus of both the media and marketing. Yet, those born since the mid-90s, Generation Z are now coming of age. They are the first generation that has no recollection of life before the digital age, and now comprise 32% of Earth’s population in 2019. Suffice it to say, that is a massive number of consumers.

Generation Z, as the Millennials did before them, basically live on social media. In fact, they’re increasing their usage on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. That said, content should be optimized to be mobile-friendly on these platforms. For instance, Instagram Stories have become even more popular (especially with the Gen Zers) in 2019. With over 400 million active Stories users every month, brands that want to attract this demographic need to prove their authenticity by creating content like engaging videos, behind-the-scenes snippets, fun polls, and partnering with influencers.

The Power of Voice Search

Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa have grown in rapidly in popularity, which will make voice search skyrocket in prominence. The general consensus is that voice search is going to be a huge, especially with younger people. One study found that 71% of people between the ages of 18 and 28 used voice-activated devices. This is unsurprising, considering how easy and accessible voice search has become. Devices are so responsive, that users now use full questions and sentences.

Moving forward in 2019, content needs to be optimized for voice search. It should be tailored to have a more conversational feel. Essentially, within SEO strategy the content should be able to answer naturally formed questioned posed with voice search. If it’s conversational content, then you’re on the right track.

Video is Key

Video has always played an enormous role in marketing strategies. and video consumption is increasing rapidly. We’re now at a point, where people consume video content in all aspects of their lives.

Over the past year, platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram all saw an increase in their live-streaming services. Likewise, these platforms are investing heavily overall in video content. Whether it’s short-form or long-form videos, the content needs to be mobile-friendly, creating a pleasant and engaging experience for viewers. The more natural and unscripted, the better the video.

Personalization Never Generalization

Consumers are expecting a fantastic customer experience, and personalization is one of the biggest trends shaping content marketing in 2019. The major emerging technology that will drive this trend of personalization is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It’s already gained in prominence as a customer experience application with things like chatbots, which are powered by AI automation.

In 2016, chatbots first became integrated into websites, designed to provide seamless customer service by answering FAQs using NLP (natural language processing) and machine learning technology. Because they can answer queries and fulfill requests quickly, it’s unsurprising that customer service helpers have rapidly grown in popularity and are expected to become even more so.

A recent study found that 57% of consumers were willing to give personal data to trusted brands in exchange for personalized marketing experiences. Considering that the AI industry is projected to skyrocket in the next few years, AI can be a connection. The main takeaway is swap generalities for personalized marketing. If content becomes part of the customer experience, consumers, in turn, will trust the brand more.

Ultimately, content is king and a “win-win” for any company. Implementing these biggest trends into your content marketing strategy will take it to the next level.

Sarah Bauder

Sarah Bauder is a senior content specialist at Little Dragon Media. Sarah has a degree in journalism and has a decade of experience writing content at numerous renowned publications. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, business, entrepreneurship and more.