Weekly Content Marketing Trends March 28, 2022
Quick Links:
- Content Marketing Inspiration: Human Connection
- Content Marketing Inspiration: Audience-Driven Content
- Content Marketing Inspiration: Personalized Marketing
- Taking Action
The world of marketing is all about inspiration:
- Being inspired to tell a story to your audience.
- Being inspired by your audience to solve a problem or make their lives better.
- Inspiring your audience to take action.
- Being inspired by a brand mission or vision
This all sounds wonderful and exciting, but the truth of the matter is marketers need to be inspired sometimes, too. This week we're going to examine some campaigns from the past year that embody some of the top 2022 content marketing trends:
- Creating a human connection
- Audience-driven content
- Delivering personalized messages or campaigns
Just like any great art form, content marketing involves imitation from the greats on your journey to becoming one of the greats yourself. As you look at these examples, take note of what leaves you, yes, inspired, and then get curious about how you can incorporate that inspiration into your brand mission, vision, and values.
Content Marketing Inspiration: Human Connection
One of the biggest content marketing trends of 2022 is connecting on a real human level with your audience. The past two years involved isolation for many people, and the demand for deeper relationships and meaningful interaction is substantial. Additionally, a consumer preference toward companies that take a stance on social and ethical issues has been emerging over the past few years (and now consumers want to know how companies are backing up their stances).
There's a real opportunity for creative connection, as the job search engine, Indeed.com, has proven with a deeply touching commercial titled "A New Beginning." The video features a transgendered person preparing for an interview and experiencing that highly-craved moment of human connection with the interviewer.
The beauty of this commercial is that it shows it's so much more than a job interview. It touches on the complexity of a world not only starting to go back to IRL workspaces but of social issues that can often accompany what is already a time of transition for so many people.
Content Marketing Inspiration: Audience-driven Content
One of the most enduringly successful marketing campaigns to ever be introduced, the Shot On An iPhone campaign is a shining example of the power of user-generated content. Even though the campaign hasn't been ever-present since its introduction for the iPhone 6, it continues to be a deep well of inspiration. Apple's never been short on marketing genius, but it's worth considering why this particular effort on their part resonates so deeply with consumers.
- There's a deeper level of trust when fellow consumers speak the virtues of a product or service as opposed to the slick marketing tropes that younger generations see right through.
- The proof is indisputable: the beautiful images shot by an iPhone and blown up to billboard size create a dazzling and elegant display of evidence that Apple's competitors have failed to demonstrate.
- It demonstrates crowd consensus. The campaign is generated by multiple users, displaying an indirect 5-star review that is likely to instill confidence in other consumers.
Content Marketing Inspiration: Personalized Marketing
The explosion of AI is contributing to a world of personalized algorithms, creating a world where consumers have an almost perfectly-curated online experience based on their personal preferences and likes. Successful marketers will find ways to adapt and personalize their marketing to create curated and personalized experiences to cultivate meaningful relationships and trust with their consumers.
The key? Data. Data tells the story of behavior and preferences and when that data is leveraged to show an audience that they are understood on a personal level, there's a subconscious validation for that person and in turn, they want to reflect that validation out to their social media networks.
There is no better example of this than the Spotify Wrapped campaign. Every December Spotify users receive a breakdown of their listening behavior which includes which artists they're top fans of, which genres top their charts, how many minutes listened, and any trendsetting listening behavior. When the campaign was first launched with #2020Wrapped, there was a 21% increase in app downloads during the following week. This was fueled by the eagerness of listeners to share their wrap-up of the year and let their peeps know what jams were rocking their world.
Since then, the Wrapped campaign has expanded to billboards celebrating everything from Black Lives Matter to hometown artists. Spotify continues to grow in users, and its savvy use of big data is certainly part of its success.
Taking Action
Feeling inspired? Do you have an amazing idea of how your audience can share content featuring your produce or service? Did a lightbulb go off on what to do with the data you've been collecting for years? Are you motivated to connect on that much-craved human level?
Our network of fully-vetted, professional content writers is ready to help you translate inspiration into content marketing that deepens brand trust, connects you with consumers who are sure to be your next #1 fan, and grows your business overall.
See what our writers can do for you with a free 30-day trial! Get started here.
Published by Ciara Antolini on Monday, March 28, 2022 in Tool Review, Tools, Tools Reviews, Tool Review, Tools, Tools Reviews.