ntent Marketing Trends to Watch in 2024 (plus Tips to Prepare)
Wow, 2023 has been a wild ride. The tech CEOs were playing musical chairs. Social media platforms were rearranged. Google’s core updates have shaken the SERPS (we are not bitter about it). What are the possible content marketing trends of 2024?
You may feel that it is a little chaotic. When you take a step back, you can see that there is a common theme: the quest for authenticity. The audience is on the go, seeking answers and advice from those they trust. You’ll have an advantage over other marketers if you can meet them where they are.
It’s important to understand the context. These seven trends in content marketing will prepare you for what 2024 holds.
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Marketers are becoming more intentional in their use of AI
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AI’s new superpower is personalization
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Your AI content doesn’t have to be labeled (but it must be good)
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Search shifting to social media platforms
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Demand for video content continues its growth
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The employee ambassador will be honored in 2024
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Content marketing will return to its basics
Content marketing in 2024: Trends and trends
We’ll take a look at some of the most important content marketing trends for 2024, and how you can be prepared to capitalize on each.
1. AI will be used by marketers to their advantage
The majority of marketers claim to have at least used AI in the workplace. Many of us poked our AI tools around with a stick in the past couple of years to see what it could do.
It is important to be cautious. Early attempts to manipulate search engines resulted in some unpleasant outcomes. The ” heist ” that gained a few thousand views a month, but lost them all after Google slapped down on the AI-enabled system.
In 2024, SERP hacking will no longer be acceptable. Source
Google doesn’t have a problem with AI content (we’ll discuss this in a moment). Search engines are aware that readers can detect copy-and paste posts.
There are many less shady ways AI could help you to create better content. Content teams will be more deliberate in 2024 about experimenting with AI and applying it creatively.
The team at Calendly, for example, held a “AI Summit” lasting a full week to determine what tools and uses cases were most appropriate.
In 2024, the best marketing teams will incorporate AI through deliberate, cooperative and team-wide experiments. Source
You can still set aside an hour every so often, even if you don’t have the time to dedicate a week to learning AI. You can read about the tools and follow experts. Then, you should record your learnings. Apply it to help your team create better content and faster. Marketers who do this in 2019 will be rewarded by audiences and search engine results.
Prepare for this trend by:
- Set aside a specific time to learn about AI tools and their use.
- Choose three AI-based ways to integrate into your workflow.
- Plan a three-month review date.
- Continue to adopt AI regularly.
Just getting started? This guide on AI in marketing will help you to use the latest tools and tactics.
2. AI superpower: Personalization
Imagine if each week you sent a email marketing tailored to the individual preferences of your 10,000 subscribers? Imagine the impact on your open rates and click-through rate .
It’s a fact right now. It’s one way AI will make content marketing channels more personalized in 2024.
Personalization is a cornerstone in marketing, long before Netscape introduced the first cookie to track web traffic. It has always been a challenge to gather real-time data from large groups of people and use it to alter the experience for each individual.
AI is the right choice.
You can also send blog readers to a dynamic homepage version based on past behavior. If a person has just read three articles on staying fit after age 50, the landing page they receive will offer them similar products and content.
YouTube has a version that does this. Your homepage will become more personalized the more you interact with its platform.
By 2024, your website will be able present a customized version to visitors, similar to what YouTube does.
Content and marketing teams will use dynamic website tools to convert more blog visitors into customers as they become more affordable.
Prepare for this trend by:
- Know your segments of customers, and ensure you are providing them with relevant content.
- Find out which AI tools will personalize your marketing by reviewing the current list of AI tools.
- Track and expand on one channel to personalize (emails, websites, landing pages).
3. Your AI content doesn’t have to be labelled (but it should still be good).
Transparency is a concern that has plagued AI from the beginning. Do you need to label an asset created using generative AI?
Simple answer: No.
You might be confused, especially after the outrage Sports Illustrated received when it was revealed that AI-generated content had been published. The real crime of these pieces was not the content but the fake, AI generated writer bios that were used to fool readers.
No laws exist that mandate AI-assisted material to be labelled. Google has also jumped on board the “no labeling” bandwagon.
Kenichi Suzuki Kenichi Suzuki confirmed Google is concerned about the quality of content, not who or what wrote it.
This could change. This is our first presidential campaign with easy-to-use AI tools. people are already a little worried by the potential mass fakes and misdirection. EU has asked major tech companies to label AI-related content. A New York Times lawsuit filed against OpenAI and Microsoft is likely to have a profound impact on AI content.
It’s possible that AI citation regulation will be implemented in the future. It’s unlikely to happen before the end of 2024.
Google says that AI content is okay, but it still cares about things like a href=”https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/02/google-search-and-aicontent” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>authority and experience/a> (things that are hard to get from AI content alone). Google has said AI is okay but still cares about authority and experience .
Google will not take your traffic if you are on the wrong side.
Prepare for this trend by:
- If you are unsure if the audience that you’re targeting would like to see content labelled as AI-generated, ask them.
- Use AI to help content creators and not replace them.
- Create a playbook or Style Guide to set standards for your entire content, regardless of where it is coming from.
- Compare the analytics for your AI-assisted and human-only content to determine which one is more effective.
4. Social media is now the main source of search.
In search of authentic and helpful answers, people, particularly younger generations, have been moving away from SERPs towards social media. This trend is expected to continue into 2024, as social media platforms will add more search-focused functions.
Exhibit A: 57% Gen Z prefers TikTok to Google for search, citing more personal and relatable answers.
TikTok is transforming into an online search engine for Gen Z.
Google data confirms this shift by stating that around 40% of young people begin their search using TikTok and Instagram.
The trend is evident in the SERPs. Reddit, where people discuss and share content, was the largest winner of Google’s core update in August.
After Google’s core update in August, a review of the most affected sites
TikTok has taken the lead in this trend, with a new Key Word Insights to help marketers research Social Media Keywords. The platform is also positioning itself as a one-stop-search-shop, testing Wikipedia results and Google search links in its feed.
There are other social media apps that offer search functionality. Instagram offers a powerful search feature and features for shopping.
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Users of Instagram can find new brands and products by using the search function.
You’ll have to optimize social content for discovery in 2024 just as you do for search engines. Make sure your content is authentic and trustworthy, because this is why people are on social media.
Prepare for this trend by:
- Learn about social media SEO.
- List your keywords.
- Create search-optimized content for social media to answer important questions in a relatable, authentic way.
5. Demand for video content is growing
In 2024, the trend in video content marketing is to simply do more. There are more features, formats and videos on platforms which were previously text-first.
TikTok started the trend of vertical short videos a few years ago. These short clips continue to be a huge engagement booster on most platforms. (Short-form video is 52% likely to get shared compared to any other type).
In 2024, the desire for video content will be greater than the 15-second clip. Gen Z viewers are , for instance, heading to YouTube in order to watch long-form fan videos about shows they stream.
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Gen Z’s love for bite-sized videos is well known, but they are increasingly watching longer videos.
TikTok is even pushing its creators to produce longer videos. It’s also toying with the notion of a 15-minute maximum video length (which would be the same as the maximum length Instagram imposes on Reels).
You can expect new features that will make watching longer videos more fun. TikTok , for example, added the ability to scrub thumbnails in order for viewers to scan videos and find their favorite moments.
The social media platforms are adding features to increase the popularity of longer videos.
LinkedIn will start to feature more videos, especially because a video has a 20-fold higher chance of being shared than a simple text post. You shouldn’t expect to see funny vacation or cat videos. LinkedIn recently tweaked its algorithm in order to give priority to “knowledge and advise” over personal content.
Here’s a example by the team at copy.ai. They use a shorter, educational video to hook a longer video on YouTube.
The algorithm will only show users short educational videos. Source
In 2024, video will only become more popular. Try it out if you haven’t already. Even if you just use your smartphone to explain something interesting.
Prepare for this trend by:
- You can turn blog posts, for example, that are highly-performing into videos.
- Track and test videos of various lengths to find out what works best for your audience.
- Cross-post and cut content across multiple platforms and track the engagement.
6. The year 2024 will be the Year of the Employee Ambassador
As part of content marketing, the search for authenticity will lead more people to leave their brand’s shadow and connect with their customers in a personal way.
LinkedIn is a great place to see this. It’s usually more engaging to publish content on a person’s account than a brand’s. Expect more companies to follow Alaura Weber of Writer who shares updates about their company, events and success stories regularly on LinkedIn.
In 2024, your employees could be the secret to content distribution. Source
All but a handful of brand unicorns will fall into this category, as they have developed their personalities and built a fan base (hi Duolingo!) ).
Source: Most brands do not have the social media savvy to compete on social media with other creators, but their employees can. Source
Gen Z is a surprising motivator of the personal/professional social media mashup. They will reward companies that can connect with them personally.
Content created by employees will also be increasingly popular on other platforms. Employees at car rental companies and restaurants, dental offices and other businesses already use social media to post their own content.
Employee ambassador posts can generate millions of views. Source
Smart companies will encourage their employees to post these personal-yet-promotional videos and reward them well when they do. It is much more effective to post one of these videos than to try and connect with an anonymous brand.
Prepare for this trend by:
- Create a reward system for employees who promote your company online.
- Employee advocacy platforms make it easy for employees to share content.
- Create a guide for social media that will help your customers know what to post and how.
7. Content marketing will return to its basics
In 2024, content marketing will return with a vengeance.
Some content marketers are reevaluating the content that makes it useful, engaging, and approachable in light of SERPs’ turbulence and audiences’ restlessness.
Marketers will be evaluating their content strategies in 2024 to ensure that they meet the original quality standards. Source
Three “old school” content strategys that you should consider this year include:
- Owned media
- Topic clusters
- Original research
Owned media
The loss in third-party data as well as Google’s SERP changes will cause more marketers to focus on their emails, resources, and brands communities.
Brands who build communities through owned channels can buffer against the turmoil of social media and search.
Businesses who invest in their own channels by 2024 will at least partially be protected from the whims and fancies of algorithms. The businesses will also have a closer relationship with their customers. This is in line with the recent consumer trends.
Topic clusters
Remember the old content “hub-and spoke” model? You created a large, high-level asset. (We’re not bringing back “skyscraper”) This post linked to several smaller ones, each focusing on a different aspect of the subject.
Well, they’re back. We agree with Tracy Wallace and Klayvio that this is a great strategy, not only for SEO but also for moving people along a content funnel.
Tracy Wallace, in her Contentment Newsletter, commented on the return of the old hub and spoke model.
Make sure that your hub content is unique and valuable. This brings us to our third retro strategy that we expect to be more prevalent in 2024…
First, a successful topic cluster relies on strong keywords. Find out what phrases your customers are using to research businesses similar to yours by using our free keyword tool.
Original research
AI creates new text by analyzing the existing text. Original research is the best way to combat commoditized material.
WordStream’s benchmark reports on Facebook ads, search ads and WordStream are among our best-performing products.
Your audience will appreciate the uniqueness of your research. Google will take it as a sign of experience and authority. It gets links, and it’s a PR game.
In 2024 as content becomes more commodity, some of the most successful marketers will invest heavily in research in order to defeat the bots.
Prepare for this trend by:
- Think about the type of research that you can do (surveys or internal data).
- Create a hub with your data, and the insights that you can glean from it.
- Distribute bits of this data via blog posts and social media.
- Use creative formats such as infographics, videos and blog posts to share your findings.
Content marketing in 2024: the trends to follow
It’s difficult to predict if the world in 2024 will be less turbulent than it was in 2023. It is evident that audiences reward marketers who are able to connect with them authentically. No matter what content marketing trends or strategies you choose, make sure you keep in mind that you want to make marketing more human, personalized, and relevant.
The post 7 content marketing trends you need to know in 2024 (plus tips to prepare) appeared on WordStream.