Content Marketing Trends 2023
One of my main roles as a consultant is to continue to research what the upcoming changes, advice and best practice is for marketing and content creation. I love learning so it suits me fine and it’s also why I have ‘knowledge’ as one of my values. It’s my job to do the research, find stuff out (all so you don’t have to) and share it with you in ways you can easily apply it to your marketing.
So here are 5 recommendations for you to consider for 2023, to stay ahead of the curve and make your marketing and content work hard for your business.
1 – Evidence your experience
It is likely that you have heard that Google’s algorithm assesses three areas when it is crawling a web page – Expertise, Authority and Trust (or E-A-T).
These three areas continue to be really important when it comes to content – ensuring that your expertise is warranted, that you have authority (which is reflected in the traffic and links to your site) and also that there is trust in your content, for example, it is not click bait and the bounce back rate remains low. However, according to digital marketing guru, Neil Patel, a fourth area of assessing content is also being added by Google – Experience. (See more here: https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-experience-algorithm/)
In essence, evidencing experience is what is going to make content not just good, but great. Neil explains: “When you integrate your own personal learnings and show your experience within your content it stands out…That’s what is hard to replicate using AI… or at least for now.”
So, it’s not just about sharing expertise by educating, offering guidance and adding value in this way, but it’s also about ‘proving’ you have the experience and credence to offer this advice. I’ll be exploring exactly how in future blogs, but for now, my top tip is to make sure your ‘about page’ evidences relevant experience and that in content, such as blogs, you are explaining why you are in a great position to share expertise (which will also elevate authority).
2 – Be the epitome of honest and trustworthy
I am sure as business owners you are always honest and transparent in your marketing about what you offer and exactly what your clients and customers can expect. This is more important than ever to remember in 2023.
People are social media savvy and, quite frankly, getting fed up of false advertising, false promises and hidden costs. With the cost of living crises and rising energy bills, every penny counts for many so no one is going to take kindly to finding out an item, product or service is going to cost more than they expected or that there are hidden costs, based on the marketing or content they have seen from you.
Businesses and individuals will want to know exactly what they are getting for their money, the value it will bring to them and their lives and how the spend can be justified. Trust in your messaging around this is going to be so important to encourage the spend in the first place.
To take it a step further, if you can make it work for your business, consider if you can offer products and services at different price points, as well as more generous payment terms or payment plans…and how you can communicate this in your content too. We all need a little help right now.
3 – Offer value
We know that marketing needs to be so much more that straight sales posts, these days. Alongside E-A-T, we also have the ‘know-like-trust’ models and the ‘grow-nurture-sell’ step. (book a call if you want to learn more about these).
According to the Digital Marketing Institute, this key trend continues in 2023, you need to “Balance your content to offer value and not just sell”. So when planning 2023, stop and consider not just ‘more and more content’, but what’s actually going to help, inform and educate your current and potential customers. (Learn more here: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/what-are-the-top-digital-marketing-trends-for-2023)
4 – Consider sustainability
Now, you may be wondering how you can make your content and marketing ‘carbon neutral’ or ‘plastic free’?? In a digital age, most marketing and content creation is pretty environmentally friendly anyway…although I am sure there are still areas for improvement! However, this trend is not necessarily about the content itself being sustainable but more about your communicating and showing that you and your business appreciates people’s environmental concerns and values their choices about the way they choose to live.
If you are adopting more sustainable choices, aiming for carbon neutral status or applying to be the next B Corp, then make sure you are communicating this in your content and marketing – if it is genuine. No greenwashing here please!
It will affect more and more people and their choices of who they choose to buy from and work with.
5 – Make your video content more varied
Join as in 2022, video content continues to be the most important content format, especially with the continuing popularity of Tiktok, as well as the growth of video on LinkedIn, plus YouTube continues to grow as a visual search engine, as well as a competitor to TikTok with its YouTube Shorts.
Not only do you need to focus on video content in 2023, your video creation also needs to be more creative this year. Our attention spans (and that of the next generation) is getting shorter, after all!
Getting a variety of content creators involved is highly recommended – not just you chatting to your screen (which is still a great place to start) or even a series of images with a little music – but clients offering testimonials, employees sharing their experiences, behind the scenes, and customers using products.
Think about the different types of videos you can offer and what will grab people’s attention visually. We want to see more!
Best platforms for 2023
To complement the five trends, I also did a bit of research into the growing platforms. And whilst there are stats on the continuing growth of TikTok and WhatsApp, and other social media platforms, there was something that caught my eye and aligns with my own intuitions. And it’s this…according to Exclaimer.com, “email will continue dominating in an omnichannel world” (Learn more here: https://www.exclaimer.com/blog/5-marketing-trends-2023/ )
I found this really interesting as I have definitely seen a trend for more marketing agencies and influencers starting to shun the exclusive focus on social media and even starting to be more honest about how far a small business can have an impact, in terms of actually making sales, via a social media channel and posting there.
In contrast, I’m delighted to see more of an emphasis being made about the quality of your website and the content that sits upon it, i.e. video and blog posts, as well as the highlighting the role of email – particularly in terms of personalisation and improving the customer experience – something I am very much a proponent of!
Social media has a role in terms of visibility and brand awareness, of course, but putting ‘all of your eggs in this basket’ is not the way to go to get sales.
In 2023, email communication and marketing also feels key given the cost of living crisis, the pinch in everyone’s pocket and ongoing feelings of uncertainty. Businesses need to make sales. And the job of content consultants and marketing professionals is to ensure we are not only helping you with great content but also using the right medium and platforms to reach your ideal audience and make those sales. In an email, you can evidence your expertise and experience and be really open and clear about your offering.
So make 2023 the year you focus on your email marketing and take the time to nurture both your mailing list subscribers and your leads and clients, via email.
Let’s create content that works hard for your business in 2023
It’s super important this year, more than ever, that our marketing activity and the content we create works hard for our businesses – that it leads to results.
If you are not sure how to achieve this, how to make the most of the above trends, or just want support making your marketing more strategic, why not book a discovery cal? It’s a chance to have a completely free 30 minute discussion and make a plan for 2023.