Kim flinches his eyebrows.

The year is in the final quarter, his business is fairly performing (although he missed out on getting the right content marketing trends for 2022), and he needs to be on the lookout this time to prepare well.

But he is unable to begin.

He then sips another cup of jasmine coffee and searches the internet for potential trends in the content marketing industry that might cause a boom in 2023.

Can Kim find any without selling his soul?

You and Kim are looking for content marketing trends that will make a boom in 2023, but what exactly do you need to look out for in those trends? This article will be your cheater's guide to realizing some hacks no one will ever tell you in 2023.

Before we look at the expected trends, here are a few strategies to make sure your brand is making the most of content marketing in 2023.

6 Tips To Using Content Marketing To Your Advantage

Here is what everybody ought to know about harnessing the power of digital marketing before looking at the upcoming and expected trends for content marketing in 2023.

1. Strategize

2. Understand your audience

3. Use multiple channels

4. Be authentic

5. Take advantage of social media

6. Invest in data analytics

If you understand the above strategies well, then leveraging the content marketing trends for 2023 should be the easiest thing.

What To Look Out For in Content Marketing Trends 2023

The content marketing industry is undergoing rapid change.

A few years ago, we had no clue that memes or short-form videos would dominate the world of digital marketing.

Today, though, your brand may quickly lose ground to competitors if you don't have any video content or memes.

Experts anticipate that 2023 is set to be a unique year in marketing as trends shift to accommodate new technology and audience behaviors. If you can get ahead of trends, you’ll have a big advantage over competitors.

1. More Emphasis on Consumer Privacy

When it comes to the marketing trends in 2023, the main focus will be on consumer privacy.

With the rise in cyberattacks on internet users, your customers feel safe and secure if they are assured that their data is used responsibly and is not being sold to third parties.

More marketers are now integrating tools like AI and blockchain to ensure that user data is kept secure.

So, if Kim has an online website and wants to set up sign-ups for free lead magnets, white papers, and the rest, what they can do to remain relevant in 2023 is to upgrade their security software features.

If you leverage this trend as well, then you are assured of more qualified leads than your competitors and thus a more rewarding year for your business.

That’s a good approach, right? If your answer is yes, then the next trend should be your next focus.

2. Storyselling Will Cause a Boom

Storyselling (storytelling) is an art form and science too. For decades, marketers have been trying to sell their products or services through their stories.

But their efforts are so far in vain because the stories are not packaged into the content they produce.

Like Kim, if you missed out on this concept in 2022 or maybe you want to give it a try in 2023, you must do it well.

Here is how;

# Ensure you view the sales process as a journey with a beginning, middle, and end.

# Package your products and services into a story that will win the trust of the customers.

# Use the power of data-backed stories to appeal to different emotions your audience is going through.

# Use case studies to plot customers' challenges vs solutions to provide a direction that you want your audience to follow.

Storyselling will cause a boom in the content marketing industry by 2023 & tapping into the power of your unique story will increase your chances of making a sale. 

3. Leverage Empathetic Content

Empathetic content is usually something that’s meant to change the way the reader feels about a certain product or service.

If you’re going to tap into emotions in 2023, make sure you give users what they expect. Don’t offer a solution to their fear and then not provide one.

The world is growing increasingly impersonal as more people work from home and lack human interaction. One way you can engage users is by making their experience more personalized—and that means addressing their pain points.

You must empathize with your users in order to fully comprehend the issues they experience and how to solve them. Consider yourself in their position.

When you genuinely care about the clients you work with, you'll find ways to make their experience satisfying.

For example, one of the most dramatic ways to employ this type of marketing is through testimonials or reviews from real customers. In fact, studies show that customers are 71% more likely to buy from a company after reading reviews.

By 2023, more brands will leverage this marketing strategy to win the trust of customers. If you and Kim want to reap big from your (most likely asleep) competitors, don’t give this trend a deaf ear.

4. Representation and Inclusivity

If we look back, there were no concrete content marketing trends like inclusivity and representation.

The main reason was that there were no content marketers (Kim included) who had done research on the importance of considering diversity, equity, and inclusion of their target audience in any of their marketing campaigns.

But today, we have real data that suggests that inclusivity will cause a boom in the content marketing industry.

We know that consumers trust brands that promote diversity and inclusion, which is a result of the brand's efforts to create an environment that is welcoming to everyone.

Here are some of the benefits you will get if you tap on inclusivity as earlier as now;

# The more diverse representation will increase online ads recall by consumers

# Instant connection and resonating with an audience that felt marginalized in 2022.

5. Improved user experience across devices

Although Kim has been in the content marketing business for three years now, they often get confused about what UX means.

This has hugely affected their implementation of the same. But what is UX and why is it important to Kim and their clients?

UX is a common term used by marketers to mean user experience when interacting online.

What Kim doesn’t know is that the rapid rise of mobile devices in recent years has led to a dramatic change in how consumers interact with the world around them. 

This has also had an impact on how they interact with content marketing. As more and more consumers interact with businesses through their mobile devices, it is important for businesses to ensure that their websites are optimized for mobile use, as well as their other digital properties.

For instance, in 2023, your website’s landing page should be easy to use, with a simple but effective layout, and with standard information.

This can be done though;

# Using bold colors

# Animations

# Hands-free controls

Therefore, for you to win over competitors and have more consumers in 2023, make sure you upgrade or improve the consumer experience.

6. Cohesive Consumer Experience–Leverage Chatbots on Websites

As we look into the future, more brands will focus on providing a cohesive experience across their websites, apps, and other digital properties.

For example, Kim has been focusing on ensuring that their website and apps are easy to use, but they have ignored the other digital properties.

Now, they need to ensure that all of their digital properties are easy to use and offer a consistent experience for users—this is where chatbots come in.

Studies reveal that chatbots are now considered the fastest-growing brand communication channel—and if anything, this will imply more use in 2023.

If you serve consumers from different time zones, it is worth noting that you have to address customer needs, queries, and support at any given time they press the button on your site.

By connecting with your audience at any given point, you can take down any amount of competition in your niche.

7. Use of Video-Based Content (Including Livestreams)

Video-based content has been a staple of content marketing for years, but it has evolved greatly in recent years, especially since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, it is common for marketers to host live streaming events and post frequent video updates on social media. Studies show, in 2021 alone, consumers spent an average total of 548 billion hours streaming content through mobile devices.

The introduction of short-form videos on Facebook and Instagram (reels), TikTok videos, and the rest have gained momentum in 2022 and 2023, and it is not going to be different—if anything, more will be used.

Live streams and video-based content are very important to content marketers like Kim, who, from time to time, launch new products and services. This is because they are able to engage their audience, connect with them, and convince them.

This form of marketing gives you instant results, and you are able to change tactics easily. For instance, if you did a live stream that got zero attendance or a video with zero viewership, then you are able to change something that might have contributed to the same, e.g., by promising your audience free giveaways.

If you use videos and live streams for hosting pieces of training and short courses in 2023, you are sure to beat the competition.

The beauty of it is you can do any of the above whenever the audience is most engaged and using free platforms like Facebook and Youtube.

8. Voice Search Tactics Will Be Used To Boost SEO

Voice search has become a very significant factor in boosting SEO. This is a natural language conversation between a user and a search engine to find information or services.

For example: "Tell me the latest news from the New Google Core Update", which can be a command to a search engine to find or deliver recent news stories,

Again, question-answering content will take the center stage in the whole process of marketing in 2023 as it creates a conversational marketing tactic.

To reiterate literally every trend discussed in this article and in particular trend number 4, inclusivity, especially for people who are abled differently, for instance, those with visual impairment, will be the most generous thing to do as a content marketer in 2023.

9. Agile Marketing

No one will tell you this, but the trend in marketing is moving towards agile marketing. One thing that is for sure is that this trend is not limited to marketing but can be applied to almost all aspects of branding in 2023.

For example, if Kim is designing a new lead generation product and launching it, it will be a long and tedious process that requires a lot of research, brainstorming, prototypes, testing, and consideration of feedback.

But agile marketing is a methodology that will simplify the whole process for them. It focuses on continuous product development that allows you to keep designing, building, and collecting feedback on new features to improve the product.

Some of the lucrative benefits that will see this trend grow content marketing in 2023 include;

# Flexibility to adapt to change in the market

# Value if a designer opts to group consumers

# More focus on customer benefits and business outcomes

# Decisions will be data-driven

# Transparency

10. New Targeting Solutions

Currently, Kim can target users based on their demographics such as age, gender, marital status, education, income, etc., or interest-based like technology enthusiasts, gamers, sports, etc.

But the future trend will give you more targeting solutions from which you can choose the one that suits your brand best.

Some new targeting solutions that can be expected in 2023 and beyond are:

# User's financial condition - You can target users based on their financial conditions such as their ability to spend money, their disposable income, etc.

# User's relationship - You can target users based on their relationship. For example, a user may be in a relationship and may want to only share information with his/her partner.

# User's life stage - You can target users based on the stage of their lives such as a new parent, a newly engaged couple, etc.

11. The Rise of Intentional Content

The best marketing campaigns use a mix of both "educational" and "promotional" content. In fact, the best form of content should be to inform, persuade, and sell, and not the other way around.

In 2023, intentional content in the above form will transform many businesses all over the world—if business owners like Kim and you opt to provide timely solutions to problems.

To bring some sanity to the situation, a good example of intentional content is a podcast discussing the latest in the marketing industry.

This means any decision that builds up a need for a brand to come up with content in 2023 should be based on first understanding why customers make certain choices and want the (Act-Think-Feel) framework.

12. Leverage Intelligent and E-Interactive Content

Interactive content has been getting a lot of attention in the past few years. But one trend worth noting is that interactive content is expected to go far beyond the typical quizzes, polls, and surveys.

Normally, it is very difficult to keep eyeballs on your content for more than 50 seconds, but if you do it right, in 2023 you can keep them for 5 minutes or more.

This can be done by giving your audience the content that they need at the right time. For instance, it is not a crime to give your audience ebooks and reports; integrate short-form videos on your site; run contests; and more.

For example, a b2b marketing agency will use computer-generated artificial intelligence (AI) to generate content as it is published. The articles will be personalized to the reader’s location, age, gender, preferences, and interests.

You will reap big from the following benefits;

# Audience engagement

# Audience Learning

# More qualified leads and conversions.

13. Emphasis on Social Responsibility & Reputation

There is an underlying human need to return the favor when someone does something good for you. It’s sort of an “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” attitude. 

It's no secret that if you know your audience’s pain points, you can provide a solution with a free guide. Sometimes, giving something away increases the chances they will respond when you ask for help.

For instance, if you own an SEO agency, you should tap into this free giveaway to “Discover Some Dirty Little Secret For Ranking Any Website In Minimum Time Regardless Of Your Skill Level…”

Another aspect of it is that brands are working hard to build trust and be socially responsible by having a good reputation. They are trying to avoid being in an “in your face” type of marketing campaign.

For example, Kim, who runs an SEO company, can run a campaign where they let their customers know that they care about them and will do everything to improve their services.

This is because studies now indicate that 66% of consumers are now willing to pay more for goods and services owned by brands that demonstrate social commitment.

If you do the above, you are sure to ascend to the power of firing and hiring your competitors in the content marketing industry in 2023.

Interesting, right? Let’s see what trend is next, Nicco!

14. Long-Term Influencer-Brand Relationship

Study after study shows that word-of-mouth (recommendation) marketing is effective as customers get to trust a product if it is recommended by a person they know.

# On average, word-of-mouth drives $6 trillion in annual global spending and is responsible for 13% of all sales.

# Word-of-mouth is even more effective than paid ads, resulting in five times more sales.

# 64% of marketers agree that word-of-mouth is the most effective form of marketing.

And according to other studies, influencer marketing accounts for about $5.20 of every $1 spent.

Kim and many other marketers have realized that partnering with influencers is the best way to promote their brands. They are not investing in these relationships as much as they should.

The right way to do it is;

# Matching the right influencer audience for the right product.

# Develop a long-term relationship with your influencers to gain the trust of your audience.

Long-term relationships between brands and influencers are expected to become the norm in the next five years, and that means a greater ROI for everyone.

15. AI for Better Trendspotting

Trendspotting is a very important part of marketing. This is most probably the new sheriff in town; every marketer is anticipating leverage in 2023.

But it is often neglected because it is easier to focus on what is working right now and what needs to be done immediately.

From now until 2023, marketing departments are using artificial intelligence (AI) to learn about the preferences of customers and what products or services they need.

AI can be used to gather information from customers and generate insights from their feedback. It can also be used to monitor trends in social media, the internet, and other marketing channels to identify the products and services that are trending and those that are not.

If Kim and many other marketers are keen, then the following benefits should not just pass them by;

# More targeted ads

# Accurate predictions on market behaviors and trends

# Understanding buyer behaviors

# High ROI

16. Outsourcing to Digital Marketing Agencies

If anything, marketing departments are growing and becoming more significant, and if anything, this is expected to rise in 2023.

This is because in-house marketers are being stretched thin because of the rapid growth in marketing activities. To cope with this, marketers are outsourcing some of their work to external service providers, alias B2B digital marketing.

There are many ways to go about this, but two of the most common ways are to outsource content creation to dedicated content writing agencies or hire freelance content writers on freelancing platforms like Legiit.

The beauty of it is that these freelancers or agencies can also tap into their own knowledge and experience in implementing business growth strategies for you. 

17. Customer Gratification Through User Generated Content

The law of marketing most business owners don’t know is how to live in the same world as their consumers do.

Customers expect better service and better products. And marketers know it. They also know that customers will only keep coming back if they feel that they are getting their money's worth.

This is not a new trend, but it is anticipated that in 2023, marketers will be ready to go an extra mile to keep their customers happy.

And studies suggest that consumers will likely trust user-generated content by 2.4 times more than that they don't have a sense of ownership with.

To generate such content, people like Kim can leverage feedback, reviews, surveys, and studies to inform their next batch of content–this will sell like crazy in 2023 

Finally, there is an old saying, “The best experiences come in small packages," and indeed it is true.

For you to succeed in 2023 with your content marketing and beyond, you need to keep updating your consumer experiences from time to time.

Stay Ahead of Your Competitors with Digital Content Marketing Trends in 2023

The best practices and trends in marketing have changed dramatically over the last few years.

Consumers today place a higher value than ever before on authenticity, transparency, privacy, and diversity, which are all unique selling points that you need to succeed in 2023.

Additionally, as cutting-edge technologies like AI and chatbots for UX gain popularity, marketers like Kim (who missed out in 2022) now have a chance to incorporate these values into their messaging in fresh, creative ways.

Now that you’ve learned about content marketing trends for 2023, make sure you add more precise, up-to-date information throughout your plans to improve the visibility of ALL consumers.

If your plan is to get into content marketing in 2023 as a freelancer, marketing agency, or business owner, don’t forget to sign up for Legiit, which is the best place to Get More Stuff Done.

There is a Legiit Official Facebook group you can join or a Legiit Support Desk if you have any queries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the future of content marketing?

Yes, content marketing is the future. It has emerged as an effective way to reach and engage customers.

What is the future of marketing in 2025?

Value-driven content will rise to the top; original research will be popular; and the content will become more interactive and engaging, driving more conversions and sales.

Is content marketing the future of marketing?

Yes, by providing compelling and informative content, businesses can build trust and credibility with their target audience.

What are the 7 steps of content marketing?

# Define your goals.

# Establish your target audience.

# Identify keywords by establishing the problems your business solves.

# Run a content audit.

# Determine which content types you will use.

# Create a content calendar & publish.

# Measure results.

What's the future of content?

Content marketing is trending towards audience based as compared to product promotion alone.