At the end of the year, content planning for the coming year is on the agenda. But which topics are particularly relevant for marketers in 2023? And how can marketers specifically include them in their editorial plan? This article provides an overview of the most important content marketing trends in 2023.
Content Marketing Trends – Variety is Required
What do potential customers want from quality content today? They want to be entertained. They expect high-quality information. And above all, they want variety – both in terms of content and content formats. This is also reflected in the Content Marketing Trends 2023. Content marketing in the coming year will not only be based on personalized content. In particular, different content formats will be relevant for companies in 2023 in order to inspire their target groups with new content. We have briefly summarized the 8 most important content marketing trends for you below.
1. Conversational commerce and voice commerce
The use of conversational commerce in the form of various chatbot integrations has become increasingly important in recent years. The study “The Human Connection – using technology to create a better customer experience” by Verizon, for example, confirms that 56 percent of the participants in the study like to use customer contact via chatbots. Voice marketing has also become a component of content marketing, even in B2B. The reason: communication between people and companies is becoming more interactive through voice-based formats. A chatbot, for example, improves the customer experience in customer service, since it is available 24/7 for customers and can provide direct assistance.
Voice marketing, on the other hand, is better remembered. People subconsciously remember more information if it is not only available in text format, but is also communicated through spoken language. Podcasts, for example, show how popular voice commerce has become. In 2022, almost one in two people regularly listens to podcasts (german language). In the last two years in particular, the use of podcasts has increased significantly by ten percent and audio content has become increasingly popular. Both conversational commerce and voice commerce are therefore important trends in content marketing that are likely to gain further traction in 2023. For marketers, this means that chatbots and podcasts should be integrated into the content marketing strategy by the company, if not already done. In addition, it may be worthwhile to further expand podcast presences in particular.
2. Short-format video content
Another trend is short-format videos. In our knowledge article, we already took an in-depth look at TikTok Marketing. Companies should definitely expand short videos in content marketing. Statistics show that 87 percent of consumers in Germany follow videos online (german language). Social media platforms like TikTok in particular, but also Facebook and Instagram, are the drivers of short video content. They entertain customers and are quick and easy to capture. This is exactly what customers want from content. It is therefore not surprising that social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram increasingly support videos – keyword: Reels! In content marketing, marketers should keep in mind that short videos can be used in a variety of ways. For example, in the form of smaller image films.
3. Social commerce and discovery commerce
Social is King! This is one of the most important aspects of content marketing in 2023. The importance of social media is enormous. But so is the challenge of finding the right social media channels for your own target group(s). Do they prefer Facebook or do they prefer Instagram? What about LinkedIn? But it’s not just the choice of social media platform that companies should consider. Social commerce places special demands on content marketing in 2023: It must combine content and commerce on social media. Above all, this means that e-commerce systems and content marketing tools must work seamlessly together. Incidentally, this also applies to Discovery Commerce. In this case, content from content marketing should inspire people on social media and draw their attention to (new) products – for example, by means of a suitable short video.
4. Virtual events
The Corona pandemic has brought virtual events to the front and made them an important part of marketing. The importance of virtual events will remain in 2023. This is especially true in the B2B space. But virtual events also offer good content marketing potential in the B2C environment. It is no coincidence that large companies such as the drugstore chain DM rely on short virtual events such as live shopping in combination with exclusive discounts. If a virtual event is a webinar, for example, the content covered there can also be used for further content on the company’s own website or blog. In content marketing, companies should therefore also think about special virtual events in 2023 and include them in the content plan.
5. Digital Collectibles – NFTs in Content Marketing
One of the latest content marketing trends in 2023 are Digital Collectibles, so-called Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). These digital collectibles can be almost everything: exclusive discounts, special digital products such as works of art, and much more. There are nearly no limits to creativity in content marketing. However, successfully integrating NFTs into your own content marketing requires some groundwork. But then, NFTs can be a worthwhile building block in your content marketing mix and, last but not least, open up new target groups.
6. User-generated content – focus on community and authentic content
Authenticity – that’s what customers crave. Instead of polished content, authentic content is high on the agenda for successful content marketing in 2023. In this context, user-generated content (UGC) is of particular importance. According to the motto: from customers for customers. The community is the focus of Content Marketing Trends 2023. For marketers, this means primarily not only relying on content created by the company. Rather, it is important to refer to reviews from customers and to actively integrate the community into content marketing. Good review management can thus become a valuable component of content marketing in 2023. Read more about review management and how it works in our whitepaper.
7. New content marketing channel: The Metaverse
The metaverse is one of the digital hypes of 2022. As a new channel, it offers companies numerous options for expanding their content marketing. The business relevance of the Metaverse is still highly debated at the moment, but marketers should definitely evaluate their options in content marketing – and also stay up to date. The metaverse is already being used by large companies such as Adidas and Zalando to present new products to the virtual community in a special way. How the Metaverse will develop in the coming year remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: it will not disappear completely from the scene in 2023.
8. Micro-influencers in content marketing
Influencer marketing is still one of the content marketing trends in 2023. However, there is a shift: away from large macro-influencers to micro-influencers. Why? Micro-influencers are more specialized than macro-influencers and are more considered subject matter experts for a smaller target audience. Their follower count is usually between 1,000 and 100,000. The advantage: micro-influencers are considered more authentic and thus pay into the content marketing trend of authentic content. For companies, however, one thing is important to note: Those working with micro-influencers often need more influencer partnerships than with macro-influencers. However, because the reach of macro-influencers is more targeted, the ROI for them is often higher than for macro-influencers.
Virtual Influencers
Content marketing trends 2023 offer a broad spectrum. In addition to familiar formats, new ones such as NFTs are establishing themselves. The metaverse offers marketers an additional content marketing channel for their business. UGC is increasingly replacing glossy formats in content marketing. And last but not least, many of the content marketing trends 2023 also overlap. For example, NFTs and the metaverse, because digital collectibles can be provided not only via content marketing channels already in use, but also via the metaverse – for example, in the form of NFT-based accessories for avatars in the metaverse. For marketers, content marketing in the coming year will definitely mean acting in a more interlocked way.
