Weekly Content Marketing Trends March 14, 2022
If you're wondering how your brand can serve audiences during tumultuous times, there's one word that stands out: community.
Using and growing your social media presence to create a community where people can connect and experience some sense of certainty is one of the most valuable ways to use the power of content marketing. This week, we'll explore the ways in which you can use your brand to create a corner of the internet that people can't wait to visit.
We'll also discuss how being willing to change and staying nimble is critical when executing your content marketing strategy — especially when the world seems like it's spinning a little faster than usual.
Quick Links
Creating Community With Social Media
Creating Community With Social Media
Social media isn't going anywhere and brands that want to expand in 2022 and beyond have to take seriously integrating social media into their content marketing strategy.
The numbers speak for themselves. A quick glimpse into some social media stats reveal:
- 70% of people who have a positive experience on social media are willing to recommend a brand or product to their friends.
- 60% of Millennials expect a consistent experience from a brand across channels, showing how social media is an essential part of an omnichannel consumer experience.
- 90% of businesses say social media marketing has increased their exposure (and do we dare say the other 10% needs to dig into their analytics to discover what opportunities are there for improvement.
- 75% say that the same efforts have increased traffic to preferred channels.
- 72% say they consider social media reviews the same as recommendations from friends.
To leverage the power of social media, brands need to provide value in alignment with their mission, vision, and values. Not only should they use social media as an opportunity to deliver customer service (responding to customers' questions on their social media channels) but to create deeply meaningful interactions as well.
This can be done through social media groups or just on a business page. The biggest mistake brands make when using social media to market is... to market. Making direct offers or promotions should only constitute somewhere around 30% to 35% of your content. All other content should be giving massive value, like free advice, giveaways, and polls.
Additionally, social media is a great place to just be a human. Share memes. Ask seemingly random questions like recommendations on restaurants or other (non-competing) products. Look for opportunities to connect people in your groups or on your page. These types of posts humanize you without compromising your professionalism (no venting or ranting) and are highly likely to increase engagement among your audience.
Flexible Content Marketing
Coming off the heels of two transformational years, how markets and consumer behavior evolve into the future is anyone's guess. The only thing that can be absolutely guaranteed in 2022 is change, and that means companies need to be ready to adjust to consumer behaviors that are sure to change and evolve.
How can your company stay nimble and ready to meet the needs of your audience?
- Create a company culture of agility. You'll want team players who are eager to try the latest and greatest while still nurturing what's working for your company.
- Hire people who are multi-talented. You'll want team members who understand how SEO works with social media marketing works with blogs works with video strategy and so on — and can be an integral part in strategizing and executing for your team. (As we've said before, 2022 is the year of the video. Be sure to have that video expert on hand.)
- Despite inevitable changes, you can predict the core skills needed such as video content creation. Support your team members in developing these skills.
- Be data-driven. Being prepared for change doesn't mean following the next shiny object that comes along; it means being prepared to evolve. Analyzing your data will show you what's working and where changes need to be implemented.
- Make sure you have the right tools in your toolbox, especially tools for automation.
Content Marketing Inspiration
The beautiful thing about content marketing is there's so much to be inspired by and so much room to be creative. Drawing on current events can be a great way to invite customers to engage, as some Starbucks baristas discovered over the past week when they put out two tip jars, one labeled Pete and the other labeled 'Ye. In case you haven't heard, Kanye created a controversial video for one of his latest songs featuring a claymation portrayal of doing some not-so-nice things to Pete Davidson who is dating Kim Kardashian and the internet is here for the ensuing feud.
The tip jars are a fun and clever way to have customers weigh in on a pop culture topic surrounding a figure who tends to bring up strong opinions in people.
Even though this is an "in real life" example, it's easy enough to take this format to your social media. Create a poll. Send out an e-blast with random coupon generators that pop up from buttons that say 'Ye or Pete. Take a strong stance on one or the other and watch how your audience reacts.
The point is not to formulate an opinion on a celebrity feud one way or the other. The point is inspiration is everywhere and when you find the sweet spot of what is authentic to your brand and what excites your customers, the possibilities for engagement, traffic, and company growth are endless.
Taking Action
Speaking of toolboxes and agile teams, our Scripted writers love all things content marketing. If you're ready for the support of content marketing professionals without the cost of a full-time content marketing team, start your free trial membership with Scripted today!
Published by Ciara Antolini on Monday, March 14, 2022 in Marketing Agencies, Tool Review, Tools, Tools Reviews.
