13+ Hottest Content Marketing Trends of 2023

Content Marketing keeps evolving, especially in the digital era. As a result, the competition to deliver effective communication solutions demands ever more creativity. As a marketing services company, The7 is rounding up the 13+ hottest Content Marketing trends of 2023.

Video Content Continues to Lead Content Marketing Trends in 2023

You may not have realized it yet, but while a picture can convey more than a thousand words, a video can spread that message a million times further. According to a Cisco forecast (2020), by 2022 more than 80% of users’ online traffic would be video. That could be video on websites or on other social platforms.

In 2021, more than 86% of companies used video marketing, up 1% from 2020 (according to HubSpot). Specifically, 93% of companies believe that video has led, is leading and will keep leading the Content Marketing trends of 2023.

In addition, we should pay closer attention to TikTok (a dedicated video platform), which is growing rapidly worldwide and in Vietnam. If you have the resources to write scripts, shoot and edit, you should give this platform a try to reach more potential customers.

SEO – The No. 1 Choice in the Battle for Search Rankings

You should “dig deeper” into your SEO strategy with a backlink and internal link plan, so you can guide customers through SEO-optimized articles with useful content that helps them make smart decisions.

Although there are many ways to optimize your company’s Content Marketing strategy, SEO is still the No. 1 choice in the battle for search rankings. This is especially true when customers use search engines to learn about a brand or its products/services.

Below, The7 rounds up the top 3 SEO trends for the near future:

– Mobile-First Indexing: Google indexes and ranks websites based on their mobile version. Google adopted this mechanism in 2018.

– Page speed optimization: One of the factors that helps Google rate your website more highly.

– Image Search: Many websites have lost traffic because users can view images on Google’s search results page without ever visiting the website. You can absolutely optimize your images for search through image SEO.

Evergreen Content Never Goes Out of Style

Once you roll out your Content Marketing and publish posts, images, videos and more, that content keeps on “working.” It supplies information to users, drives them to buy and turns them into loyal customers.

That is why you should prioritize evergreen content, since it never goes out of style. It lasts over time, never becomes outdated and always delivers useful information to users. Evergreen content deserves your careful investment and regular updates.

Don’t Overlook Any Existing Communication Channel

The Content Marketing trend of 2023 is not to overlook any communication channel you already have. Besides a website, every company has surely built channels such as Facebook, Zalo, Instagram, LinkedIn and more. All of them are ideal channels for reaching potential customers because of their huge user bases.

The7 believes you probably remember the outage that left Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp “clinically dead” for nearly 4 hours. Make time to build a Content Marketing development plan across multiple social platforms, so you don’t “lose connection with your users if an outage happens. Besides creating new content tailored to each channel, you should also make the most of your website content by sharing links to it on social media.

Market in the Language Your Potential Customers Use

Always review your content and how you deliver it. This isn’t particularly new, but it is always necessary. Typically, your audience grows up over time, and at each stage their psychology, interests, buying behavior and more change in certain ways. So you need to keep monitoring and updating quickly to adjust your language so it fits just right.

Over time in particular, Gen Z will gradually become the main audience for many services/products and officially become the majority on the potential-customer map for most industries. You need to focus on keeping up with new words, slang and popular trends to build an effective Content Marketing plan.

The Self-Directed Consumer Trend

The book “They Ask, You Answer” presents the self-directed consumer as a core philosophy. With this philosophy, Marcus has inspired millions of readers around the world and helped them achieve their own success. It also earned the book a spot on Forbes’ list of the top 11 Marketing books that most CMOs should read.

Sheridan argues that about 33% of users want a self-service option when they go through the buying process. No matter which industry you are in, you can apply this approach to speed up the experience. So is it difficult?

You provide ready-made content such as introductions, user guides, and service/product reviews in the form of blog posts or videos. Or simply design a quick multiple-choice quiz that identifies customers’ needs and recommends suitable products/services. In addition, you need to show them how to get in touch to buy, so your customers can take action on their own when they are ready.

In short, give your customers every detail they need, and when they truly want to buy a product/service, they will contact you right away. Here are some models that serve the consumer self-service trend:

– Self-booking appointments: Health check-up services, orders at food and beverage venues (eateries, restaurants and more).

– Self-selecting products/services: Customers choose one or more products/services, add them to the cart and check out as needed.

– Self-selecting by price: Offer product/service filters by price from low to high or high to low so customers can choose for themselves.

For this trend, you need to plan content that fits every action customers take on your website. Content that seems unnecessary, such as pop-ups, notifications that a product/service has been added to the cart, or payment confirmations, is actually extremely important, because it helps you easily leave a good impression on customers.

Most important of all, Content Marketing 4.0 needs to be combined with technical elements. When you build e-commerce sites (Shopee, Tiki, Lazada and so on), pay attention to the programming of the search function, the purchase flow, payment and more to deliver the smoothest possible experience for customers.

Impressive Viral Content That Spreads Fast

Another Content Marketing trend of 2023 is impressive viral content that spreads fast. Viral content refers to content that becomes widely popular, with news spreading rapidly online in the form of videos, images and more. Viral content often serves several goals, such as creativity, entertainment and explaining ideas. It has become common in recent years thanks to its high effectiveness at a fairly low cost.

For example, the advertising campaign by “Điện máy xanh” once set the online community abuzz (in 2016) with a roughly 60-second ad video featuring playful lyrics and a catchy melody. At that time, most Điện máy xanh stores were already established across the country. So the main mission of their ad campaign was to boost brand awareness so that Điện máy xanh would become “top of mind” for customers.

By repeating the brand name Điện Máy Xanh over and over, combined with a cheerful melody and blue characters dancing enthusiastically in the TVC, the campaign made the viral effect even stronger and drew an enthusiastic response from a large number of users.

>>> See more: 5 WAYS TO CREATE VIRAL CLIPS “MILLION-VIEW” ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Brand Memes – A 2023 Content Marketing Trend for Young People

The meme was formally introduced in 1976 by Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, to describe opinions, ideas and behaviors that spread from person to person within the same culture. Beyond simple fun, memes are now thoroughly commercialized by companies to increase engagement and to “turn” them into viral content that reaches customers. According to research by Martech, as many as 60% of Gen X and Gen Y pay attention to ad videos with a humorous element, and that figure rises to 72% for Gen Z.

Specifically, young people spend an average of about 200 minutes a day scrolling social media, and most of them will come across posts that connect with them. Even so, users remain extremely unhappy whenever they run into brand ads. That is why brands have used memes to defuse that dissatisfaction through entertainment and by reworking their messages. Memes are clearly becoming an extremely effective Content Marketing trend in 2023. A prime example is BAEMIN, whose cat images with sincere messages not only win customers’ affection but also effectively develop the brand’s personality.

Inspirational Content

The period from 2020 to 2022 is seen by many as a “dark” time, especially when the pandemic disrupted daily life and work and left everyone discouraged at least once. That is why using inspirational content in 2023 can be a “tranquilizer” that helps many people lift their spirits and look toward better things.

Inspirational content is easy to spot on many social networks, including Facebook, Instagram and more, where it aims to inspire users, especially during the recent pandemic.

Inspirational posts help users love life and themselves even more. They will also greatly appreciate the meaning of the message you want to share with your readers. However, keep in mind that your posts should be entertaining in a neutral way and never feel forced.

Content Based on Real User Experiences

Using content based on real user experiences often brings better engagement. Practical proof: companies that use this type of content typically see returning customers rise by 20% and time spent on their website increase by 90%.

Educational Content

Educational content is considered a Content Marketing trend of 2023 that is highly effective at building a company’s credibility and customer trust through instructional and advisory messages.

One reason Google places such importance on Expertise when refining how it indexes websites is that users prefer it.

Accordingly, marketing information as a guide or advisor, through useful, practical information, makes customers more willing to listen to you. According to statistics, about 58% of users say they are willing to join free courses organized by a company.

Traditional marketing leaves customers fed up and uninterested in outdated marketing messages, while educational content makes them more willing to listen. That helps them make sound decisions when buying products/services.

>>> See more: What Is Holistic Marketing? Benefits and How to Implement It

Storytelling – Brand Stories

Storytelling (brand stories) has been and still is very popular thanks to the authenticity of its narrative, which holds great appeal for readers. This is especially true when a brand weaves its products/services into the content in a skillful, subtle way.

This type of content is usually presented as a blog, vlog or postcard on many platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, websites, Spotify and more. The main character in your story can be a founder, CMO, CTO or senior manager of the brand.

Humorous Content

During the pandemic, many people fell into hardship, and above all they wanted to find an emotional anchor to make life feel easier to bear. That is why humorous content attracts a great deal of attention, as it helps people stay optimistic and refreshed.

Humorous content usually sticks in readers’ minds more, helping to reduce fatigue and making them want to keep reading. As a result, brands have gained a large volume of engagement through humorous content. However, the content also needs to relate to the company’s products/services so that it doesn’t distract customers.

Question-and-Answer Content Marketing

Question-and-answer content marketing is drawing more and more attention from consumers. These days, before choosing any product, most customers research and weigh their options very carefully before deciding to buy.

That is why Q&A-style content helps build and strengthen customer trust by answering all of their questions. This quickly boosts orders and sales. Here are some common questions you can use as a reference:

• How can you get the best results from using the product?
• Who is the product for?
• When is the best time to use the product?
• Where does the product come from? Is the brand trustworthy?
• …

VR Technology – Virtual Reality

Another content marketing trend that has emerged in recent years is virtual reality (VR) technology. It gives users an exciting experience and makes them feel immersed in a new and unique world.

Many experts believe virtual reality is the future of marketing. Numerous studies show that experiencing something is the best way for people to remember an object or phenomenon deeply and thoroughly, rather than just hearing or seeing it.

In reality, not everything can be conveyed through words, images or video. VR technology is therefore the perfect solution for businesses to strongly influence customers’ emotions and perceptions.

Content That Shows How to Use Products

If you only “talk on and on” about a product’s strengths and benefits, consumers will feel it is just empty theory. Instead, show them the product’s real-world uses.

For example, if you sell fashion, don’t just describe the cut, color and design of a dress a customer is interested in. Pair that dress with different accessories so buyers can see it and choose. This is a smart approach because you not only draw more attention to the product but can also upsell other products.

Podcasts Are Becoming More Popular and Attracting More Attention

From 2020 to 2022, the pandemic situation was complicated. As a result, content marketing formats such as podcasts gradually rose to prominence and became more and more popular. According to Podcast Insights, in 2021 about 2 million podcasts and more than 48 million podcast episodes had been created.

The hottest podcast topics usually revolve around education, especially online courses, sharing industry experience and more. Podcasts have opened up a highly promising new arena, drawing businesses large and small to participate in 2023.

Today, you can find quite a few podcasts aimed at business owners, entrepreneurs and similar audiences. These are fairly fitting topics for weaving in promotional information about your brand.

In recent years, content-related careers have grown rapidly and attracted the attention of more and more people. The top 13+ Content Marketing trends of 2023 that The7 has rounded up above are predicted to keep “shaking up” the advertising industry for years to come. Keep following The7‘s website for more useful knowledge, or contact us when you need to build a Content Marketing strategy. The7 is always ready to support customers anytime, anywhere with a range of full-service marketing offerings, as follows:

• Holistic Marketing Services
• Marketing Strategy Consulting
• Online Advertising Services

Content Marketing resources:

What is content marketing

Types of content marketing

Content marketing strategy

Content marketing plan template

How to write content marketing