Content Marketing Trends for 2019: Where the Pulse is At

We’re almost halfway through the first quarter of 2019. Yep, it’s faster than the Flash saving that Russian family in Justice League. But despite this fast-forward feeling, we’re still at the beginning stages of the year. It’s not too late to come up with new plans and test out different content marketing models for your business! So if you are wondering what type of content would rock 2019 to its core, here are some of our predictions based on what we’ve been putting out for clients over the past two years.

But before we get started, I did a back check of the content marketing stats from 2018 and found out that in general, content remains the best driving force for any business looking to gain more relevance online. Different digital marketing outlets summed up 2018 with very optimistic projections:

• Content marketing drives favorable ROI. DemandMetric reports that content marketing is significantly cheaper than traditional marketing practices. It was also seen to have generated three times more leads than the usual media avenues.
• Detail and depth is a plus. Orbit Media Studios have reported that blog posts are better received if they are longer and offer in-depth information about a particular topic. Curata also reports that “long-form blog posts generate nine times more leads than short-form posts.”
• Content is a landmark trust-builder. It’s hard to gain a customer’s trust; especially if you are a brand newcomer. But one of the best techniques that could capture their trust is to come up with good content. DemandGen reports that service and product buyers “consider content as trustworthy when evaluating a company and its offerings.”

These stats sum up one thing—you can never go wrong with an effective content marketing strategy.

Fresh Videos and No-bullshit Vlogs

We could not stress this even more. We’ve been working with different local brands with one goal in mind—to disseminate information and to grab more customers. The most effective way for us to get these results is by coming up with beautifully-sequenced video content that has a coherent narrative and a subtle call-to-action. Videos have received better traction than the usual graphic post on social media.

But keep in mind that your video has to be real as shit. Do away with setting up a fake personality when you go on camera. Be authentic and raw as you can be. You can start by doing a video showcase of what you can offer, with interviews of the staff, the owner, and telling your prospective customers your story from the heart. One of the things I’ve noticed when doing these videos is the emotional side of it. The more you evoke human emotion, the more likely it is to catch people’s attention.

If you’re wondering how you can start doing video for your business, check out our handy guide to knowing the perfect video campaign type.

Longer Blog Posts

It’s standard SEO practice to keep your blogs to a minimum of 300 words and a maximum of 800. But given last year’s metrics, it looks like you’re better off pouring your heart out in a 1500-word blog post to get customers to come running to you. Of course, you have to have a good topic that would catch their attention and have them keep reading until their eyes bleed fucking gold.

There are numerous ways one can showcase a particular product or service without actually showing it. This is where an insane amount of brains and creativity are needed. And besides, there are tons of good shit that you can add into your blog. Instead of putting stock images to illustrate a point, you can go crazy and put it a GIF to make it look fresh and updated. This would complement your long-ass blog and make your readers want to move forward with your words of wisdom. Again, don’t be fake. Be authentic! Write about shit that you know by heart as a business.

Honest-to-God Product Reviews

Similar to blog posts, product reviews can do wonders for your content marketing campaign. As long as these reviews are positive, putting out product reviews will drive an impression of you being an expert in your niche. Again, the key takeaway here is to be honest about your review but not to the point of making your customers not want to patronize what you offer.

Tell them about the good benefits of getting that particular product, including who it’s actually for. Tell them about the pros and cons, and let them decide for themselves. By giving customers this decision, you’re subconsciously making them lean towards you because of your honesty and eagerness to give real value.

Besides, the era of the “BUY NOW!” mentality is over. People are drawn to you if you are real and keep the customers’ satisfaction on top of your priority list.