• 04 Dec 2020
• 6 Min read

5 types of content you’ll want to create in 2021

• by Emily Park

The end of the year is fast approaching, which means we’re already starting to look ahead at what the digital marketing landscape is going to be like in 2021. Of course, it’s impossible to predict exactly what’s going to happen — especially when all of our lives are still very much being affected by the coronavirus pandemic. But there are some content trends that are already starting to emerge and that are likely to stick around for the next 12 months.

Here, we’re going to take a look at five content trends that need to be on your radar right now, and how you can use them in your digital marketing strategies.

Meaningful content will be particularly shareable

This year has been very heavy for all of us, so it makes sense that people have started to look for ways to spread hope within their circles. As a result, you might have noticed more of your social media friends and followers sharing meaningful content over the last few months.

Meaningful content will typically focus on an important cause or issue that somebody wants to shed some light on. And people will share it for a number of reasons, including to inform their followers and give themselves a sense of purpose. So, if your business is able to create valuable and relevant content that’s also meaningful, it’s likely you could earn yourself a lot of shares.

It’s vital that any content you create is authentic to you, though, otherwise it could look like you’re simply jumping on the bandwagon to get more engagement. So, think about what kinds of meaningful content would make sense for your site and social media accounts. For example, are you waging a war on fast fashion, or do you donate a percentage of your profits to a charity you really believe in? Think about how you could create content around any charitable initiatives you have to show potential customers how responsible and thoughtful you are. Hopefully, they’ll reward you with plenty of shares. 

Dynamic content will keep your customers happy

Whenever we use the internet, we’re bombarded with content that’s trying to catch our attention. And a particularly effective way to ensure yours stands out from the crowd is to personalise it.

In fact, a lot of consumers have started to expect personalised content as standard, with 91% of people saying they’re more likely to shop with brands who recognise them and provide relevant offers or recommendations as a result (Accenture [PDF]). So, if you only ever send out blanket marketing emails and you aren’t remarketing to people who’ve browsed your site before, you could be missing out on a lot of sales.

Simply personalising your marketing emails can provide you with six times as many transactions, while personalised homepage promotions can influence up to 85% of shoppers to make a purchase (Instapage). So, while it might mean implementing new strategies and tools, offering your customers dynamic content can really pay off.

You should still be optimising for voice search

We’ve been writing about optimising your site for voice search for years now, but it should certainly be part of your marketing strategy for 2021. This is especially true if you’re targeting younger demographics, as up to 55% of teenagers use smart speakers or virtual assistants on a daily basis (Mobile Marketer).

There are a number of ways in which you can write and tweak your content to make it more suitable for voice search. For example, you could make your copy more conversational, include more questions that someone might ask out loud, and make sure the language you use is always natural. For example, to find this blog post you might type “content marketing trends 2021” into Google, but you would probably be more likely to ask a smart speaker “what are the biggest content marketing trends going to be in 2021?”.

It’s also worth noting that a lot of voice searches will be localised. So, someone might ask their mobile phone for recommendations of great walking routes, or things to do in the nearby area. Therefore, it’s a good idea to give local content the most attention when you’re optimising for voice search.

Visual content will help you stand out

With so many different businesses and individuals publishing new content all of the time, it’s hard to grab people’s attention. But, even when you do, it can then be a challenge to keep it. It’s important to remember that internet users’ attention spans tend to be quite short and you need to give them a great reason to stay on your website or social media feeds. Ensuring your content is visually appealing and easy to skim through is a great way of going about this.

Whenever you’re planning or creating a new piece of content, consider how it’s going to look and whether there’s a way you can make it more visual. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about some new statistics that are relevant to your business, could you create an infographic? Or could you sprinkle some bespoke designs throughout a guide you’re writing to illustrate your points? The more visual you make your content, the more it’s going to appeal to your audience.

User-generated content will continue to be vital

User-generated content has really come into its own in 2020, as brands have struggled to put together their own photoshoots due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions. This means a lot of companies have resorted to using photos their customers have posted on social media to promote their products and services.

While this has certainly been an element of some companies’ marketing strategies for a while now, it’s become more widespread over the last few months, and it’s likely a lot of businesses will continue to use this tactic, even once they’re able to shoot their own campaigns again. This is because posting user-generated content has a range of benefits.

Firstly, the person whose content you’re using is likely to feel a stronger bond with your brand and could then go on to recommend you and buy more of your products as a result. More natural photos of your products in action can also help to show exactly how they look or work in real life. People might find it difficult to picture themselves in clothes they’ve only seen on a model, for example. User-generated content can help to show what they’re actually like, which should build trust with prospective customers.

2021 is well and truly on its way, and we can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold for the digital marketing industry.

We’re already incorporating a lot of these trends into our organic search and content strategies to help our clients stand out from the crowd and get the best results. If you would like our help with this, get in touch today and we’ll be more than happy to talk through your requirements and how we can help you reach your goals.

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