Pay Attention to These Content Marketing Trends in 2020
Seth Godin describes content marketing as “the only marketing left”—and for good reason. In today’s digital age, content marketing is a wildly effective tool for connecting with digital audiences and promoting your brand or business. But just as technology continues to evolve, the strategies needed for successful content-driven digital campaigns change as well.
In the digital marketing ecosystem, it’s important to stay on top of industry trends to not only stay a step ahead of your competitors but to impress your clients and advertising partners as well.
Read on for two major impacts on the content marketing landscape to pay attention to in 2020.
Podcasts will continue to flourish.
In the last decade, the number of podcast listeners has tripled. According to research by Edison, 70% of Americans, over 260 million people, are familiar with the term “podcasting,” a 6% jump from 2018, where 64% of Americans reported familiarity with the term. Currently, 51% of the US population has listed to a podcast and 90 million people tune into podcasts regularly.
Why should marketers pay attention? Podcast listeners tend to be extremely highly engaged audiences. The average podcast listener tunes into seven different podcasts a week, with 80% of all podcast listeners finishing or listening to most of each episode, according to Edison Research. With podcast listeners also highly likely to complete show episodes, there is an increased chance these listeners will engage with the brand or business behind the podcast after the episode is over. Podcast listeners are also more likely to follow companies and brands on social media.
It comes as no surprise that podcast advertising revenue continues to grow as well. With 69% of podcast listeners reporting that podcast advertisements made them aware of new brands and products, podcasts have become a trustworthy source for people to discover new companies. According to a report by IAB and PwC Research, podcast advertising revenue is predicted to reach $659 million in 2020. By 2022, it’s estimated that the number of regular podcast listeners will grow to 132 million people in the United States, and revenue will expand to $1.6 billion.
Smart devices are getting smarter.
Voice interface is still in its infancy, but the statistics surrounding voice-only content are already promising.
According to a report by VoiceBot, over 26% of American households already own a smart speaker, such as the popular Amazon Echo or Google Home devices. This number is anticipated to rise to 55% of households by 2022, just two short years away. Smart speakers are becoming more ubiquitous by the day, meaning that the way people consume content is changing.
According to Nielsen, the most popular uses for these devices include searching for real-time information about the weather or traffic reports, catching up on news updates, and setting timers and alarms.
People engage with these devices for entertainment as well. The most common use for smart speakers is listening to music, with 90% of users playing music during a typical week, and 68% of people chatting with their smart speaker for fun. People also commonly check the scores for sports games, ask trivia questions, play games, and shop online using voice.
People engage with these devices for entertainment as well. The most common use for smart speakers is listening to music, with 90% of users playing music during a typical week, and 68% of people chatting with their smart speaker for fun. People also commonly check the scores for sports games, ask trivia questions, play games, and shop online using voice.
These statistics prove that people are comfortable engaging with voice-only content and enjoy interacting with the interface as well. As more households adopt this technology, the use of voice-only applications will continue to grow—and companies are paying attention.
Brands are especially concentrated on catering to voice search apps for smart devices. According to comScore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches in 2020, and a report by Gartner projects that close to 30% of these searches will be done without a screen. With the use of voice chat rapidly increasing, it’s more important than ever for marketers to optimize content for search.