2024 is going to be the biggest year for content marketing & you’re not going to want to be left behind.
The changes you will need to make might not be as big as you expected.
You’ve probably realized by now that generative AI chatbots are going to be huge as we move further in 2024.
This will be especially true when Google launches its AI-powered search Generative Experience (SGE) and even. People who’ve never used generative AI chatbots before are going to be using it multiple times a day to get answers to their questions.
This raises a question…
If people can get answers to their questions from AI why would they read your content?
Fundamentally the answer to that question is as content marketers we have to provide something significantly better than what the AI can produce.
This might include personal stories, testimonials and case studies in your blog or include a video to give a product demonstration.
It could even include building an interactive tool that gives a more personalized experience than AI can.
We’ve been expecting Google to push its new Generative AI called SGE but they have been emphasizing the importance of sharing firsthand experience in your content over the last year. They even updated their search quality rater guidelines to include Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-E-A-T) adding an extra E at the start of EAT.
So even though Google has been working on a way for searchers to get a less human result for their search they’re encouraging us humans to add more experience to the content that we’re publishing if we want to it be rewarded in search engines. This could be about sharing your experience in your content, sharing an individual perspective that would rank in the perspectives tab or adding your comments in the notes feature in search.
It feels like Google wants to give searchers the option to have a personal experience as well as a generic AI answer. At least they are self-aware because however cool CHAT Gpt or an AI search is there will be some searches where visitors just want to get that first-hand personal experience from someone who knows the topic well.
So making it obvious that you’re information and you are credible is going to be more important than ever.
So what do you need to do about Content Marketing Landscape Changes in 2024?
The first thing to remember is the fundamentals of content marketing aren’t really changing.
You’re main goal still should be to create content whether it’s written, video or audio that you audience wants to read, watch to listen to.
Sometimes they will be looking for guidance on making a purchase sometimes they’ll just be looking for information and sometimes they just want to be entertained.
Now the best content marketing will also guide people towards making a purchase.
We expect to see more content marketers investing in making the sort of content that keeps people wanting to come back over and over again.
Like how the best magazines keep getting subscribers because people love the style, information and position that the magazine takes on certain topics.
They offer that curated experience which means that people want to go back over and over again to read the new information.
Now one of the keys to doing this is to make sure that you understand your target audience.
If you have a wide target audience then you’ll need to segment that target audience to get real true resonance that you’re going to need for this next phase of content marketing in 2024 & beyond.
This has also happened a bit on social.
Let’s talk about an example of GYM Shark the fitness brand.
Gym Shark sells fitness clothing and they have had some really popular social media channels for a while but what they’ve started to do recently is create sub-brands under these channels. For example, Gym Shark lifting. This is an Instagram channel that is dedicated to people who love to lift heavy weights in the gym. What they have done is tailored this content specifically for a niche in their audience. In all likelihood, they have had to do this on social media because organic visibility is harder and harder to get unless you’re getting people to stick and look at your content.
It’s getting harder and harder to get visibility.
So to get that visibility and engagement you need to deeply resonate and you need to chunk out your main offering into separate sub-niches.
We’re expecting a similar thing to happen in Content Marketing.
Successful B2B Content Marketing Case Study
One example of a B2B software company that does a great job at keeping people coming back over and over again to see their content is MOZ with its Whiteboard Friday Series.
So every Friday they publish a video and a tutorial about some aspect of SEO & because they have done this consistently over the years they’ve built an audience that knows to expect a new video every Friday.
Let’s look at eCommerce now. Faith in Nature sells sustainable hair and body products but because they know their audience is interested in sustainability on their blog they are targeting search stuff and also posting on other topics they believe their audience might be interested in.
Of course, some of these will pick up visibility and surge but they are also the type of thing that helps the audience get to know Faith in Nature, understand the personality of the brand build that connection a little bit deeper.
So one of the things marketers are going to have to do in 2024 and beyond is spend some time understanding what’s important to their target audience.
If you are targeting a potentially large target audience then chunk that target audience into sub audiences to be able to resonate naturally with each one.
Gym Shark’s audience for example is really interested in motivational content, MOZ knows their audience wants SEO Educational Content and that’s what they cover & Faith in Nature knows that their audience wants information about the environment so hence that’s what they cover.
Now YOUR JOB is to find the equivalent for your TARGET AUDIENCE.
Matching the Style of the Content that is Already Ranking Well
This is essential with Google’s latest updates and SGE e.g. previously you would have noticed that long content tended to be what used to rank well on Google.
Nowadays you might have noticed a lot of shorter-form content also can rank well.
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) seems to reward content that is very narrowly focused on a particular topic maybe not the ultimate guide of the long-form piece but the narrow piece that covers one sub-topic of a topic. That’s what seems to be well!
Essentially you might need to choose to create multiple sub-topic posts pointing towards a central main topic long-form piece, downloadable guide or checklist etc.
You also need to pay attention to Google’s new tools coming to search like perspectives that allow you to filter results based on people’s perspectives usually shown in videos either on TikTok or YouTube.
If a lot of perspective results are showing up for your key searches then as part of your content marketing strategy you might want to work with more influencers and content creators to create the type of content that gets rankings in perspectives knowing what your audience is going to be seeing.
