Understanding how customers find and engage your content is the key to successfully helping them solve their unique problems and challenges and attain their desired goals.

So now that we're well into 2023, what will content marketing look like for the rest of the year?

Here are four key trends in content marketing in the UAE and the rest of the world that marketers should pay close attention to.

1. Observing Gen Z's preferred content channels and types

Generation Z (the population born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s) is proving to be made up of clever, tech-savvy and hardworking consumers who effectively influence other demographics' choices and preferences. They love interacting and establishing positive relationships with like-minded communities.

It pays to closely watch the social channels they frequent, such as TikTok, which they continue to flock to in 2023 because of the platform's "For You" approach.

When you deliver content consumers aren't currently aware that they need — but find interesting enough to click — you stand to gain opportunities to reach new audiences because TikTok users love sharing and recommending its content.

2. Focusing further on the short-form video

Video is one of the best types of content to use for helping brands gain traction across various channels, and it's easy to see why: It can be highly entertaining while also delivering a quick valuable message.

People share millions of videos across social media, and content marketers need to be open to creating quality videos that people will love to share and talk about nonstop.

Today, short-form videos (about two minutes and 30 seconds in length — or even a lot less, between 15 and 30 seconds long) account for 80% of all mobile data traffic and have the highest ROI among social media strategies. They are time-efficient, informing people and making them curious and excited about a new product or service than text.

These short videos (Instagram Reels and TikToks) effectively capture audiences' attention because they are always punchy. They come with exciting captions that promise a positive payoff if you keep watching. In addition, they offer a delightful twist (like a surprise transformation or reveal).

People are now using TikTok as a search platform. You'll notice that these videos now appear in Google search engine results pages, and content creators and marketers need to develop optimised video content for better results.

3. Committing to value-driven storytelling with empathy

A post on the Google Search Central blog encouraged content creators to avoid developing content for search engines first and to focus on personalised, people-first content instead.

When creating this kind of content, it's essential to keep the following guiding principles in mind:
  • Think about a specific audience that would greatly benefit from your content if they came directly to you.
  • Your content should offer a wealth of information and a demonstration of first-hand expertise on a subject that people would find helpful.
  • Make sure a person will gain sufficient knowledge of a topic after interacting with your content to address their challenges and resolve their problems.
  • This content must provide your audience with a satisfying experience.

Empathy and a human-to-human connection are also vital. For example, one study from Label Insights revealed that 94% of respondents would stay loyal to a brand that demonstrates transparency, and 75% of the same consumers will be happy to pay more for services or products from a brand they perceive to be genuine.

Your content should inspire emotions, foster relatability and help establish a sincere connection between a brand and its followers.

4. Exploring the capabilities of AI

Seasoned content marketers and providers of freelance copywriting services can benefit from harnessing the many ways that artificial intelligence or AI can enhance and support content creation.

It would still be several years before AI can produce a top-quality blog post without human involvement. But there is much to be learned from investigating how tools can help writers with some of the more essential aspects of the writing process.

For one, AI can kickstart your creative juices by offering article ideas and title suggestions, formulating outlines and enabling the best possible copy to take shape in a writer's mind.

There are other examples, like Copy.ai helping with social media post creation, Chat GPT integrating with Zapier to create videos or drawings and UberSuggest assisting with blog post development.

Creating content that attracts and influences audiences

One thing remains the same: Engaging, valuable content will consistently draw consumers' attention. So in 2023, content creators and marketers should explore trends and capabilities that help them connect better with their audience.

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