3 trends in content marketing for 2024

Trend 1: Your employees as ambassadors

Influencer marketing is part of digital marketing. But you don’t need to rely on a (sometimes expensive) influencer to tell your story. “Your employees are your most important capital” is something we hear often. And we fully agree. Your employees can have a huge, positive impact on your brand’s notability. How so? By developing a personal brand.

Personal brand – Amelia Sordell

Amelia Sordell is also convinced of the power of a personal brand. At the Influencer Marketing Show 2023 in London, she spoke about the importance of a personal brand. People believe people (or, in this case, employees) more easily than companies. By putting your employees in the spotlight, you can reach your target audience in a more authentic way.

The pay-off is significant: when an employee shares a brand message, it’s up to 24 times more likely to be shared than when a company posts the same message. More importantly, leads brought in by an employee are seven times more likely to convert. According to Sordell, personal branding offers considerable advantages for your business.

Build your personal brand on social media channels

Social media channels are also aware of the human fascination for personal brands. LinkedIn, for instance, shows members before it shows company pages in the search results. So, there’s no better place to build your personal brand than social media.

As a business, it may be challenging to inspire your employees to post on social media. Not everyone likes sharing their life on social media and not everyone wants to share just anything. But you can encourage them to be present on socials, post positive messages on your company, etc.

Trend 2: Long-form content is back

Short-form video content has been gaining popularity on various channels for a while now. It used to be the perfect way to break through on channels like TikTok and Instagram (Reels). But long-form content is making a comeback. That means that 2024 is all about finding an authentic mix that fits your brand.

2024 audiences expect authenticity and depth. And that simply takes some more time now and then. Most social media channels got the memo already. The standard length of “vertical” content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram is inching past the average 15 to 30 seconds. YouTube, the king of long-form content and vlogs, on the other hand, is experimenting with Shorts to find the perfect mix.

How do you determine the perfect mix of long- and short-form content?

The most important thing is knowing who your audience is. What does your target audience want to see, read, know? Are they expecting breezy, quick content, or are they looking for podcasts of an hour that allow them to ask questions? Do your research and find out how to meet your target audience’s expectations.

Trend 3: mixing up the storyline

Short-form content may be entertaining and easy to consume, but it has also decreased our attention span. How do you hold the attention of your audience, then? By starting with a good hook. A strong opener grabs the attention and holds it.

What is striking, however, is that this hook mixes up the storyline. The old structure (beginning, middle and end) is a thing of the past. These days, you give away the most interesting part, or even the punchline, at the beginning of your video. For example, you can start your videos with a cliffhanger or a flashforward to the most important bit of your story. This trend plays into our human FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and is starting to become the norm on platforms like TikTok.

Bonus tip!

These trends were just the tip of the iceberg. The landscape is changing at an extremely rapid pace, as are the consumer’s demands. The most important tip we can give companies is this one: experiment. Truly get to know your audience and keep one eye fixed on the latest trends. This allows you to play with new formats, channels, content lengths, and so on. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

Jana Renap

Online Marketeer - iO

What do you mean, online marketing is a story of solely (raw) data and analytics? As a modern online marketer, Jana insists on a modern take on the classic interplay of marketing, (social) media and engaging content to achieve results. Creativity has never been more important in this regard. Or more fun – right?