Ben Young
Ben Young
February 22, 2021

In this piece we examine the three big content marketing trends for the year ahead. This year is the year of squeezing more from the lemon. Making things go further. Doing more with less. There I’ve said it three times, it makes it more legit, right? But honestly, that is the predominant trend this year.

That is the biggest content marketing trend at a macro level, but day to day, there appear to be two buckets in content teams. Those with fast growth and those with slow, having been impacted by covid in different ways. However both groups are seeking to be agile, nimble and drive growth.

  1. Brands shift (even more) to owned content

Brands are shifting content to owned properties, whether it’s going from branded content to their blog. Or just shifting from social to their owned destinations. 

The reason why? They can avoid misinformation, own their audience and be more nimble. If content needs to change or be taken down, it can be. And if it’s working, the customer is closer to the digital transaction. 

2. Edutainment

We covered this last year but we see a shift to edutainment, content that primarily educates but entertains as well. With more time at home and an appetite to be more competitive through up-skilling, its the perfect match. It also aligns the brand with the customer, here are things that I can share or teach.

MailChimp is a brand that has been big on this the last couple of years, launching multiple branded content shows.

An adjacent take on this is Snap launching their shoppable shows, it’s entertainment window shopping.

3. Brands seek more fidelity from their data

There’s an acknowledgement that you can’t win just by creating endless content. It has to work. It has to be effective. This means getting greater fidelity on content performance, adjusting content & distribution. Personalizing it. 

All round, brands will seek to do more with less.


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