Why content marketing will still be vital in 2020

The start of a new decade may be a time of great excitement about the future, but that does not mean everything is about to change.

A new decade may be seen by some as a time when all kinds of things will change in marketing, but it is important not to get carried away.

While it is true that new technology such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality may play a bigger role in digital marketing in the years to come, that does not mean that the tools of choice in the 2010s will disappear.

Will content marketing die out?

In particular, this may be said of content marketing. There are some commentators who have gone as far as to argue that content marketing is becoming out of date and that it will soon be displaced by other, supposedly more effective forms of marketing. Just try Googling "Content marketing is dead": There will be many articles suggesting it is becoming obsolete and new things shall take its place.

However, things may not be quite that simple. For a start, these are not all claims made in 2019; they have been appearing for years and content marketing is still here.

Secondly, much depends on the definition of content marketing; often what someone means by content marketing is the kind of content that was written years ago.

It may be argued persuasively that content marketing is not dying, but simply adapting. That is nothing new. Just consider the last decade:

•          Changing algorithms have filtered out spam and keyword stuffing and increased the emphasis on relevance and good images

•          Algorithms also allowed for the use of long-tail keywords

•          There has been a shift from quantity to quality

•          The need to tell a story has emerged as a central element of effective content 

•          The growing use of video in content means it makes sense to embed these in articles

• All these and more have been developments that have not spelt the end of content marketing, but rather adaptation.

Why will content marketing remain relevant?

The fact is that core elements of content marketing remain as valuable and important as ever.

•          By producing blogs and news of significant length, the writer can provide a wealth of information as well as building up awareness of a firm and its products, services and ethos.

•          Key elements like the motivations behind a firm and its expertise in an area can be highlighted in good content.

•          It remains the case that good organic content can build up a ranking and find its way to the first page of search engine results, ensuring the right keywords remain important

It is unlikely these aspects will change any time soon, because they all add value to content. Rather, it will make sense to assume that future changes - such as further adjustments to search engine algorithms - will be made on the basis of trying to raise the quality and relevance of content further.

What that suggests is that content marketing will simply go on evolving. True, it may be that older forms of content marketing have had their day, but to simply define content marketing as the type of writing that was done in the early 2010s would be like claiming the aeroplane became obsolete when single-wing aircraft superseded biplanes.

After all, content marketing is itself a development of an ever-changing digital age that has seen many other forms of marketing become outdated. 

How will BeUniqueness keep content relevant?

As the 2020s approaches, BeUniqueness will keep all content relevant by adjusting to change as it comes. This way, you can be sure that the content we produce will remain relevant and be produced in a format that will feature the best search engine optimisation.

As ever, this will be combined with other digital marketing tools to provide you with the best possible combination to help your firm grow and enjoy a strong marketing return on investment.