Creative Content Marketing Trends For Brands

Social Trends Driven Content Marketing 

What are social trends in content marketing?

Social trends in content marketing refer to things like popular themes, styles, behaviours, and content forms that capture the public's attention on various social media platforms. Further breakdown can be things like trending music, trending challenges, or trending themes.

Why is this important?

For brands, utilising social trends content marketing can help you:

• Connect further with your brand audience 
• Keep your brand current with consumer interests 
• Gain an algorithm advantage for better reach and brand awareness 
• More innovative content creation within your niche

Examples of social trends content marketing

Cosmetics “Eyes. Lips. Face” viral song 

e.l.f. Cosmetics was one of the first brands to create original music for a TikTok campaign. They produced a track specifically for the platform that aligned with their branding. 

The campaign, "#EyesLipsFace," encouraged users to show off their makeup looks using the song created by e.l.f.

I think it’s important to note that the song was produced with the goal for a viral TikTok campaign. Although the production of the video is still done using traditional videography production, it was created for the purpose of social trends content marketing.

Dove “Show Us” campaign

Dove partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze to create Project #ShowUs, a collection of stock photos showcasing real, diverse women and non-binary individuals. 

The campaign encouraged people to share their own photos and stories using the #ShowUs hashtag to break beauty stereotypes.

The original photoshoot was captured in a way it could be virally shared across social media and allowing others to participate in the trend. Within a year of launching the campaign, over 5000 women participated.

Atomised Content Creation For All Channels

What is atomised content creation?

Atomised content creation refers to the strategy of taking a single piece of content and breaking it down into smaller, tailored pieces suitable for different media channels and audience segments. 

It’s important to brands to consider the different types of content that it can be broken down into during the pre production and the shooting process. This approach maximises the reach and effectiveness of your content by allowing it to be used on Instagram, YouTube, X, or a blog.

Examples of atomised content creation

BuzzFeed’s Tasty videos

BuzzFeed's Tasty different channels exemplifies atomised content creation. They take strategies like producing a full-length cooking video for YouTube and Facebook, and then break it down into shorter clips for Instagram stories or reels.

Interestingly, they create step-by-step photo recipes for Pinterest, and write articles or blog posts featuring the recipe with additional cooking tips. This is a fantastic way to combine new content marketing trends with traditional ones.

GoPro’s user-generated content channels

GoPro excels in atomising user-generated content. They can take a full-length user video and create multiple pieces of content from it, including highlight reels for YouTube, short impactful clips for X and Instagram, and detailed user stories or interviews for their blog.

This is an awesome way how GoPro is using single pieces of content to create storytelling throughout their channels and engages different segments of their audience. 

Emotion Driven Content Marketing Is Back On The Rise

What is emotional content marketing?

Emotional content marketing is very traditional and has been around for a long time. However, now we are seeing it rise back alongside social media and video production. 

By creating marketing messages that primarily appeal to your audience's emotions, you can trigger elicit feelings that lead to higher engagement and connection with the brand.

This approach can include storytelling that stirs feelings of joy, nostalgia, sadness, or motivation, among others. Again, very popular with traditional methods of photo and video production.

Examples of emotional content marketing

Google’s “25 Years In Search” campaign

The "25 Years in Search" campaign featured a special edition video that captured the most iconic and meaningful search trends over the last 25 years. The video chronicled significant global events, cultural milestones, and the evolution of technology, showcasing how Google has been at the forefront of information discovery throughout.

What’s awesome is they combined emotion alongside all of the biggest trends across the web from social media, Youtube and more. This combined with the triggered emotion makes for an all great campaign, and shows how emotional content is back on the rise.

Airbnb “We Accept” campaign

In response to growing global tensions around immigration and acceptance, Airbnb launched their “We Accept” campaign. 

This included advertisements and posts that promoted acceptance and diversity. They feature stories of hosts and guests from different backgrounds and cultures across different channels. 

It was the combined use of emotion placed within new generation channels of content consumption which made this the 3rd highest driver of earned impressions for all time.

Gamification Of Content To Keep Users Engaged

What is gamification in content marketing?

Gamification in content marketing is where brands and creators incorporate game-like elements into their content to enhance user engagement and interaction. 

This approach uses mechanics such as points, challenges, leaderboards, and rewards to motivate participation and therefore boosting views and reach. 

The goal with gamification content marketing is to make the marketing experience more engaging and enjoyable, which can lead to higher retention rates and increased conversions in your brand.

Examples of gamification content marketing

Heineken's "Crack the US Open" campaign

During the US Open, Heineken cleverly launched an interactive campaign titled "Crack the US Open". This campaign involved a mobile-based game where users were challenged and had to follow clues to guess the location of 10 free tickets to the US tennis opens. 

What is most interesting, Art Streiber produced the photography for this to capture a photo of the entire stadium of tennis fans to get turned into a game to share on instagram. The photo was split into segments where clues were released. 

This is an awesome example of where gamification trends combined with high-end production and photography has accelerated brand reach and engagement.

Utilising Enhanced Built In Templates

Of course, we don’t always need to use built-in templates. However, they can save you valuable time and streamline your process. Some are useless, others are quite good. Like anything, there are a select few that are super high quality and can enhance your work. 

What are enhanced built-in templates?

Built-in templates are pre-designed video formats that allow users to easily replace the placeholders with their own content (images, video clips, and text) while maintaining a consistent structure and style. 

These templates often include transitions, music, and text overlays that are trending which means you can quickly capture the engagement from the trend without missing out.

Examples of these templates in use 

Instagram Reels have become a pivotal feature for brands, influencers, and individuals looking to enhance their social media presence. Reel templates specifically help users create engaging, consistent, and high-quality videos quickly and efficiently.

Gymshark 

Gymshark effectively uses Instagram Reel templates to share quick fitness routines, product features, and motivational content. Their templates often include dynamic transitions and upbeat music that align with their energetic brand identity.

Summary:

So, as the consumers become more demanding, we are seeing brands shifting towards unconventional methods of content marketing. 

By embracing these new methods and capturing onto new consumer patterns, brands can connect more deeply with their audiences, they can stay relevant, and finally foster higher engagement. 

These innovative strategies represent the future of content marketing, offering a blueprint for brands looking to thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.