November is consistently my favorite month of the year. Not only is it smack dab in the middle of halloweenbirthdaythanksgivingmas season - a deluge of celebrations that, in my calendar, occur back to back to back - but November is also a time in which a lot of us shift focus to gratitude. And I can’t think of any years that have benefited more from the grounding benefits of gratitude than these recent ones.

In addition to feeling grateful for good health; sufficient means; abundant love; and rituals of presence, peace, and connection, I am also grateful for the atmosphere in which my work takes place. For this blog, I spent a little more time answering the specifics of why.

Without further ado, here are 5 trends that this content marketer’s thankful for this year.

1. Authenticity is king.

I don’t know whether we have the trail-blazing Gen Zers to thank for this, the burnt out Millennials who are short on patience and time, or the say-it-like-it-is members of Gen X, but the palette of acceptable (and effective) marketing tones of voice is expanding. And right now, authenticity is reigning supreme. Long gone are the days that every brand aspires to the same level of propriety, sophistication, and professionalism in their content. Nowadays, folks are responding to direct and honest messages in which a brand reveals exactly who they are and what they offer and consumers decide for themselves whether that’s of interest to them. To me, this trend feels like relief - both as a marketer and a consumer. It saves time, it’s more engaging, it feels honest and trustworthy, and it’s more fun!

2. Attention spans aren’t currently required.

And thank goodness for that because sources say the average attention span has dropped to just 8 seconds in 2022. People are exhausted, distractible, desperate for dopamine, and forever multitasking on their devices. This means in the current era, the most effective top-of-the-funnel marketing is short, engaging, perhaps gamified, and more likely to be on social media. Savvy marketers are wise to accept this fact and build a marketing strategy to support it. I personally love the challenge of identifying the shortest, most compelling, curiosity-generating tidbits of a campaign’s main message and building a funnel of content that promotes it from there.

3. Longer form content still reigns supreme.

Lovers of whitepapers, pillar pieces, and in-depth reports rejoice - that funnel I mentioned earlier is key. While it’s true that short attention spans and content overload mean we need to lure modern consumers into that nurture funnel with bite-size pieces of content, it’s still the heavy hitting middle- and bottom-of-funnel pieces that do the most for driving conversions (not to mention your SEO ranking). Of course as a marketer, I love that content is still king because making content is a blast! Helping a company create assets that effectively describe their offerings, get their target audience to comprehend the company and product’s best features, and ultimately make a connection between a brand and a consumer that’s excited about a purchase? It’s brilliant fun. And longform content is still one of the best, most efficient ways to do it.

4. Intentionality matters more than ever.

Anyone who knows me personally is probably sick of me mentioning intentionality. But it’s a practice that, in my experience, pays off in droves when applied in almost any aspect of life, marketing included! And the world recipe right now - with those limited attention spans, wide seas of available content, and marketing budgets getting tighter - intentionality matters more than ever. And while it can be fun to have a throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to marketing, I personally love the challenge of editing. Whether it’s the number of words on a page, the number of assets we think we can entice an audience to engage with, or the number of things we can create on a smaller-than-usual budget, the challenge of building an efficient, effective strategy from the start is a motivating one, it’s totally doable, and it pays off huge when the conversions come rolling in.

5. Marketers are planning strategically.

With the economy being what it is heading into 2023 and budgets likely impacted, this is going to be a season of careful planning. And while I recognize not everyone enjoys pinpoint precision in their annual planning like I do, I’m here to personally attest to the power of being strategic about:

• Defining your most valuable audience

• Identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) your leadership team values most

• Tracking results and calculating your return on investment (ROI)

• Measuring the lifetime value (LTV) of conversions and putting dollar figures on all your wins

• Refining marketing strategies based on learnings and embracing the value of iterative design

2023 is going to be a year in which the strategic marketers win and being in that camp myself, I’m excited for the challenge ahead.

Overall, I think we can agree there’s a chance of headwinds on the horizon. But I hope that, like me, this moment of embodying some gratitude as we consider our marketing plans grounds us in possibility, motivation, and dedication to succeeding on the paths that lie ahead. I personally believe there is a lot to look forward to.

On behalf of the team at Wheels Up Collective, I’m wishing you a relaxing, peaceful Thanksgiving season spent in whichever way you most love.

Looking for help with your 2023 marketing strategy, asset development, social media approach, or more? Drop us a line. We’d love to weigh in.