A key to a successful marketing blog strategy is to keep a pulse on the latest blogging trends. However, that can be difficult if you’re a marketer with several different responsibilities and platforms to manage. Fortunately, I spoke to a few of the blog leaders at HubSpot to get their recommendations on the right blogging trends to leverage in 2023.
From custom graphics to original data and unique content, these blogging trends can help boost your blog’s traffic and conversions.
5 Blogging Trends Marketers Should Leverage
Here are five trends our blog leaders say marketers should incorporate into their blogging strategy.
Custom Graphics
I spoke to HubSpot Blog Manager Clint Fontanella, who says custom graphics are becoming increasingly popular in marketing blogs.
“It doesn’t seem like you can just talk the talk and have great written content alone,” he said. “You need to accompany it with a compelling visual that’s unique and unlike what your competitors are offering. HubSpot has been doing this a lot with its developer content.”
He pointed to one of our own blog posts as an example. The post “How to Use Map in JavaScript” uses several custom HubSpot graphics to illustrate different types of code and how they work.
If you’re not much of a graphic designer — don’t worry! Many online tools like Canva Canva make designing custom graphics simple for even novice designers. Even better, many of Canva’s tools are free!
Interactive Content
Interactive elements allow visitors to engage with your blog in a way that goes beyond just reading it. It gives a more fun and immersive experience that makes your content stand out.
“I definitely have seen this. We actually piloted this type of content when I managed the Service Blog,” Fontanella said. “The best performing one was a ‘Do you know your customers?’ quiz, but my favorite was a ‘Which customer service rep from The Office are you?’ quiz. We didn’t do much with it in the past, but interactive content is something we are definitely looking at for the future.”
Quizzes are a great type of interactive content because they can serve multiple purposes. For example, you can use them to grow your email list by adding a sign-up form to the quiz. You can also use a quiz to educate users about a product or service you want them to purchase, boosting conversions.
Other forms of interactive content include, but are not limited to:
Calculators like the one featured on NerdWallet
Interactive infographics like this one from the printing company CEWE
Interactive videos like Lenstore’s interactive 24-hour video showing London’s skyline
Interactive webinars using tools like Zoom or GoTo
Legitimacy
One of the most important blogging trends marketers will need to leverage in 2023 is legitimacy — in other words, ensuring your content has valuable and educational components, accordion to HubSpot Managing Editor Jay Fuchs.
“Successful marketing blogging is the art of making your readers see the educational element of your content so clearly that they forget about the promotional one — and that fact is becoming increasingly reflected in both reader preferences and how Google ranks content,” he said.
Fuchs says the key to projecting legitimacy in your blog is ensuring your writing is specific, accurate, and actionable.
“Try to make sure the points you make are supported by meaningful context, detailed examples, thoughtful advice, or perspective on why they matter —all backed by a professional, confident tone,” he said. “Even if you’re not an authority on a particular subject, you need to sound like one — and do what you can to provide the same kind of value that an expert on that topic would offer.”
You can add legitimacy to your post by quoting experts, sourcing data from reputable sources, citing peer-reviewed sources, using relevant examples, or including images to illustrate your point.
Original Data
Another way to add legitimacy to your blog content is to include original data. Original data helps reinforce the information you’re stating in your content. It helps solidify to your audience that your content is factual and backed by research.
“Original data is a massive asset for any blog to have at its disposal — a trend reflected in how well our content that references original HubSpot research like our Sales Strategy and Consumer Trends reports have performed,” said Fuchs.
You can gather original data via surveys, performance analytics, polls, and focus groups.
There are a variety of tools available to help you gather data for your next post, such as:
Mention, a social listening tool that can give insight into what audiences are saying about your brand or agency
Google Trends, a website that analyzes different trending topics across several regions and languages
Google Forms, which is a free online tool for creating surveys
Another great perk to including original data is that it can boost traffic to your blog, according to HubSpot Marketing Blog Editor Martina Bretous.
“While you can always refer to third-party studies, creating original data will help you stand out in your industry,” she said. “Not only will you gain credibility with your audience, but this data will also help your discoverability, as other publications will likely reference yours.”
However, that doesn’t mean you should disregard the importance of third-party data when you need it.
“Original research like that often isn’t accessible for many bloggers, but incorporating data into your content is still incredibly valuable — for both SEO and educational purposes,” Fuchs said. “So even if your organization doesn’t have the resources to generate original data, you shouldn’t skimp on including facts and hard numbers in your blogs. Third-party data is still a big help when putting together effective blog content.”
If you cannot gather original data, remember that data and statistics from reputable sources can be just as valuable. Just make sure to fact-check any information before including it in your content.
Original Topics
Regarding originality, blog content centered around original or niche topics is another trend marketers should consider.
“Original and niche content has never been more important for setting yourself apart from the internet noise,” said HubSpot Senior Manager of Content Meg Prater. “It’s not enough to write organic-only content just to rank. It’s crucial to set yourself apart with high-quality quotes, media, original data, and authoritative insight in order to provide value in the crowded content space.”
This trend will require creativity and social listening, but it’s worth it. For example, one of my favorite pieces I’ve written had to do with Gen Alpha and the future of marketing. The topic was unique and required much research on my part — and it ended up being one of our top-performing blog posts!
Blogging trends are constantly changing, especially in the world of marketing. Thankfully, you’ll be able to get ahead of the curve with the above tips from blog leaders at HubSpot. Which trends do you plan on leveraging in the coming year?