Content marketing has emerged in Latin America as a powerful digital strategy over the last few years, transforming the way companies and organizations connect with their audiences.
From its initial evolution in print media to its adaptation to an increasingly digitalized world, content marketing has experienced significant transformations, mostly characterized by greater demands for content localization.
For any relevant and reliable content marketing agency, content marketing and localization go hand in hand. They are the fundamental pillars for businesses seeking to stand out in a diverse and increasingly competitive Latin American market.
In this article, we’ll explore how content marketing has flourished in the context of the Latin American region, highlighting the main content marketing trends 2024. We’ll further delve into what we can expect from this strategy in 2024.
Charting the road to success: Content marketing in Latin America
There is no doubt the path of content marketing throughout the years has significantly accelerated its development and growth in the digital era, consolidating itself in the communication landscape.
According to a survey conducted by Statista, more than 70% of businesses have a defined content marketing plan.
Brief history of content marketing evolution in Latin America
The history of content marketing in Latin America has its roots in the print media in the early 20th century. With the advent of the Internet in the 1990s, the content marketing landscape was radically transformed. Latin American companies began creating websites and publishing content online, enabling them to reach a wider and more diverse audience.
Years later, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this process. According to a study by NTT DATA and MIT Technology Review, by 2022, 90% of Latin American companies already had a defined content marketing plan.
Throughout this period, we have witnessed significant changes in this strategy across the region:
- Growing social media adoption
Since the 2000s, in the face of the growing adoption of social media in the region, Latin American businesses started to use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share content and connect with their followers in a more direct and personal way, giving rise to a more direct and personalized type of content.
- Search engines popularization
According to Hubspot, 51% of shoppers surveyed say they use Google to search for information about a purchase they plan to make online. As search engines such as Google became more important, the need to optimize content to appear in search results also arose.
- Evolving formats and channels
Over the last few years, content marketing in Latin America has evolved to include a wide array of formats, such as videos, podcasts, infographics, webinars and many others. Businesses have diversified their content strategies to adapt to changing consumer preferences.
Latin America: Content marketing trends 2024
What are the main changes that content marketing production will undergo? What are the preferences of the local audiences? What new trends are here to stay?
We’ll explain all this below, covering the main content marketing trends in Latin America in 2024.
1. Rising competition: Quality and creativity
As more companies adopt content marketing strategies across Latin America, competition for the audience’s attention becomes progressively harder. This escalating competition has fuelled a demand for high-quality content and the integration of creative strategies to stand out from the crowd.
This heightened competition further impacts other key considerations:
- Greater professionalization
With increased competition, an increase in the professionalization of marketing content in the region has arisen. Companies are increasingly recognizing the need for specialized expertise to craft compelling and effective content.
- Increased budgetary allocations
As the marketing landscape evolves and becomes more competitive, companies are hiring additional marketing specialists to address more specific target audiences.
- Integration with other strategies
Content marketing has become more tightly integrated with other digital marketing strategies, many of which we’ll discuss below. This allows for greater consistency and effectiveness in overall marketing efforts.
2. Authenticity, personalization and segmentation
To effectively respond to the demands and needs of the Latin American markets, brands are focusing on crafting real stories and connecting on an emotional level with their audience by using data and analysis to deliver specifically tailored content to specific audience segments, with the purpose of increasing the relevance and effectiveness of their campaigns.
- Personalization and emotional connection
Latin American audiences exhibit a strong preference for stories that evoke emotional resonance and create an emotional bond. As a consequence, content marketing strategies have become more sophisticated in terms of personalization to respond to the growing demands of Latin American consumers.
- Segmentation for connection
Regional peculiarities must be added to this content marketing trend due to the vast array of cultures, languages and dialects, preferences and socio-economic realities. Meaning that effective personalization and segmentation are at the core of any successful content marketing strategy in the region.
- Local focus: Localization
Amidst the intensifying competitive landscape, businesses have recognized the growing importance of adapting their strategies to the cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the different countries and regions within Latin America. The more localized the approach, the better the chances we have of resonating with the audience.
3. The enduring power of social media
It is no news that social media continues to be a fundamental channel for marketing content worldwide. Yet, its significance is particularly pronounced in Latin America.
The region continues to witness a steady growth in social media usage and reach, solidifying these platforms as preferred channels for content sharing and product promotion.
According to INCAE Business School, people in the southern hemisphere are more addicted to social media than their North American counterparts. Argentina and Brazil lead the way, with a per capita consumption of over 2,800 minutes per month.
- TikTok
Undoubtedly, one of the platforms with promising prospects for 2024 is TikTok. This platform is gaining a strong foothold in the region, captivating audience attention, fostering engagement and leveraging its powerful recommendation algorithm. Younger generations continue to dominate content creation and sharing on this platform.
Instagram stands out as another social media platform with significant impact and projected growth in the region. Just to mention an example, in 2023, Instagram was used by nearly 90% of internet users in Argentina. Moreover, the number of users is expected to surpass the threshold of 33 million accounts by the end of 2028.
4. Podcasts
Audio content, such as podcasts, has witnessed a surge in popularity across Latin America, which has led many brands to creating their own podcasts in order to reach their audiences in an effective manner. 26% of content creators use this powerful medium to connect with their audiences, while 26% of organizations use podcasts to distribute content.
Podcasting experienced a significant boom during the pandemic, followed by steady growth, especially in four Latin American countries: Chile (84%), Argentina (55%), Peru (49%) and Mexico (48%).
In 2023 podcasting experienced considerable growth as a marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. With no sign of abating, this trend is solidifying its position as one of the leading content marketing trends 2024.
Podcasts offer a great way of consolidating your brand as an authority in your industry, developing niche expertise and fostering more intimate connections with customers.
5. Streaming content and gamification
Streaming services have steadily gained ground in the Latin American entertainment market. According to INCAE Business School, it is estimated that in 2024, for the first time in history, the number of streaming video subscribers will surpass 110 million.
Live streaming is rapidly gaining traction, offering brands a powerful tool to build closer relationships with their audiences and fostering a greater sense of trust.
Gamification, on the other hand, has emerged as an innovative interactive marketing strategy to engage consumers. In Latin America, where emotional connection with the audience is crucial, this strategy has proved to be very effective in building solid relationships between brands and consumers.
Adapt your content strategy with updated trends to conquer the Latin American markets
As we’ve seen in the present article, content marketing is constantly evolving to respond to consumers evolving demands and needs. By observing the key content marketing trends 2024 for the Latin American region, you’ll get a waterproof guide to direct your marketing efforts and respond to the evolving Latin American preferences.
The vast Latin American region, while brimming with opportunities, presents fundamental differentiating aspects that must be considered in any successful content strategy. There is no secret recipe. In order to develop effective marketing content, it is essential to observe and stay up-to-date with the latest trends.
While the future of content marketing in 2024 is still unfolding, all indications suggest that this year content marketing will continue its constant adaptation and evolution, reshaping the way in which brands and customers connect. Companies that keep abreast of these trends are more likely to succeed in their content marketing efforts in the region.