This insightful blog was penned by Danielle, Marketing Manager at the Marketing Association. With 12 years of experience in the marketing industry, Danielle shares her candid thoughts and reflections on the ever-changing landscape of marketing, offering insights on current trends, key takeaways, uncertainties, and valuable resources to help you navigate the latest marketing trends and changes. 

"I don’t know about anyone else, but as a marketer in 2024 things are a bit of a maze. There are so many varying perspectives out there on all things marketing. It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions riding this ever-changing marketing wave, (bad analogy, I know – but bear with me).

Here’s what has been on my mind lately, and some opinions / news I’ve heard within the industry lately that has got me thinking, and I think is worth sharing.

Brand: A reminder that long-term brand building is so important! More so than short-term promotional activities that, by the way, isn’t good for your brand if it’s constant ‘sales’ and pricing discounts (unless you’re Briscoes or have a brand that positions itself on low-cost, high volume model). Arguably, 60% of a marketing budget should go towards long-term brand building initiatives. If you want to learn more about budget allocation for long-term brand building compared to short-term promotional activities, see Mark Ritson’s videos ‘The long and short of it’ found on Think with Google here. The MA brought Mark Ritson over for a lunchtime event last year and it was very thought-provoking! There is so much to still unpack from his discussion, so stay tuned for a follow-up blog on the true importance of hyper-personalisation and the good ol ‘persona buyers’. For examples of some long-term brand building campaigns see the end of this blog.

Authenticity and brand integrity: I know we’ve heard this before, many times, but it’s good to keep having these reminders. Your brand needs to have integrity and authenticity. If you claim that your brand stands for something, but you don’t display those values or live them internally first, then you’ll eventually be found out. What’s worse than not standing for a values-driven purpose… saying you do but not actually doing it. And it starts internally first. The Culture of a company will emanate externally, so make sure you have your house in order before focussing external messaging around your values or robust purpose statements.

Now to more practical topics.

AI’s impact on day-to-day marketing: Let’s start with SEO. How many of us were taught about SEO back in the day where all you really had to worry about was using a lot of your key words in your blogs and throughout your website, and do the basics of SEO like meta descriptions, backlinks, etc. Rinse and repeat. Well, times have certainly changed, and SEO is moving and changing… fast! Google is constantly changing how it pulls and ranks information that you’re searching for. Here are a few things I think is important to know for SEO in 2024:

  • High-quality content is still a must, and try use a variety of content such as blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.
  • The basics of a web page setup is still important; site speed, mobile friendly, easy navigation, these things still impact ratings and user-experience.
  • Security of your website; make sure you are using best practice security advice such as HTTPS. Is it time for a quick audit with your SEO company to ensure you have best-practise security in place?
  • There is still a place for keyword research, ensure you know the intent behind what your customers are searching for. PS, AI generated content and keywords can be a big help! Just make sure you have a human look over everything before implementing AI’s suggestions.
  • Backlinks and internal linking structure still help, but ensure these are authentic, genuine and have joint value creation.

It’s important to note here that Google have indicated that they will prioritise human generated content over AI generated content for SEO. So just be sure to always put your human touch on it and integrate your own personality into your content - which is what people want anyway, so it's a win-win.

For more SEO advice I would highly recommend Pure SEO. They know their stuff! And, they are speaking at Digital Day Out in July all about SEO – I’m looking forward to that one. Here’s a recent LinkedIn post from PureSEO that I found interesting: Key SEO Trends and Discussions in 2024

How has AI impacted Content?

Many people use AI to help with content creation. Whether that’s to help with copywriting or help with ideas or image creation. There’s no doubt it streamlines the content creation process and speeds things up. But a few important things to remember when using AI to help generate content:

  • Be aware of AI biases – always add your human touch and make sure it reflects your ethical views.
  • Be honest about using AI! The worst thing about AI generated content isn’t AI generated content – but trying to pretend it was all done by humans. Be authentic.
  • People-first and experience-first content will still win! Just use AI to touch it up, do a formatting edit, and you’re good to go.

Google rolls out AI Overviews:

Recently, Google rolled out AI Overviews in the USA meaning Google can now show AI-generated summaries on a search result. The concern by some people is that if AI assistants gives you the information you want, it could stop websites and publishers from creating new content since they may get less traffic and visibility. Which, in-turn, could starve AI systems of the very thing it needs to stay relevant – fresh, high-quality data sources in the long run.

On the other hand, other opinions are that AI Overviews will encourage people to engage even more as the AI generated answers are just the ‘jumping-off point’. Either way, this is a topic to keep your eyes on!

Thanks to *Ben Goh (digital & data contractor / overall analytics guru) for your thought-provoking post on this (source below). And *Peter Mangin for a great in-depth blog on this – Peter is a long-time friend, member, and facilitator of the Marketing Association. Peter runs our AI meets Marketing workshop and often provides great AI resources.

Third-party cookies:

The yo-yo continues on the final, final, no really final, end date of third-party cookies. There’s no two-ways about it, third-party cookies are going, it’s only a matter of time. Google has already deprecated third-party cookies for 1% of its users. But there’s been a pause while pressure mounts on Google to find a fair replacement for third-party cookies. I read a great article* recently which was very informative and practical in regard to what marketers should do in a privacy-first world. Here are some key takeaways:

  • Take this opportunity to step back and figure out what a sustainable marketing model would look like for you and your clients.
  • Create a first-party data strategy: a good place to start is doing a data and tracking-inventory on your website, and ensure you collect legal consent.
  • Re-think your KPIs in a cookie-less world: use this as an opportunity to become more quality-focused, and less ‘vanity-focused’.

Again, there’s a panel at Digital Day Out speaking on this exact topic! If you’re interested in where this is heading then you need to be at DDO.

*Source: https://cookieinformation.com/resources/blog/end-of-third-party-cookie/

Social Media:

Who else has a love-hate relationship with social media? I mean, it’s great, really! What an era to be living in where we can add so much value to other people’s lives through quality, value adding, and entertaining content! How many people love watching humorous videos on TikTok, or hilarious comments / memes on LinkedIn?! Not going to lie, I could spend all day reading and watching Duolingo’s unhinged content, especially its’ one-sided beef with Google Translate and Duo’s crush on Dua Lipa (lol). (Looking forward to hearing Zaria from Duolingo at DDO!).

But, it can also be tough out there. Like most other areas of marketing, social media is constantly changing – the algorithms, best practices, and knowing what people actually want. Plus, you’re having to cut through the most amount of noise and content that has ever been available on social media. I’ve listened and read a few great pieces of content lately on social media, here are my top takeaways:

  • Frequency of posting: Here’s a video from Neil Patel on how often you should be posting on each platform. But, imo, the frequency recommended are not realistic or sustainable. I think quality over quantity every time. As long as you’re posting relevant, authentic, valuable and entertaining content, then you’re on the right track.
  • Content Remixing: carousels, static images, short-form videos, long-form videos, infographics, blogs, etc. Keep it interesting!
  • Re-purposing content is still a thing! And can help you massively with timesaving.
  • Create social-first content where relevant: understand what your community wants and how they like to consume content on varying platforms.
  • Be a good storyteller! Tell your brand’s story in a meaningful, authentic, and engaging way! There’s a great storytelling workshop at the Marketing Association if you’re interested.
  • Look into social commerce: more and more companies are integrating shopping with social such as Instagram shop, Facebook marketplace, etc.
  • There’s a lot more to cover, but let’s leave it here for now. I hope this has been useful to you in some way, and I hope you enjoy the resources I’ve linked in this blog.

Leave a comment with any questions or other topics you want covered.

Sources and some hand-picked great resources:

Duolingo unhinged content: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/duolingo-unhinged-content

Cookie information: https://cookieinformation.com/resources/blog/end-of-third-party-cookie/

Fantastic podcast interview with Scott Galloway on Uncensored CMO: There’s a lot of great tips in here around leadership, careers, big tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROgRD9GN4lQ

Peter Mangin’s article on AI Overviews: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-overviews-promising-idea-gone-wrong-peter-mangin-ibacc/?trackingId=Qs0zNXvHevALsv%2FlflMKsA%3D%3D

Ben Goh’s post on AI Overviews: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7199340944209399808-W94D?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Think with Google: The long and short of it – interviews by Mark Ritson: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/marketing-strategies/video/youtube-works-2023-ad-effectiveness/

Examples of long-term brand building initiatives:

  • Community building: interacting, engaging, communicating, adding genuine value to your customers.

  • Evoking an emotive response: humour is a great example of a brand / campaign that can create an emotional connection with their audience. People connect with brands that makes them feel something.

  • Value-adding content – generating content that actually helps and adds value to your community.

  • Your CX and EX strategies: customers and employees at the forefront of what you do.

  • Social responsibility: what are you doing to give back to the world and industry you’re in? 

Source: Danielle Chevriot, 6th May 2024