Is your business looking for a better way to reach customers in 2024? It can be difficult to filter through trends and stay up to date with the ever-changing world of technology and marketing.
Katey LeZotte, VP of RobMark, sat down with the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce to talk more about what businesses should be paying attention to when it comes to their marketing. You can listen to the full podcast here. Keep reading for a deeper dive into some trends worth exploring to maximize your marketing efforts this year.
Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing is a customer-focused approach that gives customers a consistent, seamless experience across all channels. People need about seven touchpoints with a brand before taking action. Meeting them along their journey is critical and can include a physical building, website, search, social media, and more. Consistent branding across all mediums helps to enhance the user experience and communicate your brand’s message effortlessly.
LinkedIn will be one of the fastest-growing channels for businesses in 2024. With millennials as the largest user group, this channel has become more than just a job forum. People are updating their pages more frequently with posts about skills, tips, advice, experiences, support, leadership, and more. Imagine how your business could leverage this network to do more than just post jobs—including building key partnerships, acquiring new customers, and more.
Protecting Privacy & Data
Privacy laws and data protection are top of mind for businesses this year. First-party data is information collected directly from the customer as opposed to a third party. Nurturing this first-party data is important. Be honest and transparent about how you plan to use the data to ensure customers are receiving welcomed information ethically.
Though many people may not believe they can secure customer information firsthand, it can actually be easy when done strategically. Consumers today are open to providing their data if they receive something of value in return, which could include exclusive access to an event, a discount on a product or service, or even a free educational PDF download.
Carefully Capitalizing on AI
AI has been gaining momentum over the past couple of years, and it’s no shock as to why. It has become an incredible tool for efficiency for businesses. Tasks that were once repetitive and time-consuming can be done much faster. Precise customization and personalization can provide several variations that you wouldn’t be able to try otherwise.
AI can also be an excellent tool for brainstorming and ideation by helping generate starting points to get gears turning about names, events, ideas, and more. Creatively, AI can also assist with writing and visuals. Dynamic creative can put together a combination of art and headlines for more variations than you could produce yourself. People crave authenticity, though, so you’ll need to ensure you give human attention at the beginning and the end of the process. This could include storytelling that is specific to your experiences or your opinions as a professional with a deep understanding of your audience.
AI doesn’t have the ability to understand empathy and human touch. Those are both crucial to consider when catering your brand messaging to customers. This is why you should make sure to always use automated processes in a smart way, inserting human oversight to keep messages aligned with your brand identity.
Consistency & Content Building
Social media marketing can be the root of a business’s biggest mistake–inconsistency. If you start something, like a campaign, make sure it’s completed. When projects or campaigns are obviously abandoned, it confuses viewers and could even cause consumers to believe that you are no longer open. Make sure there’s authenticity in all of your posts, and that you’re resonating with your audience. Your audience, message, and voice are key to creating an identity you can stick with.
What can small businesses do to make the most of their marketing? Utilize a content library! A content library is a collection of all of your company’s assets, including images, videos, logos, blogs, and more. Having these items organized and all in one place makes them easily accessible and helps you see things you may be missing. Then, you can build up your library by scheduling a photo shoot or taking some videos of your product or services. Try repurposing content you have across different platforms and in as many ways as possible.
Adaptability
With more than 30 years of business under our belt, the team at RobMark has adapted to and grown from a plethora of marketing changes. We opened as a traditional advertising and public relations agency that focused largely on TV, radio, billboards, and print. In the early 2000s when web came into the picture, we outsourced, then quickly shifted in-house to ensure quality and meet client demand. Things continued to evolve into digital marketing, SEO, and social media. We stay on the cusp of trends so we can offer them to our clients. The key is to always be learning and comfortable with change.
Looking for help with your business’ marketing? Not sure where to start? Let us take a high-level look at your company to see what plan may be best for your brand. We serve small and regional businesses, as well as national and international brands. Reach out today to get started!