In the dynamic realm of marketing, staying ahead of the curve is not only a strategy but a necessity. Everything changes quickly; what might be a marketing-must one day is a complete no-no the next — in the blink of an eye.

This new era’s marketing landscape is constantly shifting due to many factors. It’s driven by technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviors, and global dynamics. Adaptation is the name of the game, and you must be prepared to pivot. 

Join us as we reveal what marketing trends we should bid farewell to and which ones we should greet with open arms. 

Are you ready to look deeper into 5 significant marketing trends — in our opinion — that’ll dominate 2024? Let’s dive in.

1. Out With Long-Form Video Content And In With Short-Form Video Content 

Over the last couple of years, it’s evident that video content has taken over and outperforms static images. In fact, 88% of marketers say video is integral to their marketing strategy. And 52% of companies say they create videos to educate their target audience about their products. 

Now that we know videos are a marketing essential, it’s time to figure out the ideal length. 75% of people watch short-form video content on their mobile, and most watch videos with closed captions. Although long-form videos offer in-depth analysis of products or services — which is really educational — they don’t hold people’s attention, especially in the age of TikTok. 

Short-form videos are meant to be around the 17-second mark. They’re designed to be easily digestible content nuggets, ideal for quick scrolling and viewing multiple pieces simultaneously. 

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 96% of consumers prefer to watch short-form videos when learning about a product or service. While close to a third (30%) of all short-form videos are watched 81% of the way through. So, if your marketing strategy has yet to start using short-form videos, now is definitely the time to start. 

2. Out With Traditional Advertising And In With Sponsored /Native Content 

With digital marketing strategies taking precedence over traditional marketing, techniques like direct mail and print ads are no longer beneficial. We’re not saying that these methods don’t work, they simply don’t resonate with younger generations — they are the future, after all. 

So, what are the alternative methods? Native or Sponsored marketing — both forms of paid advertising. Native ads seamlessly integrate a business ad into the user’s regular reading flow. In contrast, sponsored content is advertising tailored for a specific site or platform. It’s designed to reach a fresh audience, those who would have otherwise never heard about your brand. 

When it comes to traditional ads, you could talk with someone over the phone and gain information about a product or service. But there are better methods. We all hate getting a marketing call when we’re busy or mid-meeting. But sponsored ads provide the same information — or more. Plus, there’s the benefit of actually seeing how the product or service works. 

That’s why according to Hubspot, “more than a third (36%) of marketers plan to increase their investment in native advertising in 2024, and 56% plan to continue investing the same amount.” 

3. Out With Big Celebrities And In With Micro-Influencers 

We’ve all seen posts from our favorite celebrities featuring brands and products that they endorse, influencing us to purchase the product. So we know that the strategy of working with influencers is great for marketing — that’s why influencer marketing is extremely popular. 

Hubspot says, “When marketers collaborate with influencers and industry thought leaders in their industry, they can expand brand awareness and gain fans from the influencer’s own audience.” 

Micro-influencers generally have 10,000 to 100,000 followers, and according to Ad Week, Micro-influencers are “actually attracting much higher engagement and conversion rates than highly influential users.”

Although micro-influencers have fewer followers, they usually value their community and won’t peddle ineffective products to boost their revenue. They’re more open and honest about what they want to achieve from the partnership. And since their voice is more relatable and authentic —  a mom blogger will actually sign up for a diaper subscription in real life. 

This is why “of the marketers who worked with influencers and creators in 2023, 64% worked with micro-influencers, making them the most popular choice for influencer marketers.”

4. Out With Branded Photographs And In With UGC 

We all know how indispensable visual aspects are in marketing. Providing consumers with something to see helps them imagine the product and click the purchase button. This doesn’t have to be videos alone; it can also be still images. 

There are many different image styles, but overall, it comes down to Branded photographs, which are super staged and have impeccable lighting. Then, there’s UGC content, or user-generated content, which is much more genuine and natural. 

We go into detail about the differences between these two in a previous GeistM blog post. But ultimately, seeing real people using the product convinces buyers. According to Hootsuite, “60% of marketers agree that authenticity and quality are equally important elements of successful content. And no other content type is more authentic than UGC from your customers.”

UGC is important in the final stages of the marketing funnel because it makes users feel like their money is going to the right place. “Nearly 80% of people say that UGC impacts their decision to purchase, making user-generated content and social commerce a match made in heaven.” 

So, make sure that your marketing funnel has some UGC — you can even get a sample of the product you’re advertising and take the images or videos yourself. 

5. Out With DIY Marketing And In With GeistM 

Finding the optimal marketing strategy for your business can be tough. It requires a lot of testing and experimenting to figure out what can help your brand the most. It’s not just start-ups that are struggling to find the right strategy; even big brands can miss out on certain aspects that could have boosted their campaigns. 

Rather than trying to figure out a marketing strategy for yourself, put your trust in us, and we’ll do it for you. Here at GeistM, we can create a marketing strategy that’s completely customized to help you achieve your goals. 

We’re a marketing partner with owned and operated media sites. With our expert content team, we provide full-service direct-response content marketing. And our amazing in-house creative team work hand-in-hand to develop high-quality and engaging visuals to boost your brand. 

By choosin GeistM, we can identify the perfect marketing strategy for your brand, keep up with trends, and help your business grow. So contact us today!

Written by Nitanti Alur 

Many brands like yours are discovering precisely why User-Generated Content has become such a huge part of paid advertising. UGC has helped many companies reach an untapped market and drive further success.

If you aren’t sure what UGC (User-Generated Content) is or if it should be part of your marketing strategy, you’ve come to the right place. We’re here to explain the importance of UGC, why your brand should be using it, and how GeistM can help.

What is UGC?

UGC — User-Generated Content — is content created by real people to promote your brand. This includes reviews, photos, videos, and audio that your brand’s customers, followers, or even employees create that is shared across digital platforms.

What Do We Mean By “Professional” Photos?

Most companies will set up creative photo shoots for their products. These images are professionally produced and edited in a studio, so they’re of the highest quality. This can truly legitimize a brand. However, the problem is that such polished photography can actually seem less authentic to the consumer.

Although your business may think your brand’s visuals must be absolutely immaculate, your target audience may not always respond to that particular content.

The Power of UGC

Professional photography looks great. However, marketers need to understand that consumers nowadays have a tendency to search for product info and cross-reference sources before purchasing. Viewing an image or video of real live people using the product — without any photoshop fixes — is more likely to convince consumers to make a purchase. 

This 2022 Shopper Experience Index revealed 40 percent of shoppers claimed user-generated content (customer photos, videos, and reviews) sways their purchasing decisions.

UGC Case Study + Results 

In order to enhance our accounts’ content, we collected data from three clients and took a deep dive into what type of images work best on the front end. We compared the average CTRs (Click-Through Rates) for content that features professional images with UGC on the front end of our advertising funnel.

After running several A/B tests, we discovered that having UGC images on the front end caused between 20% and 39% more users to click through the following step in the funnel —  improving conversion rates and CPAs (Cost Per Acquisition). 

It’s essential that — along with creating branded content that’s professionally produced — your company explores ways to use more authentic and credible content across a number of channels. 

Remember: People want to see how real people use your product in real life. To continue to be profitable, your enterprise must utilize UGC, there’s just no workaround. 

Here are a few more reasons your business needs to start leveraging UGC over branded images:

• Demonstrate concern: Feature visual content that aligns with your company’s values and connect potential customers with like-minded consumers.

• Provide an authentic voice: Many customers have been burned by a product that simply didn’t deliver. UGC provides social proof via unedited reactions to unboxing or product use.

• Expand your reach: Use more UGC across your channels and appeal to a wider audience than ever before.

How GeistM Can Help

Is your company in need of assistance creating authentic and profitable UGC or 3rd-party content? No worries, this is what GeistM does best. Our creative team knows precisely how to make UGC that will generate maximum engagement and conversion rates. We work with a wide range of clients and networks to attract, educate, and retain target audiences — so your brand truly stands out from the crowd. 

Grow your market base by using relatable UGC to connect with untapped consumers around the globe. With GeistM, your business can stay on top of content marketing trends and remain competitive and successful. Contact us today to learn more!

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a significant role for many businesses as its tools streamline, mitigate, and automate their everyday operations.

2022 is set to be another year of AI advancements and breakthroughs, which means more than ever, enterprises everywhere will be looking to make the most of this powerful tech.

According to a report by SEMRush, 75% of executives fear going out of business within five years if they don’t learn to correctly scale AI.

With AI predicted to continue to rapidly evolve, the question becomes, will enterprises learn to harness this technology to inspire their creative workforce, or will the augmentation hinder creativity altogether?

Is AI Creative?

When it comes to AI technology, it’s clear we’ve barely scratched the surface of what this powerful tech is capable of augmenting and streamlining.

While AI advancements mean streamlined productivity for businesses many wonders if and when AI will become creative.

Organizations like OpenAI have made strides in creative AI and currently have developed two AI models called DALL·E and CLIP that combine language and images to generate new visual designs.

Still, AI and Machine Learning (ML) experts don’t expect AI technology to grasp creativity all on its own any time soon. Senior Vice President of Hybrid Cloud and Director of IBM Research, Arvind Krishna, spoke on the subject and said, “I think teaching AI what’s melodic or beautiful is a challenge of a different kind since it is more subjective, but likely can be achieved … Now, if you ask it to create something beautiful from scratch, I think that’s certainly a more distant and challenging frontier.”

Creatives won’t be replaced by AI tech anytime soon but will be working alongside AI.

The goal should be to leverage AI to advance creativity, leading to innovation and success, rather than to focus on augmenting talent completely or ignoring it altogether.

Not to mention that a recent Forrester study has revealed that AI technology has can help empower unconventional thinking and help foster a cooperative mindset for creative teams and make for better collaboration.

How To Successfully Leverage AI In Creative Spaces

• Remain independent: Train employees to manually execute certain business processes even if you have automated them. Creatives shouldn’t be dependent on AI automation, or else things may be overlooked and cause issues later on.

• Utilize personalized data: Use AI to uncover exactly what your audiences are asking and looking for through predictive data on the consumer to personalize creative offerings.

If you learn to use emerging AI and ML technologies to your advantage, you won’t have to worry about it negatively impacting your creative teams.

Now is the time to start focusing on how your human workforce and AI integrations can join together for creative ideas and solutions that can take your advertising to the next level and secure your success for the year.

According to NeoMam studies, today we receive 5 times more information on a daily basis than we did in 1986. And, more alarmingly to the world of content marketing, on average, readers only read 28% of the words on a page per visit. How do you make your piece of content stand out among a sea of too much information? And more importantly, how do you make it have a lasting or at least, initial impression on a potential consumer? At GeistM, we have been using an increasing number of visual aids within and as content in the last few years, and have seen an overwhelming success across multiple platforms.