We know that the marketing and advertising industry is constantly changing and rapidly evolving. This is heavily influenced by the development of digital software, social media apps and now the introduction of artificial intelligence with tools such as ChatGPT and DALLᐧE 2.
We understand how difficult it can be to keep up with what is new and, more importantly, how it could be affecting your business. This is why we’re providing you with a round-up of the latest trends, strategies and industry news so that you can have quick access to the key points to help you utilise the insights to their full potential.
The Rise of AI
Artificial intelligence is possibly the hottest topic at the moment in many industries, as well as everyday life, and the marketing industry is no exception. Discussions are rife about the implications that AI will have on content creation, design, communications etc., as ChatGPT has amassed over 100 million monthly users in under two months.
The large language model chatbot, developed by OpenAI, has been received with mixed emotions of excitement, fear and a bit of scepticism. However, as the huge tech presences such as Meta and Google enter the race, it is clear that AI is here to stay.
March 2023 has seen the introduction of ChatGPT-4, which will now accept image prompts as well as text inputs to produce content and run analyses. Microsoft is incorporating ChatGPT into its Azure OpenAI service, as well as its Bing search engine. In response Google has launched its own conversational AI service, Bard.
These AI developments have the ability to analyse data and come up with almost instantaneous actions, designs, presentations, articles etc. This can be extremely beneficial to agencies for creating a jumping off point or a first draft.
According to Gartner, one of the world’s leading information technology research companies, by 2025, 30% of outbound marketing messages from large organisations will be synthetically generated, up from less than 2% in 2022.
There is no doubt that AI tools will significantly increase the speed of digital marketing content creation, but at this stage of their development they still pose inherent risks. ChatGPT has wider access to the internet, which we know is littered with flawed and false information. These tools do not possess the ability to filter fact from fiction, and are therefore very likely to accumulate errors.
Nurturing AI-human relationships, however, can be extremely beneficial to your business. Innately human characteristics such as intuition, compassion and judgement are important in establishing connections, but these can be added to initial draft content created by AI tools.
The output of AI generated content relies on what you input, much the same as when briefing a human, the instructions need to be clear and informative. Unlike a human, however, generative AI is not limited by fear of being irrational or illogical. In this sense, using AI within the creative process can help to tap into a new out-of-the-box approach. This lack of restrictive constraint will massively impact design and content creation.
The presence of AI within marketing and communications is only going to grow, so it is definitely worth looking at introducing AI into your business. However, artificial intelligence is far too general at present, it lacks the ability to tailor its output for a specific business and cannot offer solutions to specific problems, which is why it should be utilised carefully, rather than relied upon.
Here at Browndog, while we can appreciate the leaps that AI has made, when it comes to content production you can’t replicate experience and expertise through an algorithm. While there is no denying that the likes of ChatGPT can help you to plan a blog piece or provide a framework for a web page, it lacks the knowledge and insight that comes from human expertise. We’ll be sticking with our skilled team of content writers for the foreseeable future!
What Bing’s Revamp Means For You
We know how important keeping your website and information up to date is, it shows your commitment to your business, your dedication to staying relevant for your audience, and ensures that you are staying ahead of the competition.
Crawl systems look at a lot of factors to decide which websites to prioritise, and with Bing’s new revamp, it too will be using the “lastmod” tag within XML sitemaps to choose which websites to promote.
This new update will massively improve the search engine’s efficiency and once again consolidates how important it is to keep your website updated.
Social Media, the Key to Success
In a world dominated by social media apps and influencers, it can be very beneficial to get with the program and enter the playing field.
Having a good online presence can help you to create a loyal customer/consumer base, and is the perfect way to attract people to your service or product. Social media’s influence is evident by the thousands of people that use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook to produce their sole income in paid partnerships and advertising campaigns.
TikTok has over 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram has 1.4 billion, Youtube has 2.2 billion, and Facebook comes out on top with a staggering 2.9 billion. This demonstrates just how effective utilising social media can be as a marketing tool. The outreach potential of these platforms can be monumental for businesses.
They do pose new challenges, however, as so many businesses want to produce content, it means that it is even more difficult to create unique content that stands out from the crowd and targets your ideal audience.
Getting to know prominent people on social media, and conducting research into their demographic of followers can be a great way to form connections and partnerships that will be beneficial to you. Using their following and popularity to your advantage is smart business for both parties, especially when they will have their own insight into what content resonates best with people.
Last month saw the Global Marketing Day 2023, powered by SEMRUSH, give the top tips for using social media to improve your marketing;
- Create value beyond your product and utilise amplifier tactics such as generated content
- Build brand awareness with voices of influence
- Find new ways to tell your story over and over again
- Entertain your audience
Marketing and creativity go hand in hand, and using social media is a great way to get your creative heads together to produce content that is accessible to your audience, entertaining, relevant (which works towards attracting new business), and building your following.
TikTok Security Scrutiny
(Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash)
You’ve probably heard TikTok being discussed in the news recently, with the latest development being that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has banned the app from government devices in the UK following security concerns.
The popular social media and video platform is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and there have been concerns about how much control the Chinese government has over the apps data. The EU Commission and more than half of the US States have already banned the app from their government devices due to fear of cyberattacks.
TikTok has issued a statement in regard to these concerns, saying that government bans are “misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.”
The Biden Administration has demanded that ByteDance sell off the app after the government’s committee on Foreign Investment rejected plans for new data safeguards.
What’s the Matter(horn) Toblerone?
(Photo by Morgan Thompson on Unsplash)
Toblerone is a household name that you’re sure to be familiar with, as well as its iconic logo featuring the Matterhorn Peak in Switzerland. But, due to Switzerland’s strict marketing restrictions, the brand is having to change their logo to a more generic summit as its production moves out of Switzerland.
The wording on the packaging is also now in violation of the “Swissness” legislation that was introduced in 2017. All milk and milk-based products must be made from ingredients sourced in Switzerland in order to be “of Switzerland”. Exceptions are granted for ingredients that cannot be sourced from Switzerland, such as cocoa, but Toblerone will have to rebrand as “established in Switzerland”.
A spokesperson for Mondelēz, the owner of Toblerone, says “the new packaging redesign introduces a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic.”
The Surreal Way to Advertise
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Advertising campaigns work best when they get people talking about your brand, product and/or service, and Surreal’s latest cereal campaign has definitely managed to do just that with their clever spin on endorsements.
The London-based cereal company has created a campaign featuring reviews from normal people who happen to share names with famous people; Serena Williams, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Jordan and Ronaldo.
The result? A fun campaign that cleverly and imaginatively utilises the small print and demonstrates the playfulness and fun potential of advertising.
Know Your Audience, Grow Your Business
We know that it probably comes as no surprise that audience growth featured highly in Global Marketing Day. Increasing your reach and connecting with new audiences continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of business growth, and remains at the forefront of the marketing world.
Marketing and advertising is all about pulling in potential consumers, customers or clients and converting them into new business.
The hardest part is targeting people who do not know you, your product or your service, but there are strategies that you can use to forge connections and cultivate a wider audience. The key to marketing in this respect is to spend time getting to know your audience, and to utilise your resources effectively.
Think about who is likely to require your product or services, and then find out their habits, the questions they are asking, the places they are frequenting, and use this information to maximise your appeal.
Conducting an SEO audit of your business is a great way to measure your engagement, compare your traction with competitors, and see what sort of questions are being asked around your sector. Keyword research is also highly valuable as it gives you a basis to build content around so that you can ensure you’re ranking for relevant searches to your business. Tailoring experiences to the needs of your audience is the perfect way to acquire growth.
At the Global Marketing Day 2023, powered by SEMRUSH, they discussed the best strategies for wooing a wider audience;
- Add value. Don’t demand attention.
- Be authentic. Don’t just say what your audience wants to hear.
- Be relevant. Don’t assume that just because you’re talking, someone will listen.
- Meet them where they are, not where you want them to be.
In this industry, connecting with your audience is paramount, and the best way to do that is to showcase your dedication to understanding them and offering them what they need. The last point is very important when it comes to valuing your business or service, if you are not providing your consumers with what they want and need, you can’t expect to acquire business from them. Listen to what your audience is saying, and be the solution.
