Beth HawksAs a leading digital marketing agency, we constantly seek out the latest tools, trends, and insights to help our clients stay ahead in digital marketing. One of our go-to sources for valuable information is HubSpot’s annual State of Marketing report; the 2024 edition did not disappoint.
This year’s report focused on five key areas: awareness, engagement, personalization, efficiency, and growth. However, all these areas are connected by a common theme: AI. The report marked 2024 as the end of the Age of Information and the beginning of the Age of Intelligence.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive deeper into each area of the report, starting with awareness. A brand must be easy to find online and purchase from to improve awareness. While search engine optimization has traditionally been the primary way to do this, social media and video have become increasingly important, especially for younger generations.
Pay Attention to your Social Media
Did you know that social media is Gen Z and Millennials’ number one product discovery channel? In addition, social media is also where customers frequently turn for answers, customer service, and even to make purchases. As a result, it’s critical to invest time in a thoughtful strategy for Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and to make it easy for customers to buy or work with your brand on social platforms.
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Did you know?
• 31% of consumers use social media to find answers and questions. • 17% of social media users report buying a product on social. • 87% of social sellers say it’s effective and 59% say they made more sales on social in 2023 than 2022. • 19% of social media users reported sending a DM for customer service in 2023, which is an increase of 45% over 2022. • 1 in 5 younger consumers prefer customer service via DM.
Make Friends with Micro-Influencers
When it comes to awareness, influencer marketing is also booming with one in four consumers purchasing based on influencers’ recommendations. Authentic partnerships with micro-influencers can fuel brand growth, especially for B2C brands. We also found in the HubSpot report that marketers are finding success working with the same influencers repeatedly, allowing them to learn a brand’s voice, tone, and guidelines over time.
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Did you know?
• 1 in 4 consumers bought a product based on an influencer's recommendations.
• 50% of the marketers that participated in HubSpot’s survey said they plan to increase their investment in influencer marketing this year. • B2C leverages influencer marketing more than B2B brands, but both consider it a sustainable growth channel. • 53% of marketing teams that identified their strategies as “effective” invested in influencer marketing in 2023, versus only 25% of marketers who identified their marketing as “ineffective.”
Seek to Create Personalized Content for SEO
Search engine optimization is another critical consideration for brand awareness. Still, it’s becoming harder to drive traffic to on-site content through search. With the rise of AI-powered search platforms, content that is easy to produce can be served readily. However, this content often lacks human understanding and the ability to predict and answer specific user needs. As a result, we predict an increased demand for verifiably human content about more complex topics.
The future of content is about personalization, focusing on what individual users need rather than generic content that is easy to produce. Thought leadership, insider knowledge, and individual personality are key ingredients to creating the best, most engaging content.
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Top 5 challenges with content marketing
Struggling to develop content that works for your brand? You're not alone. HubSpot asked marketers to rank their top challenges with content marketing, and these are the results: 1. Finding ideas for new content 2. Creating content that receives high levels of online engagement. 3. Creating content that attracts 4. Reaching the desired target audience 5. Creating content that generates leads
We hope these insights on brand awareness in 2024 have been helpful.
If you want to read the full 2024 State of Marketing Report from HubSpot, you can view/download a copy on their website.
And if you need assistance in developing a thoughtful digital marketing strategy for your brand, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We would love to help set your company up for success in 2024!
Stay tuned for our upcoming post summarizing trends in engagement.