💡 THIS ARTICLE IS THE THIRD OF A 4-ARTICLE SERIES WRITTEN TO PROVIDE HIGH-QUALITY AND ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FOR SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONALS.
As marketing automation continues to evolve, data management can easily become a headache.
This article reveals insights into industry challenges for 2024. We know what you’re thinking…
“Where do these insights come from?”
Since Incloud’s mission is to help its clients better leverage their technology stack, we have decided to mandate a market research firm to conduct a survey among sales and marketing leaders across Canada to provide deeper knowledge on how to better leverage marketing technologies to generate higher revenues.
Survey Demographics:
- 12% are enterprise-level organizations with over 1,000 employees.
- 44% are small to medium-sized enterprises with 101 to 1,000 employees.
- 44% are small entrepreneurs with fewer than 100 employees.
If we look at the breakdown of the industries represented in this survey, it reflects the Canadian sector where distribution, manufacturing, IT, financial services and retail are the main industries and then various service-oriented industries are represented.
Moreover,
On October 3rd 2023, 3 marketing leaders from different industries commented on these research findings during an Incloud panel discussion event:
- Pierre-Francois Lyonnais
Director of Ecommerce & Digital Strategy at Mondou - Martin Aubut
CMO at nesto - Marie Josée Laramée
Associate Vice President, Sales Support and Digital Strategy at National Bank Investments
And now, we’re going to share this event’s insights in a nutshell:
As marketing technologies continue to evolve, new challenges and innovative solutions are emerging in the landscape. In this third article, we cover four survey results and provide panelists insights as well as our own take on these topics.
1. Is content Creation Going to be a Challenge?
Survey Results:
- Yes: 40%
- No: 57,1%
- Not Sure: 2,9%
The Challenge:
40% of marketing professionals surveyed foresee challenges in content creation for 2024. This is a significant percentage, reflecting the growing complexity of content strategies and the need to continuously captivate increasingly discerning audiences.
One of the primary challenges lies in the ever-increasing demand for fresh and engaging content across various platforms and channels. As the digital landscape evolves, so does the appetite of the audience. Content must not only be frequent but also tailored, valuable, and engaging to stand out in the crowded online marketplace.
The Solution:
In an era where AI, like ChatGPT, simplifies and streamlines content creation, many marketers can now produce content more efficiently and cost-effectively. Therefore, the emphasis shifts towards infusing originality and creativity into each piece of content within the customer’s journey.
By leveraging AI tools and data insights, marketers can reduce the time and resources spent on content creation, allowing them to allocate more effort towards crafting unique and captivating content experiences for their audience. The key is to use automation wisely, combining it with human creativity to enhance the content’s quality and resonance with the target audience.
Example:
Imagine a fashion brand struggling with the challenge of content creation. They’ve noticed that their audience responds well to style guides and product showcases, but creating these resources consistently has become daunting. To overcome this challenge, they decide to adopt an audience-centric approach.
First, they delve into their customer data and social media interactions to understand their audience’s fashion preferences, favored styles, and common questions. With these insights, they craft a content plan that includes detailed style guides, outfit inspiration, and answers to popular fashion queries.
By refocusing their content on what their audience craves, they not only enhance their engagement but also boost conversions. In this case, the solution was to pivot towards quality content that resonated with their audience’s needs.
2. Will Producing Coherent Content be a Challenge?
Survey Results:
- Yes: 34,3%
- No: 62,9%
- Not Sure: 2,9%
The Challenge:
Producing coherent content that consistently conveys the intended message is a concern for over a third of surveyed marketers. Maintaining the narrative and ensuring that the story you want to tell doesn’t get lost amidst content variations and multichannel distribution can indeed be a formidable challenge.
The risk is that a fragmented message can confuse your audience or dilute your brand’s identity, ultimately affecting engagement.
Solution:
The solution lies in crafting a robust content strategy. Start by establishing clear brand guidelines and content standards. This will ensure a consistent tone, style, and message across all marketing materials, from blog posts and emails to social media updates.
Additionally, employing content management systems and AI-powered tools can help streamline content production, making it easier to maintain coherence while catering to different channels and audience segments.
Example:
Consider a software company promoting its latest product. To maintain coherence, they develop a comprehensive content calendar and messaging guidelines. When creating content, they stick to these guidelines, ensuring that each blog post, social media update, or email newsletter reinforces the same key product benefits and features.
This coherence helps in shaping a unified narrative that resonates with their target audience across various marketing channels. In this way, maintaining coherence becomes not just a challenge but an opportunity to reinforce their brand identity and engage their audience more effectively.
3. Will Lack of Engagement be a Challenge?
Survey Results:
- Yes: 68,6%
- No: 31,4%
The Challenge:
Close to 70% of marketers express concerns about the lack of interactivity and engagement in their existing content. This underscores the growing importance of crafting original, authentic, and interactive content to capture audience attention and drive engagement.
The Solution:
Creating engaging content starts with understanding your audience and their preferences. Consider their journey and what kind of content would resonate with them at different stages. It’s vital to incorporate emotional elements into your content, making it relatable and appealing. Instead of sending a plain PDF, think about interactive formats or mobile-friendly content.
Sometimes, it’s not a lack of engagement but content saturation that hinders interaction. The era of information overload is upon us, amplified by AI tools like ChatGPT that can generate content at scale. In this environment, originality and creativity are paramount. Craft unique, personalized content that stands out in the crowd.
A/B testing can be a valuable tool to boost engagement. Experiment with different content formats, messaging styles, and delivery channels to determine what resonates best with your audience.
Example:
Imagine an e-commerce business seeking to address its engagement challenges. They start by analyzing their customer journey and discover that their audience responds well to interactive content. As a solution, they implement a series of engaging, mobile-optimized quizzes and polls related to their product offerings. This approach not only captures attention but also collects valuable customer insights.
The company infuses creativity into each interaction, making the content more engaging and memorable for their audience, ultimately boosting interaction and customer loyalty.
4. Will Content Management be a Challenge?
Survey Results:
- Yes: 42,9%
- No: 54,3%
- Not Sure: 2,9%
The Challenge:
Close to 43% of marketing professionals anticipate challenges in content management for the year 2024. This concern underscores the growing complexity of handling large volumes of content efficiently.
The Solution:
Efficient content management is key to addressing this challenge. Here are some steps to streamline content management in 2024:
- Centralized Content Hub: Create a centralized hub for all your marketing content. This can be a digital asset management (DAM) system or a content management platform. Having a single location for all your content makes it easier to organize, access, and share.
- Content Governance: Establish clear content governance guidelines. Define roles and responsibilities for content creators, editors, and approvers. Implement workflows to ensure content goes through the appropriate review process.
- Automation: Leverage automation tools to assist with content management. This can include content scheduling, publishing, and archiving. Automation helps reduce manual tasks and ensures content is consistently delivered to the right channels.
Example:
Let’s consider a medium-sized e-commerce company with a growing content library. They anticipate content management challenges in 2024 as they continue to expand their product offerings.
To address this, they implement a centralized content management system, allowing their marketing and content teams to access product descriptions, images, and promotional materials from a single location.
They also establish content governance by creating clear roles for content creators, editors, and approval workflows. Automation tools assist in scheduling product releases and promotional campaigns, reducing manual tasks and ensuring content consistency. Version control is implemented to track changes in real-time.
Key Takeaways 🔑
- Content Creation Challenge: Expect content creation challenges in 2024 as the demand for fresh, engaging content grows. Infuse originality and creativity into each piece, leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT.
- Producing Coherent Content: Maintain coherent content by establishing a robust content strategy, brand guidelines, and content management systems. Consistency in tone and style is vital.
- Lack of Engagement Challenge: Concerns about engagement affect nearly 70% of marketers. Create interactive, emotional, and original content. Use A/B testing to enhance engagement.
- Content Management Challenge: Close to 43% anticipate content management challenges in 2024. Address this with a centralized content hub, content governance, and automation for efficient handling of large volumes of content.