Changing customer behaviours and the monumental acceleration of technological advancements are impacting marketing as we know it, and it’s not unnatural to feel like your once robust marketing strategies are in a state of flux right now. However, putting socio-economic turbulence aside, it’s still paramount that you keep up to date with emerging trends and find innovative ways of connecting with audiences to make an impactful and lasting impression.
Even if you think you’ve got a good grasp of how to create great content marketing that engages and inspires your core buyer personas, it’s important to always keep your finger on the pulse and keep innovating – as your customer’s wants and needs could change in an instant. Content routes that have worked well in the past, may not continue to do so in this ever-changing environment. So, whether you’re working as part of a larger marketing team or as a solo content creator, we’ve got 5 innovative ways to use content marketing to kickstart your organic growth, boost sales and keep audiences engaged in the long term in 2024.
1. Start Incorporating VR and AR Into Your Marketing Mix
Apart from boosting efficiency in the operational side of your business, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are also fantastic tools from a content perspective. Savvy marketers and brands are using these technologies for innovative product demonstrations where they showcase the products and allow their audiences to interact with them on a virtual level, in-store and online. Some even take it a step further by simulating virtual tours and 360° experiences, creating a whole new world of innovative content for potential buyers. But it’s not merely a show-and-tell tool, VR and AR can be extremely persuasive when it comes to interactive storytelling, immersing audiences into the narrative and history of the product/service, allowing them to connect with your brand in new and unique ways.
Sport giant, Nike, launched its popular “Nikeland” metaverse, an immersive digital 3-D space designed for people who are passionate about sports and gaming, which attracted over 31.5 million unique visitors. International Motor company, Hyundai also utilised VR to their advantage by investing in an online gaming platform, Roblox, to create their very own virtual showroom, coined the “Hyundai Mobility Adventure”. Following the resounding success of its showroom, Hyundai expanded its metaverse experience further by partnering up with the ZEPETO platform where users can visit ZEPETO’s futuristic Downtown exhibition space and tour the S-Hub future mobility transit centre.
Director of Marketing at Elwyn, Jennifer Gaier explains, “The border between the digital realm and reality is becoming increasingly porous, thanks to advancements in VR and AR – the possibilities are virtually limitless. As hardware becomes more accessible, you can expect to see brands big and small incorporating these technologies into their marketing campaigns.”
2. Take User-Generated Content To The Next Level With Ambassador & Affiliate Programs
When we talk about User-Generated Content (UGC), this refers to any content that’s created by audiences rather than brands themselves. Over the past decade, this type of content has remained an untapped resource for many brands, but recently, UGC has been utilised and positioned front and centre in many of the world’s top brand’s marketing strategies. Why? Because it drives engagement, brand credibility and ultimately more sales. Founder and CEO of Glewee, Dylan Duke, explains, “UGC is authentic and more experience-driven than brand-pushed content. There’s no fabrication, embellishment or Photoshop involved. Instead, it acts as the modern form of word-of-mouth advertising, which has always played a significant role in consumer purchasing decisions”. At the end of the day, it all comes down to trust – and who better to trust than those who have the same needs and share the same pain points in your own community? So, it stands to reason that brands who leverage UGC will not only have better-performing content but also a future-proofed strategy moving forward for growing a more engaged audience base.
So, how do you go about integrating UGC into your marketing strategy? The answer – is to be reactive across your social channels. Encourage opportunities for users to share their experiences, respond to every comment and curate the best examples as social proof – be that through testimonials on your website, compilation brand videos or customer-led adverts. Increasingly, some of the most successful UGC creators have even made a full-blown career out of their ability to craft engaging branded content for like-minded audiences – thanks to the demand for short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Unlike traditional influencers (that brands use to propel their reach thanks to the influencers’ massive followings across their social media channels), UGC creators don’t have to have a huge audience, as brands want to work with them for their innovative and imaginative content creation process instead.
Smarter brands are taking collaboration with UGC creators to the next level by introducing their own affiliate and brand ambassador programs. The affiliate market shows a year-on-year growth of 10%, with key experts claiming the industry could reach $40 billion by 2030. So, if you’re looking to foster deep customer loyalty – the way forward is launching your own in-house affiliate program or brand ambassador scheme.
A brand that’s succeeding at this currently is, SlumberPod, a Georgia-based startup which makes blackout privacy sleep pods for toddlers and babies. Their affiliate programme includes a range of UGC creators such as parents, paediatric sleep coaches, leading sleep consultants and even travel agencies who operate on an affiliate contract, in exchange for generous commissions, complimentary products and access to dedicated support from the SlumberPod team. With 300 active creators and growing, their discount codes alone have helped to generate seven figures in sales, while curating engaging content for their users along the way – so it’s a win-win for both parties. If you and your marketing team are looking for a cost-effective strategy that will help to reach niche demographics while simultaneously rewarding your most loyal customers, then developing an affiliate program is a fantastic way to achieve your goals.
3. Create More Interactive Content For Your Audiences
Research from Forbes shows that 36.1% of businesses engaged with interactive tools to boost their customer engagement in 2023, while 62.3% have reported doing so in 2024 – so it’s safe to say that integrating interactive content into marketing strategies is on the rise. This comes as no surprise as the benefits of creating interactive content are far-reaching – it helps to increase engagement, boost conversion rates, generate leads, improve SEO and instil brand loyalty to name a few. And the great thing is interactive content levels the playing field between bigger and smaller brands as we’ve got an incredible range of cost-effective technical tools at our disposal to create incredible quizzes, polls, games, surveys and live videos without needing to invest in more expensive tools like VR and AR platforms.
This kind of content can be particularly useful when celebrating big brand milestones like rebrands and product launches, as it not only gets your audiences engaged, but it’s also a great tool for assessing customer sentiment and collecting data. Live product demonstrations and interactive Q&As between customers and CEOs are another great way to connect with your customers directly on a global scale without the need for costly in-store visits. John Hall, Co-Founder of Calendar, elaborates further by saying, “It’s not enough to distribute killer content across the right channels and leave it at that, hoping for the best. The most successful brands actively engage with their fans, creating two-way conversations that encourage questions, comments, and observations. Significantly, these online conversations are likely to be some of the best marketing research you’ll ever conduct. For example, social media listening tools can help you detect when people are chatting about your brand. This type of “strategic snooping” allows you to join in on the conversation, remediate a customer complaint promptly, or simply let customers know that you appreciate them.”
4. Use AI To Develop Super-Targeted Content
There’s no denying that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting every part of the content marketing mix. But it’s particularly making the most significant inroads into digital advertising – effectively changing how we use dynamic pricing, targeted ads and content optimisation tools. AI has helped us revolutionise personalised messages – as its algorithms leverage real-time data and advanced analytics to tailor services, products and individualised experiences that meet the specific needs of every customer. We are now in the era of hyper-personalisation – which means we can produce highly effective and super-targeted content.
CEO and Founder of Zebra Advertisement, Rocco Baldassarre, said, “AI's prowess in predictive analytics continues to be a game-changer for advertisers. By analysing vast datasets and identifying patterns in consumer behaviour, AI algorithms can accurately forecast future trends and preferences. This enables you to craft highly targeted campaigns that resonate with our audience's interests, maximising engagement and conversion rates. Using historical data to create a predictive analytics model has been a big help to me personally. I am now able to predict, in a matter of minutes, the lifetime value of each consumer for each campaign for my clients. This means that I can seamlessly customise the bids to maximise performance over time rather than in the short term.”
This helps to stave off growing consumer marketing fatigue. You no longer need to bombard customers with irrelevant, out-of-touch email marketing campaigns that have the possibility of turning disengaged customers into disgruntled ex-customers. Instead, you utilise AI tools to analyse individual customer experiences with your brand so you can give them just what they want – when they want it. AI allows you to achieve this higher level of customer-centricity. Jennifer Gaier, Director of Marketing at Elwyn, echoes Mr Baldassarre’s statement, “As big data technologies and machine learning algorithms evolve, I believe this trend will only become more refined, making mass marketing strategies increasingly obsolete.” So, while we don’t vouch for AI as a writing aid, we do believe it’s more important than ever to work collaboratively with AI analytical platforms in order to create super-targeted content.
Creating engaging content in 2024 may feel like an uphill battle as you try to stay ahead of the curve with emerging trends in content marketing, but the most important thing to remember is to not overcomplicate the task – your main goal is (and always should be) to create engaging content that meets your customers’ needs. However, if you’re looking to get ahead of the competition when it comes to your content marketing, some of the most innovative ways to do this are by; creating more interactive content; developing an affiliate program to foster loyalty; utilising AI tools to produce hyper-personalised content and thinking about ways you could incorporate VR and AR tools into your marketing mix.