MindgruveMacarta sent three team members to Digital Summit Atlanta 2024. We delved into insightful sessions focused on navigating the evolving marketing landscape in an AI-driven world. With industry experts sharing their knowledge on everything from content strategy to SEO optimization, the conference offered valuable perspectives on how to engage today’s consumers effectively. We’ve compiled the key takeaways and essential tools every marketer should have to stay ahead in this dynamic environment.
1. Content and Audience Engagement
In a world where influencers and content creators fight for audience attention (and loyalty), just showing up doesn’t cut it. Seconds matter. Format matters. And phoning it in won’t fool anybody. Here are several ways to cut through the clutter and build an engaged, loyal audience via content:
- Marry your niche, vary your format: Instead of trying to find your content niche, treat your content like a variety show. Test out different “acts” and monitor the engagement closely. Give an act a few chances before you cut it. Lean into the ones that promote engagement and stickiness.
- Keep it simple: If you can’t film 3 shorts in 1 hour, simplify your idea. Your messaging should align with a 5th-6th grade reading level to make it more accessible to a wider audience.
- Perfect your “first frame”: You have about one second to hook people before they scroll past your content. Often overlooked, the first frame should immediately convey what your video is about.
2. SEO and Generative AI
With so much organic competition, including from Google itself, getting eyeballs on your content can feel like an uphill battle. Looking to AI to mass-produce content for your website may be tempting, but it shouldn’t be relied on as a primary traffic-driving strategy. The bottom line is you need to keep people on your website as long as possible to win the search game. Here are some great themes to work into your SEO strategy:
- Create “topic clusters”: Build a wealth of content around a related set of topics. This will also help to keep people on your website longer by driving “long clicks” (when people don’t go directly back to Google for another search).
- Test page titles: Monitor what Google considers more relevant and adjust accordingly.
- Keep/Revise/Kill/Review: Content will inevitably decay after a certain period, so don’t let it stagnate.
- GenAI: This tool can be great for promoting awareness efforts, but not necessarily for low-funnel content.
3. Brand Identity and Experience
Ever wondered how to send a marketer into a full-blown panic attack? Just tell them,: “The goal is to increase brand awareness, but also to drive leads.” Many brands are trying to drive future demand while simultaneously attempting to strengthen their current brand/demand efforts. However, the latter is often significantly underfunded compared to future lead-gen efforts.
The Golden Rule for marketing allocation between brand and performance should be:
- 40% brand and current demand
- 60% future demand
With a heightened focus on brand building, it’s important to spend the time and budget to create a unified brand voice and a clear understanding of brand purpose. Marketers should aim to create immersive experiences that resonate with their audience.
Armed with these key takeaways, we are excited to apply these strategies in our marketing efforts and continue evolving in this dynamic environment.
Want to ask a question or learn more? Get in touch with us today.
