Marketing trends are constantly changing. However, in more recent years, we are finding certain trends are persisting. The desire for relatability and human connection is incredibly powerful. With that, we are outlining the trends with which we have found success and those that we think will continue to rise in popularity in 2024.
1. Employee Involvement
Employees are the heart of companies and audiences want to know more about them. Having employees interact with the company social media posts (i.e LinkedIn) helps boost the organization’s attractiveness. Sharing, liking, and commenting can have a positive impact on the way that their audience views them. Having employees engage with posts makes the company appear genuine, likable, and trustworthy.
Humans are naturally curious and, because of this, audiences want to know what goes on behind the scenes of their favorite companies. Sharing posts that involve employees, and describing what they do, can be helpful for audiences to feel more connected to the organization. A few examples of how to do this are day-in-the-life videos of employees, fun facts about individuals in the company, and behind-the-scenes footage of what goes on each day.
Sharing employee spotlights is another way to make an audience feel more connected to what goes on in the company. Audiences want to see the positive aspects of the business. Sharing birthdays, anniversaries, and other employee milestones is vital to increase interest. At JumpStartNOW, we have learned that audiences crave human connection on social media. Utilizing relatable individuals helps your audience connect more deeply with your business. Younger audiences, especially, want to see companies stepping away from the corporate image to show that they are in touch with today’s trends.
- Visual Content
For perspective, here are a few statistics on visual content:
- 65% of people are visual learners;
- Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text;
- Posts with images produce 180% more engagement;
- Short-form videos have the highest ROI and are the best format for lead generation and engagement.
Visual content has become the ultimate source of impressions and engagement. To go a step further, short-form video content has had explosive growth in recent years. With the rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, videos are much preferred over other forms of social media content by many users. In fact, 33% of marketers plan to invest more in short-form video than any other type of social media strategy.
Video content is not only entertaining, but also informative. According to The New York Times, TikTok has become the new Search Engine for Gen Z. “TikTok’s rise as a discovery tool is part of a broader transformation in digital search.” Audiences refer to social media when they need answers to problems and use the algorithm to receive videos tailored for them. Because of this, it has become much easier to sell products via social media, and there is constant demand.
This leads us to the rise in social media influencers. The influencer industry has skyrocketed in recent years. According to Statista, this industry is worth $21.1 billion in 2023. While influencer marketing has existed for around 20 years, this industry is projected to keep growing, with an estimated worth of $84.89 billion in 2029.
- Personalized Content
Unsurprisingly, we have learned that people enjoy the feeling of being seen. “Relatability” is the key word for 2023 and we are not seeing that go away. There are many examples of audiences connecting to brands, shows, commercials, and so on that embody the idea of relatability.
Gilmore Girls, a popular TV show from the early 2000s, is a perfect depiction of this. It’s currently trending on TikTok and has stayed relevant for over 20 years because the show emulates the idea of human connectedness. This show is a prime example of how relatable content can captivate audiences. The combination of sharp, quick-witted banter, strong female characters, and timely, progressive themes set in a small town in which everyone greets each other in the morning, is a winning formula.
This concept of relatability is an idea that organizations need to think about in the upcoming year. In 2023, we have seen massive growth from brands that have personalized their marketing content. A few that have succeeded at creating a personalized experience are Sephora, Nordstrom, Amazon, Spotify, and Ulta. To achieve this, these brands have implemented various strategies, such as an optimized recommendation engine, a beauty preference center, personalized analytics, in-store and online customer service, and even birthday gifts for members. Because of its success rate, we are seeing more brands continue to create personalized experiences for their customers, and do not think this will slow down.
- Conversational Marketing
Gen Z has become the leader for spearheading more conversational content and tone in the business world. We predict that more companies will follow this lead. As mentioned earlier, Gen Z has opinions about how companies run their brands and are not afraid to share on social media. This generation is not hesitant to call out corporate culture, outdated practices, and traditional methods. Gen Z has the greatest impact on disrupting the workplace.
Although this may seem bold for a generation to create so much change, Gen Zs have more impact in the nation’s workplace. This generation is not going to deal with unrelatable and unapproachable brands. This is controversial due to different generations not agreeing; however, with Gen Z becoming the new workforce, we do not see this slowing down.
If brands choose to not follow the lead of Gen Z, there is a higher chance of being “canceled.” But fear not because what this really means is that this group of people will hold brands accountable. If your organization has a strong set of values and portrays them with awareness, you do not have to be afraid of being “canceled.”
If you are looking to add a new level of relatability, visual, personalized and casual content to your brand, talk with us today. Get in touch and start imagining the possibilities. Contact JumpStartNOW CEO Veronika Monell at veronika@jumpstart-now.com.
