While the digital marketing landscape is shifting under our feet and the artificial intelligence revolution takes hold, the ancient art of storytelling remains tried, tested and true. Such is the dichotomy of marketing in the Digital Age.
Last week, I attended the Change In the Making Conference. in our home town of Squamish. Now heading into its third year, the conference attracts some 700 attendees from enterprise brands, small business and agencies. While still maintaining its heavy focus on digital, the CIMC organizing team decided to broaden the scope of the event in 2017, adding in broader topics for the public relations community.
Here are the big take aways and trends that will shape marketing and storytelling in the months ahead. It’s a long one, but I promise it’s a good one!
A Good Story Is Timeless
In today’s Digital Age, it’s important to have a hook in the first 8 seconds if we want to draw the audience in and overcome ADD. But, we needn’t be overly clever. Vulnerability and authenticity reign in this space.
Matthew Luhn from Pixar reminded us all that simplicity is key when it comes to telling a great story. We have to make people feel the story more than anything else. If we can achieve that, we can make magic happen.
Tried, tested and true storytelling devices that have been used for thousands of year still apply. Every story needs a set-up, build, and pay off. But, pacing and tension are critical to create an emotional connection with the audience. And of course, the good old anecdote is still very relevant and effective. In fact, adding a story makes facts 22 times more memorable.
Native Advertising and Influencer Marketing Critical To Marketing Mix
As the digital marketing pipeline becomes more and more saturated (and expensive), relying on third-party allegiances is the new norm.
After all, in a world where people fear “fake news”, sponsored content doesn’t seem so bad as long as there is transparency. Lindsay Stewart of Buzzfeed revealed that the recipe for success when it comes to sponsored content is for brands to give the publication creative license to maintain their voice. They know their audience best and have historical data to inform their content. In Buzzfeed’s case, they stick to their recipe for success: being relatable, creating emotional pull, educating people or making them laugh.
Native advertising is estimated to become a $28 billion business by 2018. Native ad units might be modelled after IABs, but their place in the digital mix is to add context, educational or entertainment value.
On the other hand, working with influencers to gain reach and third party endorsements has become mainstay in the marketing mix. But, it doesn’t always have to be the mainstream Internet giants whose engagement decreases as their reach increases. Looking at so-called micro-influencers can be a more cost effective approach with long-term benefits. These are people who are prolific in niche communities and are on their way to Internet fame, but haven’t quite made it yet.
The Web Landscape Is Shifting
No longer is it sufficient to build a mobile friendly site. Rather, with the saturation of mobile, it’s critical to build mobile first web properties. Some brands are deciding to de-prioritize desktop all together, depending on who their target market is.
As design becomes more mobile-centric and m commerce gains momentum, we can expect to see purchasing behaviour shift from desktop to mobile as it becomes easier to buy items from a mobile device. To date, mobile has done a great job at driving web traffic, but user experience and trust still hinder many from purchasing on their mobile. Broadly speaking, e-commerce businesses still see more purchases made on desktop. But, that is changing.
Another space that is dramatically shifting is the world of mobile applications. Britney Muller of Moz argued that apps could become a thing of the past; replaced instead by a hybrid solution called Progressive Web Applications. PWAs are built for mobile browsers, but offer the sophistication and robust user experience of an app.
But it’s not just web design and apps that are evolving. The landscape of search is changing too, with the prevalence of voice recognition technologies like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google’s voice software. No longer must we optimize our websites for written search terms, but also voice search as well. To date, advertising companies like Google have yet to monetize voice search, but it’s on the horizon. Search engine optimization is transforming and now, more than ever, it’s important to lay the foundation with today’s best practices so you can be ready for tomorrow.
We Need to Simultaneously Embrace and Prepare for AI
We are in the midst of a not-so-quiet revolution of artificial intelligence and automation. Simply put, cognitive computing (or machines that continue to optimize and learn as they go) will play up a major role in almost every aspect of our lives. From helping businesses better understand their customers, to organizing and interpreting massive volumes data, to completing tasks currently executed by humans, AI will become an extension of human decision-making and action. Some would argue we’re already there.
Internet giants Facebook and Google both admitted that “connectivity” is the next frontier. AI and machine to machine will be the next battleground. It’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top in this space.
But, as Meagan Tanner of Google Canada so eloquently explained, technology does not just disrupt industries – it has a trickle down effect. Technology disruption impacts entire economies. The electric, self-driving car for example, disrupts gas stations, packaged goods sold in the gas station, people who work in goods manufacturing, vendors who serve the manufacturers and so on and so forth. With these new technologies barrelling towards us, our nation is poised for a major economic disruption and Google Canada is campaigning hard to pressure the Canadian government to invest in tech leadership.
There’s no better place to look at how disruption impacts the economy, than, well, the sharing economy. The revolution started with the likes of Uber and AirBNB, but ultimately permeates just about every industry there is. Ted Graham of GMC posed the question : “who is the Uber Of” the next industry in his talk. He demonstrated how GMC has taken a page from some of the most successful sharing economy brands – and even partnered with them – to adapt and grow.
As we near the midway point of 2017, this is a good time to re-evaluate where we stand. Stéphane Bérubé of L’oreal hit the nail on the head when he emphasized the importance of reinventing, innovating and building the future before it builds you. Becoming stagnant – even if you have a 108-year success record – is the greatest fail of all.