Digital Marketing
More emphasis on brand, less on channel-by-channel attribution
Marketing Managers will set their 2024 budgets with a bigger emphasis on brand. With data specialist’s everywhere languishing over GA4’s latest data downfall, it’s becoming less feasible to pinpoint exact user journeys and allocate spend to the highest converting channels. We predict marketers will bring a macro lens to their approach, and think of a bigger picture in 2024.
Likewise, data teams may shift their focus to BigQuery as a means of reporting. For larger businesses, these changes will take time to roll out. For small and medium sized businesses, there is certainly more appetite for testing. That being said, the necessity for this data often comes from larger scale eCommerce businesses, and those with the data analysts to understand discrepancies in data.
The takeaway? Don’t get too bogged down in reconciling Google Ads and Google Analytics data, and focus on the bigger picture. This means prioritising new customer acquisition, and delighting those who are already familiar with your brand.
Pico-Influencers
Over the years, we’ve seen brands move away from putting all of their eggs in a single large-following influencer basket. Now, we’re seeing smaller influencers cultivating communities on a human-to-human basis. Pico-influencers may come in the form of regular people becoming incentivised to share with their community. Or, it can come with a swap of platforms, as we’ve seen many taking their community to a tighter circle on SubStack or subscription channels. This trend is something brands should be aware of when allocating their influencer marketing spend in 2024. Does one larger influencer truly connect with your target audience, or should you be considering more niche communities?
Demand for immediate response
Social listening isn’t new, but consumers are demanding faster responses from brands they care about. Just last month, a creator on TikTok (arguably the fastest moving platform for this level of community engagement) shared a video on a Stanley cup surviving a car fire. The ice left in the cup impressed the creator, and before anyone over at Stanley had even seen the video, there were hundreds of comments urging Stanley to use this as evidence for product effectiveness in their ads. Consumers expect brands to have a response, and brands can’t afford to delay that. So, keep your ear to the ground and your four-you-page open in 2024.
PR
Homogenised media
The shrinking media pool has been evidenced with the news that Kyle and Jackie O will be crossing state borders via the airwaves and will be on the air in Melbourne.
Moves as such show a much wider theme that we can also see across TV, and that is – broadcasters are looking to simplify and standardise. We’ll see more stories across metro markets feel more “one-size fits all” and fewer community-specific targeting through broadcast channels.
For brands looking for widespread attention and brand awareness, think on-scale. How can your local story be amplified in a way that is relevant to a national audience?
Selling the story
The fact that good storytelling is key to ensuring earned media is not new, but the method in which that is delivered has changed.
PR professionals need to act like producers in order to garner media uptake; delivering a full story in various formats suitable for all platforms – as well as being on the front-foot with delivering data, conducting surveys and research, case-studies, high-quality imagery and graphics.
In an era of shrinking publishing resources, those who are willing to deliver the most ready-to-share story win. It’s important to think “How can I make this journalist’s job as easy as possible”.
Blurring lines
As we continue to see the blurring of the lines between owned, earned, #gifted and #prsample – the role of a PR specialist will need to evolve from just media relations to partnership brokering.
While there is no doubt that traditional media buying agencies still have a place in the media planning matrix – in a time of shrinking budgets and increasing expected ROI, PR professionals will take on more brand spend in the aim of securing deepers partnerships, as opposed to just straight buys.
PR managers understand the audience of these outlets and also the opportunity for their brands, so it makes sense for them to drive spend to gain greater share-of-voice across both editorial and advertising.
Impact
Big changes for B Corps
Last year, B Corp announced that it would evolve the standards for B Corp Certification. Currently, the standards to certify and recertify as a B Corp are based on a flexible approach to achieve a minimum 80-point score across five impact areas measured in the B Impact Assessment; Workers, Customers, Community, Environment, Governance. Under the proposed new standards, B Corps must meet specific performance requirements across a wider range of social, environmental, and governance impact topics, and at recertification, companies must prove continuous impact improvement.
The draft version of the new standards will be released for a second public consultation in early 2024, with the new standards expected to be finalised by the end of the year.
This will change the types of organisations that certify, as well as those who recertify, as it raises the bar for business impact across a range of topics, such as human rights, climate and collective action. For those who are a B Corp, ensure you are re-looking at where you still need to go, and for our aspiring B Corps, get prepared to go deep on the details internally and externally.
Further crackdown on greenwashing by ACCC
Earlier this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published draft Environmental Claims Guidance — a national framework that supports businesses to communicate with confidence, ultimately helping to rebuild consumer trust in sustainability claims.
An October 2022 survey of 247 businesses or brands across 8 sectors found that 57% had made concerning claims about their environmental credentials.
The ACCC have begun investigating and taking compliance or enforcement actions against businesses that break the rules when it comes to environmental or sustainability claims.
The guidance is just the latest in a growing trend of countries across the globe taking a stand on green claims. With this in mind, it's going to become increasingly important for businesses to be direct and open about their sustainability transitions, and ensure that they're not making aspirational goals without legitimate plans in place to achieve them.
Shifting to circularity
With an increasing awareness of environmental challenges and a collective call for responsible practices, 2024 is set to see a bigger shift away from creating waste, towards the adoption of circular economy principles.
As global regulations tighten, Australian companies will need to follow suit and embrace circularity; where resource efficiency, waste reduction, and product life extension take centre stage. From manufacturing to retail, businesses will be compelled to reevaluate their products, systems and services and adopt innovative strategies that prioritise reuse, recycling, and regeneration.
With growing demand from consumers and big brands like Patagonia and Polestar jumping on board, there’s a huge opportunity for companies to get on the front foot and start exploring the world of non-virgin materials to ensure that their products will stay in use.
And thats a wrap!
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