What’s Trending in Marketing For February 2024

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Welcome to our February 2024 edition of “What’s Trending,” where we bring you the most relevant marketing trends and insights. Stay informed and ahead of the game with our collection of marketing trends and reports for the start of the 2024 year.

2024’s Super Bowl

One of the nations traditions is sitting with loved ones and watching the yearly super bowl game. For this year, after a nerve wrecking game for both teams in the super bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs won against the San Francisco 49ers. The intensity of the competition, marked by strategic plays and jaw-dropping moments, truly embodied the spirit of the Super Bowl, leaving the score a very close one to a 25-22. With the amazing half time shows provided from the artists, Usher, Alicia Keys, H.E.R. and more, we can’t forget about the amazing super bowl commercials that everyone waited for. With it being $7 million for a 30-second commercial, some of these brands gave these 30 seconds their all. If you’ve missed any of these commercials and are interested in watching them, click here.

Influencer Marketing and TikTok Shop

Influencer marketing is still one of the top ways for brands to find a way to advertise their products to consumers. TikTok, one of the most famous platforms all around the globe, is not only for Gen Z’s anymore. TikTok creators of all ages, and brands have transformed into a way of marketing and advertising. By sending consistent PR packages to all the creators with higher reaching views, it allows the product to sell more, and the brand to be known. To make the consumers experience even easier, TikTok created something new called “TikTok shop.” This TikTok shop is a way for consumers to easily be able to access a link on the advertisement video they watch, and it’ll immediately direct them to purchase the product from TikTok, instead of having to go on another app and search for the brand and products. This has made it a lot more sufficient and easier for the consumer to make their purchase, as well as the attention is draws to the brand. So, it’s kind of a very clever kill two birds with one stone situation. Read more here.

CarMax’s New Ad Campaign

CarMax started this year off strong with their new ad campaign. Something different, new, and innovative. They took a different approach to empower their car advertisements. Taking the clever approach of keeping in mind the new advertisement trends going around in 2024, CarMax made sure to use those trends sufficiently. Some of these trends include, transparency in consumer experience, empowering car buyers, and most importantly humor in advertising. Read more about these trends here.

 

Click here to learn about 2024’s website colors to enhance your website!

 

Learning Marketing Trends and Ideas

BuildX Conference – Women in Construction 2024

The Madison Area Builders Association, Milwaukee Metropolitan Builders Association, and NARI of Madison are collaborating to organize the BuildX conference, a one-day event focused on empowering women in the construction industry. The session will explore fundamental principles of social media marketing, emphasizing the importance of understanding target demographics, creating compelling content, and building authentic connections with followers. Attendees will gain actionable insights and practical tips to enhance their social media presence, drive engagement, and increase leads. The presentation aims to equip both seasoned marketers and those new to social media for sales with the knowledge and tools to succeed in the competitive digital landscape. Read more here.

Empowering and Transforming Digital Marketing With AI

AI is transforming digital marketing by providing personalized experiences and offering cost-effective solutions. With this new innovative technology, the evolvement of digital marketing in the industry is becoming empowered. To explore with us AI’s impact on digital marketing which includes new tailored content, predictive analysis, automated customer service, enhanced lead generation, and a lot more, click here to read.

Six Cost Effective Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Brand

It is very common for new businesses to steer away from marketing tactics because they think it’s very costly. However, there are plenty cost-effective marketing strategies that will help with your businesses success. A few of these strategies include blogging, mailing lists, online marketing sites, calls to action, press releases, videos, and more. To learn more about these cost effective marketing strategies to help grow your brand further, click here.

If you have missed the top 5 marketing trends for this new year, don’t worry, here’s a summary. With the new Apple vision pro, that brings up many questions about virtual reality in marketing. VR in marketing is turning into a way of saving yourself a trip to go check new furniture for your home, when you can just have a walk through the place through the virtual reality. It is making things more efficient for everyone especially since the reality of our world is digital. Want to learn about more marketing trends you might’ve missed? Click here.

The Best Brands on TikTok

As we have already established, TikTok is becoming the new platform for social media marketing. Brands and businesses have realized that, and are moving their focus on TikTok. A few brands are killing it with their marketing strategies and advertisements on the platform, and here are a few examples to help you take away a few important things from them. Chipotle, The Washington Post, Duolingo, and more, have all found ways to reach the right audience with their tactics. To see what these brands did, click here.

If you’re looking for new b2b marketing trends for the new year, look no more. With everyone finding way to AI in marketing, b2b marketing has found one too. AI helps making b2b digital marketing more efficient and effective. Google came out with several new AI features for Google Ads. To learn more about other platforms helping b2b marketing with AI, click here. 

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4 Tips For Creating a Successful Visual Identity

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Your visual identity is different than your brand identity. But your visual identity, however, does play a part in helping to create your overall brand identity. The visual branding elements help to create the specific feeling and experience you’re trying to invoke from your brand. This includes everything from your logo to the images you use, the font of your text, the colors of your website, and more. The following are a few tips to help you create an effective visual identity:

4 Tips For Creating a Successful Visual Identity

1. Keep Your Audience In Mindattraction marketing

The focus of your visuals should be to engage your audience and to connect with them. If you’re representing a funeral service, then a loud logo with bright colors is probably not going to do a good job of connecting with your audience. To ensure that the visual content you use is in line with who your audience is, make sure that you create your buyer personas first before you begin implementing a strategy for creating a visual identity.

2. Create A Logo That Supports Your Brand’s Core

The logo you create to represent your brand needs to represent its identity, its mission, and its business. You might have a really cool logo, but if it doesn’t do any of those things, then it’s a useless visual and a poor representation of your company. Take, for example, Amazon. Their logo is very simple–it’s just the letters “amazon.com.” However, there’s an orange arrow underneath pointing from the letter “A” to the letter “Z.” It visually shows that they have everything from A to Z on their site.

3. Make Sure Your Visuals Are Consistent

To create a strong and sucessful visual identity, your visuals need to be consistent throughout. For example, if you use yellows and blues in your logo, it’s going to be confusing if your website’s design elements focus mostly on shades of red. It may look good, but consumers won’t be able to tie these visual elements to your brand because they are too different from one another. This goes for other elements as well, such as text. If you are using different fonts throughout your website, it will weaken your visual identity. Pick one or two fonts that best represents your brand and stick with them.

4. Make Sure Your Visuals Are High Quality

It doesn’t matter how thought out your visuals are, how relevant they are to your audience, and how consistent they are if they aren’t of high quality. Poor quality images or visual content of low aesthetic value will leave a negative impression on your audience. If your visuals aren’t aesthetically pleasing, consumers are likely going to assume your products and/or services aren’t of much higher quality either.

These are a few tips that should help you create a visual identity that properly represents your brand and that connects with your target audience. A strong visual identity will help you to create a stronger brand identity, which will only help to increase your brand awareness and trust.

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Five Reasons To Hire An Advertising Agency Versus Staffing In-House

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Marketing and advertising are essential for the success of any business. As your company grows, you will eventually be faced with the difficult decision of whether to build your own marketing group or to outsource to an advertising agency. Here are five benefits to hiring a full-service advertising agency. Read more

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BuildX Conference – Women in Construction 2024

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WHO: The Madison Area Builders Association, Milwaukee Metropolitan Builders Association, and NARI of Madison have come together to host a BuildX conference, a one-day conference focusing on empowering women in the construction industry.

WHERE: The Ingleside Hotel Pewaukee, WI

WHEN: Tuesday, March 5th

DETAILS: In the ever-evolving landscape of the construction industry, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to engage with their audience, build brand awareness, and ultimately generate leads. The session begins by exploring the fundamental principles of social media marketing, emphasizing the importance of understanding target demographics, crafting compelling content, and fostering authentic connections with followers. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and practical tips to enhance their social media presence, drive meaningful engagement, and ultimately, increase leads. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just beginning to explore the potential of social media for sales, this presentation promises to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to thrive in today’s competitive digital landscape.

Leveraging Social Media for Effective Lead Generation: Strategies and Best Practices: Tuesday, March 5th

Internet Marketing Director, Nicole Wagner will be presenting Leveraging Social Media for Effective Lead Generation: Strategies and Best Practices. The session will discuss how to use online media, your website, and content development to build an online presence that attracts the right audience and converts them into quality leads. Attendees will analyze their current online marketing programs and assess the strength of these programs. They will learn how to create a content program and web presence that helps them reach the right audience with the right message.

Leveraging Social Media for Effective Lead Generation: Strategies and Best Practices will be presented on Tuesday, March 5th  Click here to learn more about Nicole Wagner.

You can register for this event here

Learn more about the BuildX Conference here 

For more information on Nicole for speaking:
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Six Cost Effective Marketing Strategies To Grow Your Brand

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Most companies, from business start-ups to established brands, recognize the importance of marketing. However, some may stray away from marketing tactics because they view them as costly. In reality, many cost-effective marketing strategies require little investment. Here are six of them:

Six Cost Effective Marketing Strategies

1. Blogging

Blogging is among the simplest yet most effective ways you can market. Google’s ranking mechanisms highly rate blogs that are frequently updated with relevant, quality content. According to HubSpot, there is a positive correlation between blogging frequency and visitor traffic. If you can manage I6 or more blog posts a month, you will get you 3.5 times more traffic as compared to blogs that publish 0-4 times in a month. Blogging is inexpensive because you can have your own staff create the content, and hire freelancers if you need extra help.

Read About: How Businesses Can Use a Blog To Strengthen Their Online Marketing Efforts

2. Mailing lists

Mailing lists are also an effective and inexpensive way to generate leads. Email lists can be used to remarket to customers you have already interacted with, as well as market to new contacts. Target your audience effectively by mailing content that offers solutions to the problems they may be facing. Remember to regularly update your contact lists.

3. Online marketing sites

Today, online platforms such as social media and websites are a crucial part of marketing. Depending on your business, different sites can be more effective than others. A site like Yelp allows you to create a profile for visibility and reviews, while TripAdvisor does the same for hotels, restaurants, etc. Mogul is a marketing site specifically designed for female business owners. A safe marketing strategy is to start by using less expensive websites, and then expand to others once you learn the ropes.

4. Calls to action

Once you know what kind of content your target audience is looking for, use calls to action to generate leads and position your company as the solution to their problems. Call To Action Phrases are so important. You can Create CTAs through HubSpot and use action words like “contact us”, “subscribe”, and “download” to get potential clients to click on your CTAs.

5. Press releases

It may take time to obtain the right press contacts, but once you do, press releases can be powerful marketing tools. Press releases are a cheap and reliable way to update your target audience on your successes with clients, and can be written by staff members or clients. Press releases can also be used to announce awards/accolades you have received, launch new products, announce company changes, launch promotions, etc. Overall, press releases will improve your image in the eyes of potential clients.

Also Read: The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Press Release

6. Videos

By 2024, it is estimated that video traffic will drive 82% of of IP traffic this year. Video production can be outsourced to qualified creators with high quality equipment, or you can develop them in-house at a lower cost. Video marketing is well worth the price because videos will increase your brand’s visibility, help you retain existing customers, and engage your target market while driving lead generation.

With these cost-effective marketing strategies, you can attract and convert your target audience without breaking the bank. Employing these tactics should increase your revenue in the long run, so the sooner you get started, the better. We wish you the best of luck!

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Empowering and Transforming Digital Marketing with AI

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Introduction to AI in Digital Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword but a pivotal game-changer. AI and digital marketing are increasingly intertwined, revolutionizing how marketers approach their strategies. Embracing AI can significantly enhance your marketing efforts, from personalized customer interactions to streamlined operations.

Personalization at Its Best

AI excels in creating personalized experiences for users. By analyzing vast amounts of data, it enables:

  • Tailored Content: The ability to understand and act on user preferences changes the game. This smart system crafts content that feels tailor-made, from recommendations akin to Netflix’s model to targeted advertising, enhancing user engagement significantly. Stevens & Tate offers insights on leveraging such capabilities in Creating Content That Resonates.
  • Predictive Analysis: This technique is reshaping how strategies are formed. By analyzing user interactions, this technology forecasts future needs, allowing businesses to stay a step ahead. The result? Campaigns that not only meet but anticipate customer desires, as discussed in Predictive Analysis in Marketing.

Cost-Effective Marketing Solutions:

The deployment of this technology has been transformative across sectors:

  • Automated Customer Service: Virtual assistants and chatbots, working round the clock, have redefined customer service in retail, banking, and healthcare, significantly cutting costs. Retailers use this technology for real-time recommendations, while banks offer instant account assistance. Healthcare and telecommunications benefit similarly, enhancing efficiency without sacrificing quality. The impact of AI in customer service is further explored in AI and Customer Service: A New Frontier.

These systems constantly evolve, learning from past interactions to improve future engagements, thus becoming an indispensable tool in customer service.

  • Efficient Resource Allocation: This smart technology dives deep into the outcomes of various campaigns to pinpoint the most effective marketing channels. By doing so, it ensures that every dollar spent is used in the most efficient way possible, leading to a more impactful marketing strategy and improved financial outcomes. This precision in resource allocation not only saves money but also amplifies the reach and effectiveness of marketing efforts.

Streamlining Marketing Efforts:

  • Enhanced Lead Generation: By leveraging advanced data analytics, this technology sifts through data to identify high-potential leads with remarkable accuracy. This process not only streamlines the targeting process but also enriches the sales funnel with quality prospects. The result is a more efficient marketing strategy that not only captures interest but also fosters lasting engagement, leading to better retention and conversion rates.
  • Optimized Ad Campaigns: With the ability to make real-time adjustments, this technology ensures that advertising campaigns are always performing at their best. By continuously analyzing engagement and conversion data, it keeps campaigns aligned with audience preferences and behaviors, leading to more effective engagement and a higher return on investment. This adaptability means that marketing messages remain fresh and relevant, deepening the connection between brand and audience.

Customization of Products and Services:

  • Predictive Product Development: By staying one step ahead of market trends, this technology empowers businesses to develop products that are ready for the future. It uses predictive analytics to forecast upcoming market demands, enabling companies to innovate proactively. This forward-thinking approach is essential for staying competitive and relevant in rapidly changing markets.
  • Service Personalization: This technology takes personalization to the next level by analyzing individual customer data to tailor services and products. By understanding the unique preferences and needs of each user, it enables businesses to offer highly personalized experiences that resonate on a personal level. This customization not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters loyalty, making users feel truly valued and understood.

For further exploration of AI’s impact on digital marketing, resources such as Marketing AI Institute and Forbes Insights on AI provide comprehensive information and case studies.

 

Click Here to Read More About WPBakery AI

Overcoming the Cons of AI in Marketing

While AI offers numerous benefits, it’s crucial to address its limitations:

  • Human Touch in Chatbots: While AI-powered chatbots provide efficiency, integrating human customer service ensures a balanced approach. This combination offers the quick resolution of simpler queries through AI, while more complex issues are handled by humans. This hybrid model ensures that while technology streamlines the process, the human element preserves empathy and understanding, crucial in customer relations.
  • Balance Between AI and Human Creativity: While it is true that AI offers valuable data-driven insights, it cannot replace human creativity and intuition. The most effective marketing strategies combine AI’s analytical strengths with human creativity and emotional intelligence. This synergy ensures that marketing campaigns are not only data-efficient but also creatively appealing, resonating with the human aspect of the target audience.
  • Accuracy of Algorithms: The effectiveness of AI is contingent on the quality of data it processes. Inaccurate or biased data can lead to flawed outcomes. Therefore, continuous monitoring, updating, and refining of AI algorithms are essential. This vigilance ensures that AI remains an accurate and reliable tool in marketing, adapting to new data and evolving market trends.

The use of AI in digital marketing offers a wide variety of useful benefits. From personalized customer experiences to cost-effective strategies and streamlined operations, AI is reshaping the marketing landscape. However, it’s crucial to maintain a balance between automated AI processes and the irreplaceable human touch. By thoughtfully integrating AI into your marketing strategies, you can stay ahead in the competitive digital arena, turning leads into loyal customers more efficiently.

 

The Importance of Package Design – How it Affects Your Brand Story

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Creating a strong brand identity requires good storytelling in order to establish your brand as unique and relevant as well as to make it more engaging for your target audience. We’ve gone over the ins and outs of brand storytelling before, but what we haven’t touched on yet is how your package design affects your brand story and the role it plays in telling that story.

Why packaging design is important?

The Importance of Packaging Design to Your Brand

When it comes to the visual identity of your brand, consistency matters, from your website design and your social media pages to your storefront sign and your business cards. Consistency is what helps to strengthen your brand identity. As such, it’s important that consumers can recognize your brand from the packaging of your products. If the packaging is consistent with your brand, people who are already familiar with your brand will identify it right away. This makes it easier to stand out from the crowd.

Keep in mind that it works the other way as well – those who purchase your product will become familiar with your brand as a result and be able to identify your brand when they see it elsewhere — as long as there is consistency with your branding efforts.

7 Package Design Tips for Creating a Strong Brand

Brand Storytelling Using Your Package Design

Using visual elements of your brand in your package design is important, but there’s more to it than just that. What your product’s packaging ends up looking like on the shelf can tell consumers a lot about your product. For example:

Targeting your audience

When designing the visual elements of brand packaging design, you should take into consideration your target audience. For example, packaging for kid products often uses large, bold typography and a colorful style, while products targeting career-oriented adults may use more elegant typography in a more minimal design.

Conveying an experience

The package design should reflect the experience of your product. For example, an eco-friendly product should probably be packaged using sustainable materials to help build trust in your product. If you’re selling a luxury product, then you should use high-end materials and not cheap packaging. If one of the benefits of your product is convenience, then the package should be easy to use.

Creating an aesthetically pleasing design

Consumers tend to judge books by their covers. When they see that a brand has put effort into creating a visually pleasing package, they will assume that this is reflective of the brand’s effort to create a high-quality product. The real challenge is not only creating a visually pleasing design but one that is unique amongst competing products as well.

Brand packaging design has a huge impact on your brand identity and vice versa. It should help spread awareness of your brand and promise to deliver on your unique value proposition. It should also target your audience and it should speak to the personality of your brand. Your package design shouldn’t just leave a good first impression, it should leave a lasting impression.

Download Our White Paper Guide To Learn How To Perfect Buyer Personas For Your Business

How To Nurture Your Leads With Email Marketing

How To Nurture Your Leads With Email Marketing

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Despite some claims that email is dead, it is still a highly effective way for marketers to connect with consumers. It is an integral part of inbound marketing as well as attraction marketing, and is a great way to send nurture leads throughout the buying process.

Nurture Your Leads With Email Marketing

What is Lead Nurturing?

Lead nurturing is a strategic approach in marketing and sales that focuses on developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with potential customers throughout their buying journey.

Here are a few email best practices that will help nurture your leads.

Segmentation

The segmentation of your contacts database will help define your audience into categories. If you are unfamiliar with buyer personas, read about them here, as they will be extremely useful in segmenting your contacts. Segmenting be done in terms of geographic location, company type, role within that company, behavior, marketing intelligence, or any other category that could be valuable to your company. Use segmenting to your advantage by targeting those different groups with useful content based on their specific needs.

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AI Website Content Tool Integration: WPBakery AI for Your WordPress Website

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Staying ahead of the curve is key for creating visually pleasing and user-friendly websites. For WordPress users, the introduction of WPBakery AI represents a leap in design innovation. So, in this article, we’ll explore the number of ways WPBakery AI can benefit WordPress websites by elevating creativity, efficiency, and user engagement.

WPBakery AI makes designing your website super easy. It automatically handles things like adjusting layouts and picking colors to match your preferences. This smart tool simplifies the customization process, giving you the freedom to explore and create in a more creative way.

WPBakery | MemberPress

  1. Effortless Design Customization

WPBakery AI simplifies the design process by automating customization tasks. From layout adjustments to color schemes and more, this intelligent invention understands your preferences and streamlines the customization process, making it simpler. Selecting the perfect color scheme is a critical aspect of web design. WPBakery AI takes the guesswork out of this process by intelligently understanding your color preferences. With its automated features, it effortlessly suggests and implements color schemes that resonate with your vision, giving your website a cohesive and visually appealing look.

  1. Time-saving Content Creation

Content is primary, and WPBakery AI recognizes the importance of efficiency in content creation. By automating certain aspects of the process, such as generating compelling headlines or suggesting relevant imagery, this tool empowers users to focus on crafting high-quality content rather than getting stuck with time-consuming details. To further streamline your content creation, the tool suggests relevant imagery that aligns seamlessly with your written material. This not only enhances the visual appeal of your content but also removes the hassle of searching for suitable images, allowing you to maintain focus on the core message you wish to convey.

Interested in Having a Professional Web Design Service for Your Business? Click here. 

  1. Responsive Design Optimization

In an era where mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable, WPBakery AI ensures that your website looks constantly phenomenal. With its ability to adapt to different screen sizes, it takes the guesswork out of responsive design, guaranteeing a seamless user experience for visitors on all devices. Whether it’s a compact smartphone screen or the expansive canvas of a desktop monitor, WPBakery AI guarantees that your website’s design remains visually appealing to the users. The intelligent adaptation ensures that your website not only looks phenomenal but also operates smoothly, offering a user-friendly interface regardless of the device being used. 

  1. Intelligent Element Placement

WPBakery AI goes beyond traditional drag-and-drop interfaces. It suggests the optimal placement of design elements based on user behavior and industry best practices. This enhances the visual appeal of your website to a more intuitive and user-friendly navigation experience. Understanding how users interact with websites is crucial for an effective design. WPBakery AI harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to analyze user behavior patterns. By knowing how visitors engage with content, the tool intelligently suggests the most effective placement for design elements. This approach ensures that your website is not just aesthetically pleasing but also strategically organized for maximum user engagement.

  1. Adaptable SEO Optimization

The visibility of a website in search engine results is important for its success. WPBakery AI incorporates SEO best practices into its design recommendations, assisting in creating a website that is visually appealing for search engines. This ensures that your content ranks well, attracting organic traffic to your WordPress site. By creating visually appealing websites that also cater to the preferences of search engines, this tool ensures that your WordPress site doesn’t just exist online but thrives by attracting organic traffic and securing a prominent position in search engine results.

 

WPBakery AI is powerful for WordPress users seeking to elevate their websites for design satisfaction and user engagement. Its intuitive customization, time-saving features, responsive design optimization, intelligent element placement, and SEO integration make it an invaluable tool. This innovative tool empowers users with a seamless customization process, offering creative freedom in adjusting layouts, experimenting with color schemes, and exploring design possibilities. The result is a website that authentically represents your vision and resonates with your audience.

Want to get more from your website redesign? Read 5 Website Redesign Tips That Will Generate More Phone Calls.

 

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