Are you wondering how marketing professionals stay ahead of marketing trends and new technology? Professionals have suggested reading publications, attending events, especially those with a networking aspect, listening to podcasts, debating topics, or simply being active in the community. That said, maybe that's not enough. Maybe you need something more specific. Below are four tips that could help you stay ahead of the trends as they emerge according to LinkedIn.
So what's generative AI and what does it do? Generative AI uses learned knowledge to mimic human creativity and produce original content. A blog on McKinsey & Company describes generative AI as algorithms (such as ChatGPT) that can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. [1] According to an article on CIO called Top 9 generative AI use cases for business, generative AI has been implemented in digital and coding assistants, marketing support, drug discovery, cybersecurity, fraud detection, and business process augmentation. [2]
If you haven't started, it's time to get familiar with Generative AI because it's not going anywhere. Whether you use ChatGPT to pull information on a specific topic, design visuals with something like Gencraft, create a song with Suno, or transform text into a podcast complete with AI-generated hosts, with NotebookLM, there are numerous ways for you to experiment with Generative AI.
Social media is more than connecting with friends and exploring their pages to see what they're up to. It's a powerful tool that, when used correctly, can help you grow your business. Thanks to social media, new ways for customers to interact and communicate with the brands they love emerge all the time. Some strategies that can help you use social media to your company's advantage, as mentioned in LinkedIn’s 4 Tips to Keep Up with Digital Marketing Trends in 2024 and Beyond [3], include:
• Micro influencer partnerships: Businesses strategically partner with brand influencers to increase sales and awareness of their latest products and services. Finding the right influencer who accurately represents your brand's values will allow you to benefit from the influencer's reach and followers who trust and respect their opinions.
• Partnership marketing: Partnering with your competition or others in the industry will increase your reach and attract potential customers. You can share your content on each other's channels or publish a joint podcast showing unity and generating more awareness for your products and services.
• Use short videos: You can combat short attention spans by making shorter videos so the audience can watch the video and move on to something else.
Chatbots are like search engines you can interact with. The better ones feel like you're speaking to a real person. If you haven't already used one, you may be unaware that chatbots can be used as personal assistants. While they're not perfect, they can help you brainstorm and generate new ideas to work with. For example, if you were starting your own marketing podcast, you could ask ChatGPT to provide a list of topics that you could discuss for your first episode. If you were writing a blog you could paste the text into the prompt and ask for a review and make adjustments depending on how well your blog did. When it comes to chatbots, if you haven't experimented with them yet and you want to work in marketing, it's probably time to start. You can't prepare for tomorrow if you don't embrace the tools that are at your disposal today.
One way to reach the audience is to get them involved. If you have social media influencers promoting your brand, their content could help you get your message out to their loyal followers. If you have a new video you can ask your audience to comment and share their thoughts. That's a great way to get them involved and allow them to contribute. Since you won't be spending to develop the content, involving the audience can save money. Customers can provide video testimonials sharing their thoughts on a topic, or you can partner with influencers and ask them to record and post a video testimonial sharing their insights about a specific product or service. Ask yourself if you are incorporating user-generated content into your strategy enough or if you could be doing more.
In a field like marketing, where things change so frequently, it can be hard to stay ahead or keep up with the rate of change. Start by experimenting with generative AI and seeing what it can do. If your focus is on social media, find the right influencer, partner with the competition for mutual gain, or start with creating shorter videos to combat short attention spans. Chatbots have a lot to offer such as acting as virtual assistants to help you review your work and provide suggestions to improve it. Finally, you can get your audience involved by inviting them to submit content. With new trends and technological advancements emerging daily, it’s going to be a challenge as the pace of change can be overwhelming. Trends come and go, so remember what Dick Clark once said, “I don't set trends. I just find out what they are and exploit them.”
[1] What is generative AI?, McKinsey & Company, 2 April 2024, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-generative-ai
[2] Top 9 generative AI use cases for business, CIO, 3 January 2025, https://www.cio.com/article/3478721/top-7-generative-ai-use-cases-for-business.html
[3] “4 Tips to Keep Up with Digital Marketing Trends in 2024 and Beyond” LinkedIn, 28 March 2024, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-tips-keep-up-digital-marketing-trends-2024-beyond-t5v5c/
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