In the ever-changing landscape of marketing, advertising and public relations, trends continually shape the way businesses engage with their customers. Certain marketing trends gain so much traction that they prompt a spike in requests for certain types of deliverables from both new and existing agency clients.
Whether it’s a specific tactic, a campaign inspired by a viral internet sensation or an emerging media platform, today’s agencies have noticed patterns in client inquiries that are driven by the desire to align with these burgeoning trends. Below, 16 Forbes Agency Council members dive into what their clients have requested the most over the past year and why so many companies are eager to jump on the same bandwagons.
1. Short-Form Video Content
One specific request our agency has received from many clients and prospective clients this past year is to create short-form video content. This is a trend that has been gaining popularity in recent years, as more and more people are consuming content on their mobile devices. Short-form videos are typically 15 seconds long or less, and they are perfect for capturing attention and sharing on social media. – Hasan Saleem, DSS MEDIA
2. Product Placement Campaigns
More brands and agency partners are asking us to build product placement campaigns to seamlessly integrate brands into popular TV shows, movies or other forms of entertainment. It allows them to reach a wide audience and leverage the power of storytelling to create positive associations with their products through authenticity and credibility, impacting brand awareness and consumer perception. – Stacy Jones, Hollywood Branded
3. AI-Enabled Marketing
We have been fielding endless questions about using artificial intelligence in marketing to assist with written content, legalities, ethics and more. We are very open about our use and testing of various AI technologies without exposing our specific methodologies. Often, companies are eager to slap AI onto their tech or process simply due to the media train surrounding it. – Bernard May, National Positions
4. Influencer Content
Influencer marketing is in high demand as clients seek authenticity, targeted reach, social media dominance and user-generated content. Influencers provide trusted recommendations to engaged audiences, connecting brands with their target market. We stress to clients, however, that evaluating brand fit, audience alignment and results is crucial for effective influencer marketing. – Bryanne DeGoede, BLND Public Relations
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5. Thought Leadership Content
Clients have been requesting to create thought leadership content to establish themselves as industry leaders. While we consider it and employ it for some clients, we emphasize audience alignment. Companies are eager to jump on this trend to showcase expertise, but analyzing data and prioritizing strategies that drive actual business growth is crucial. – Danielle West, CAYK Marketing
6. Website Migration To Change Domains
Many of our clients seek website migration to change domains. This desire stems from factors such as SEO improvements that can be achieved by leveraging higher-authority domains, better alignment with social media handles and finding more suitable keyword-based domains. While it has benefits, clients don’t consider potential drawbacks, such as the temporary impact on search engine page results, the need for thorough redirection and the risk of disrupting the user experience. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
7. Human-Centered Design
In the past year, we’ve seen an upsurge in requests from both new and existing clients seeking to incorporate HCD into their branding and Web design and development processes. Companies are realizing the importance of designing their products or services around their customers’ needs, behaviors and experiences. – Goran Paun, ArtVersion
8. Paid, DTP Roundtables And Bespoke Events
Paid, direct-to-publisher roundtables and bespoke events have become increasingly desirable among our clients. There is a need to get stakeholders into a compelling room to ensure key message points, relationships and visibility are relayed during moments of key communication. This offline, but in-person, paid media touchpoint adds immense quality to omnichannel content amplification plans. – Rachel Winer, ROKK Solutions
9. UGC From Micro-Influencers
Companies are diving deep into influencer marketing, specifically requesting user-generated content with licensing usage for 30 days from several micro-influencers rather than one mega-influencer. This strategy provides more creative content at a much lower cost than working with one mega-influencer. The UGC is utilized for A/B testing at scale during their targeted, guaranteed-reach, ad-buying process. – Mark Cunha, My People Know
10. AI Deployment For Marketing Automation
In the past year, many of our clients have sought the capabilities and expertise to deploy AI in marketing automation, dynamic journeys and generative content. The allure is driven by their desire to leverage customer data more effectively and enhance the customer experience. We help them trend toward marketing automation and generative AI that deliver critical advantages for hyper-competitive B2B marketplaces. – Shanon Marks, Agency 39A
11. Conversion Rate Optimization
We’ve been getting more inquiries about CRO services. Granted, this has been a strong marketing focus of ours, but it’s mostly because our clients are e-commerce sellers. This year was a toss-up as to how good conversion rates would be, so by focusing on CRO, they’re making sure they squeeze out every possible dollar their websites can get them. – Andrew Maffettone, BlueTuskr
12. Google Analytics 4 Implementation
Recently, we’ve seen a surge in requests for GA4 implementation, TikTok ads, LinkedIn posts and short-form videos. As a performance marketing agency, we’ve mastered GA4 and TikTok to drive growth. But we haven’t made a big move regarding LinkedIn posting or video production. Just as we do for our clients, we need to assess whether these trends align with our strategic approach before diving in. – Yan Zhang, XYZ Advantage
13. Chatbot Implementation
One common client request is chatbot implementation. Companies eagerly adopt this trend for its 24/7 assistance, quick response time and cost-efficiency. However, it’s crucial to assess whether chatbots align with customer needs, as human interaction remains vital for complex and/or sensitive queries. – Kenny Tripura, Edkent Media
14. Diversified Lead Generation
Overwhelmingly, brand owners are looking to diversify where their new customers are coming from. They don’t want all their customers coming from only Meta and Google because they understand that poses a risk to their business. Investments in influencers and creators, connected TV and fringe social ad channels, such as Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok, have been the more common requests. – Mustafa Saeed, Paul Street
15. TikTok Content
TikTok content is our top request, hands down, even though the algorithm has changed drastically. It’s not for every brand, just like other social media. Each social channel is unique—from its core demographics who embrace it to how they interact and make decisions based on the content. You can be incredibly creative across many (even unexpected) industries, yet the social media recipe should vary for every brand. – Sharon Patterson, Into The Blue Agency
16. B2B Podcast Content
In business-to-business, podcasts are hot! It’s clear that people will spend time listening to podcasts related to their work, and that the engagement you get from a 30-minute podcast is almost unequaled by any other marketing tactic (other than maybe webinars and video). B2B marketers are finally waking up to the value of podcasting. – Mike Maynard, Napier Partnership Limited
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