3 Strategies to Leverage in 2024

I will be the first one to admit that the term “AI” is overused. There are countless “tools” that are presented to us as marketers that claim they will solve every problem we encounter. These tools cost money and have a steep learning curve. However, large language models like ChatGPT can easily help streamline some menial tasks, costing little to nothing.  

For example, I suggest using ChatGPT for enhancing your email copy. You can write a basic outline of what you are trying to convey, then utilize the help of ChatGPT for embellishment.  

Another opportunity is with SMS marketing. As you likely know, you have to pay per message sent with SMS marketing. By utilizing ChatGPT, you can provide a specific prompt to assist with reducing your character count, to reduce the number of messages sent.  

Lastly, consider updating your website copy. Again, with ChatGPT, you can provide your existing copy and request in your prompt some embellishment, or perhaps have your copy tailored to a specific audience.  

The overall perspective is to consider using large language models like ChatGPT to streamline your daily tasks, buying you more time to focus on things with which AI cannot assist.  

There has been a big shift in platforms like Meta when it comes to advertising your online store. In the past, one of the largest benefits to social advertising was the hyper-specific targeting you could achieve. For example, you could target women between the ages of 18-35 who are vegan and living in the greater New York area.  

However, in recent years, there has been a significant shift affecting not only how much you can target, but how much you truly need to define your audience.  

With platforms like Meta, I have seen much greater success with open-targeting campaigns while allowing the Meta platform to determine which users to present the ad to. In all honesty, leaving the audience to Meta took some time for me to be convinced, but it has produced outstanding results.  

Now, all campaigns I run going after new customers do not include any demographic, psychographic or geographic targeting. I let the platform do all the work.  

Scroll through a social media platform and you will see dozens of 18-40 year olds pushing some product. Influencer marketing is now a $21 Billion industry (Link) Promoting anything from a new nutrition bar to a portable ice bath, influencer marketing has obviously hit the world by storm. Unfortunately, this surge of influencers has also caused a lack of trust by consumers.  

Most consumers, even those in their later years, are aware that influencers on social media are being paid to promote items. These influencers do not work with just one or two brands, but dozens. Given this shift, most consumers have become hesitant to trust an influencer’s opinion and are less likely to take interest in these products.  

So as brand owners, the question is, how do we build trust with potential consumers?  

In my opinion, one of the best ways to combat this is to build trust and honesty with long-term brand partnerships, using only influencers who truly like and endorse your product.  

I will admit, finding truly loyal brand influencers is much more difficult than trying to find 10-30 influencers who will create a video of your product for a certain amount of money, but building long-term honest relationships pay dividends.  

Go through your followers. Go through you customer lists. See who is posting about your brand. You will find some of your diehard fans who also have a following. Communicate with them and work to build a relationship that you can develop over time.  

If you’re a new brand, try and find influencers you like and trust and you feel would be a good fit for your product. Send them some of your products and communicate your intentions. I think you will be surprised to see how many influencers will be happy with a long-term agreement versus the one-off contracts they receive from everyone else.  

And that’s it! Those are three strategies that I am going to be leveraging this year to try and stand out in the crowded marketplace of marketers. I look forward to providing you with more strategies just like these in the weeks to come. Happy 2024 - it’s going to be the best year yet!  

See you in a week.