The world is moving at the speed of Nvidia these days, and no career is being disrupted more than marketing.

I host a community called RISE that’s dedicated to the future of marketing. What’s coming next and how does this impact us? I thought it would be interesting to ask some people in the community about their biggest marketing lessons from 2024. Some of these are personal, some of them are enlightening, but all the lessons are worth your time today …

Sarah Stahl, ROI Driven Marketing Executive at Sarahstahl.com

Sarah Stahl

This year reminded me that marketing holds the power to make or break businesses, often in ways we underestimate. I watched the startup I work with navigate every business phase—highs, lows, and everything in between. The lifeline that kept cash rolling in? Instagram.

When we surveyed guests, nine out of 10 said they discovered us on Instagram—not through third-party booking apps like Airbnb, which most vacation rentals rely on. By the end of the year, 87% of our bookings were direct, driven by consistent Instagram growth powered by strategic influencer partnerships.

No viral stunts. No massive budgets. Just clear, focused marketing that turned Instagram into a revenue machine. This simple yet powerful strategy helped a startup reach breakeven within its first year. I’ve always believed in the craft of marketing, but 2024 showed me its unparalleled ability to save a business—or sink it.

Mike Carr, Cofounder of NameStormers & Autism Labs

AI is forcing us to be more human. As LLMs and agents emerge that can mimic how we talk and even how we look, authentic and raw content that reveals our feelings and emotion behind what we say will never be more important.

Polished, scripted, and overly-rehearsed podcasts & even keynotes will give way to communications that are more real, vulnerable, and reflective of who we are as flawed human beings. The sign of a true professional will be a combination of invaluable insights presented with unquestionable passion.

Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy and Assessment, University of Rochester

Integrating AI into your marketing workflow is not a technology project. It’s a change management project.

Many companies and brands must clean up their data and content significantly before AI integration into their marketing or content workflows is successful.

Roxana Hurducas, Brand Strategy Advisor

2024 taught me an uncomfortable truth: Hate is the most efficient fuel in marketing, and the most powerful buying argument.

Roxana Hurducas

This revelation came from the presidential elections in my nation of Romania, where a candidate turned an electoral campaign into a marketing campaign. There were no substantial policy proposals, no detailed plans to address the challenges the country is facing. Instead, his campaign was pure marketing, built entirely on one central message: hate. Hate the system, hate the establishment, hate the political class. And it worked.

In marketing terms, he identified the pain point (a broken system) and offered a solution (himself as the alternative). The messaging was emotional, not rational. And as we know, people don’t buy products, services, or even candidates. They buy feelings, and hate is a feeling that unites people more strongly than almost anything else.

The fact that we long to belong, as Mark Schaefer has pointed out, is painfully relevant here. Georgescu’s campaign didn’t just sell hate; it sold a sense of belonging. They weren’t just voting; they were joining a movement. The against-the-system movement. This is the same dynamic that powers communities – only here, it was used as a weapon for political gain.

But this lesson applies far beyond elections. Hate and Belonging are two of the most powerful forces in human behavior, and marketers know this.

So, do we accept that hate sells and lean into it? Or do we, as marketers, take responsibility for the narratives we create and the emotions we amplify?

For me, the answer lies in ethics. Yes, hate is efficient. Yes, it works. But at what cost? The lesson of 2024 is as much a warning as it is a revelation: the fuels we choose to power our messages can burn more than we intend. And sometimes, what they destroy is trust, unity, and hope.

Tyler Stambaugh, Co-Founder of MAGNETIQ

Digital experiences are heavily undervalued as a way to differentiate and create a competitive advantage.

Iris van Ooyen, Life Navigation Mentor, Founder of Bright Eyes

Genuine enthusiasm sells— and that ripples through best in live interactions. This summer I crafted a new mastermind and I was so thrilled about the concept that when I spoke to a former client about it, he signed up on the spot. AND offered to share it with two peers (one registered as well). This would not have happened through an email exchange. I learned that your personal energy and enthusiasm are crucial and most effective live and one-on-one.

Aaron Hassen, Chief Marketer at AH Marketing and host of Business with Humans YouTube series

B2C channels are also B2B channels.

Aaron Hassen

Earlier this year, I was developing a campaign for a B2B client, pulling a prospect list from their CRM, when I noticed the data was woefully inadequate: company emails, company phone numbers and office locations. Not very useful. See, I had interviewed scores of their best customers, and when asked where they went to find solutions like theirs, the answer wasn’t corporate newsletters, cold calls or trade magazines, it was a trusted colleague, podcast and social media.

The sources of B2B influence have shifted. Forrester predicts that more than 50% of B2B buyers, particularly younger ones, will rely on social media and their value network to help make purchase decisions in 2025. And according to LinkedIn, social media was a top source of B2B marketing investment (75% of companies) in 2024. The fastest growing B2B channel? Streaming television! 55% of B2B marketers said they plan to increase investment there in the coming year.

It’s clear that in today’s work-from-home environments, B2B professionals are consuming information like B2C consumers: from their laptops, iPads, smart watches, smartphones, smart home devices and smart TVs. Reaching busy professionals in their everyday lives and getting them talking about our brand is difficult. This is why we must move past traditional B2B channels toward consumer channels that better connect us with our customers.

Emiliano Reisfeld, Marketing Manager

In 2024, marketing evolved toward more agile and compact funnels, where investment in conversion is key to empowering consumers who demand instant personalization.

An example: From Zero to Millions: TikTok Shop’s GMV Journey

Trona Freeman, Social Media and SEO Specialist for small businesses

Trona Freeman

More people are looking for alternatives to the Meta platforms for their small business marketing.

People are increasingly finding these platforms difficult for a host of reasons. 2024 has also been a very challenging year socio-culturally, and people want to have an escape online, and that place is moving toward Pinterest. Pinterest is people’s happy space, a place to go to escape the noise of the internet and the world at large.

Research shows that Gen Z is the fastest-growing audience on Pinterest, making up 42% of its global user base. And they’re searching and saving more than other generations.

Lush discovered this a few years ago when they moved from the Meta platforms and now use Pinterest as a key platform online as a positive way to promote and connect with their audience. Context matters, so make sure you are meeting your customers in a place that resonates with them. That could be Pinterest or smaller, more intimate spaces like Discord.

Joeri Billast, Host of the Web3 CMO Stories podcast

In 2024, I discovered that authenticity, consistency, and patience are the keys to building a personal brand that resonates globally.

In Belgium, I’m seen as a peer. At conferences in Toronto, Barcelona, and Lisbon, I received incredible feedback about my podcast. And in Cairo, I felt like a hero after my keynote (I killed it!). People lined up for selfies, connected with me on LinkedIn, and two days later, my AI workshop sold out, so much so that it was moved to a larger room in another hotel.

The surprising part? Context matters, but consistency and authenticity build relationships that transcend borders. People don’t connect with perfection—they connect with real stories and genuine engagement. The takeaway: Keep showing up, even when it feels like no one’s watching … because they are!

Zack Seipert, Marketing and Communications Specialist

This year, I (re)learned that relevance is the cornerstone of modern marketing success. Whether it’s crafting a social media post or developing a full campaign, the key is understanding what truly resonates with your audience in the moment. Even the most creative content will fall flat if it doesn’t align with your audience’s current needs, values, or environment. Staying tuned in to the pulse of culture and pivoting when necessary can make all the difference in creating content that truly connects and moves.

Bruce Scheer, Co-Founder of ValuePros.io

My lesson was the power of a consistent online presence.

Being part of the RISE community transformed my perspective on digital engagement. Mark Schaefer’s Personal Branding Masterclass provided the foundation. The real magic happened when I finally conquered my imposter syndrome and committed to regular online participation.

Bruce Scheer

My journey began with a simple decision: show up consistently. This meant producing weekly content and engaging daily, particularly on LinkedIn. I had Mark and others in the RISE community as role models to follow. The initial hesitation gave way to a natural rhythm of authentic interactions.

I next launched the “ValuePros Show” across YouTube and podcast platforms, which became a gateway to extraordinary conversations. Each guest brought unique insights, making 2024 a year of remarkable learning and growth. Finally, I set up a weekly newsletter that already has 1,500 subscribers and is growing.

This has been a year of deeper professional relationships, expanded business opportunities, and enhanced visibility for our tech-forward consulting firm.

Consistency truly reigns supreme in marketing. By maintaining a steady presence and authentic engagement, what started as a personal branding challenge evolved into a powerful business strategy.

Julie Van Ameyde, Founder of Simply Social Media

When a long-time client sold their business, my routine was turned upside-down. While I continued working with the new ownership, the transition highlighted the need for adaptability and resilience to navigate unexpected changes. Marketing success isn’t just about being prepared for technological change. It means you have to be resilient enough to be ready for anything. 

Rob LeLacheur, Owner of Road 55 in Edmonton, Canada

Traditionally, my team has produced Triple A, polished video content and we’re proud of that. But we learned in 20204 that there is a large space for low fidelity (Lo Fi) content, and in many cases, that content performs much better than Hi Fi.

Lo-Fi reduces the barrier to entry by creating a feeling that you’re not being sold to. The content is more real and people are willing to give it a chance. An example of Lo Fi that works well is an imperfect,
behind-the-scenes blooper reel.

Hi Fi is most appropriate for situations where the consumer is already engaged, like a website or presentation.

Valentina Escobar-Gonzalez, Co-Author of The Most Amazing Marketing Book Ever

People crave being back at live, in-person events. I just attended a conference that was sold out, and that hasn’t happened since before COVID. There is an unmissable magic that happens when people gather together. When in doubt, make it in-person and make it awesome!

Martin O’Leary, Creator of “Uncharted” Newsletter

Taste is the new superpower.

Martin O’Leary

Remember endless Slack messages and three-week waits for a simple video edit? Those days are dead. But this isn’t just another AI story. The real shock isn’t that AI can help make content – it’s that it’s forcing marketers to become master craftsmen.

Think about it: when everyone can create anything, the differentiator isn’t access to tools. It’s taste.

Pre-2024: Marketing meant being a professional coordinator. You managed designers, video editors, and endless Figma feedback loops. Your job was orchestration. Post-2024: Marketing means being a filmmaker, designer, and writer rolled into one. One person with Claude, Getimg.ai, Runway.ai, and CapCut isn’t just replacing a team – they’re rewriting the rules of what makes marketing great.

The winners aren’t the tech-savvy marketers. They’re the ones studying Kubrick’s camera angles, dissecting Nike’s brand guidelines, and obsessing over typography. Because when AI democratizes creation, deep craft to write better prompts becomes the moat. Just like the iPhone killed Blackberry by making computing personal, full-stack marketers are killing the assembly line approach to creativity.

Sharon Joseph, VP Marketing

“Advertisements suck, I don’t care, Please Make It Stop.”

That quote from my eight-year-old, mocking the streaming ads, hit a nerve. Growing up, I loved ads—their creativity, humor, and storytelling inspired me to pursue a career in advertising.

Over two decades, I’ve seen the industry evolve, from a passion-driven art form to a relentless stream of noise. Now, as a VP of Marketing, I market to the very people creating the ads that my child—and frankly, most of us—find unbearable.

It was the first week of 2024 when two campaigns stood out: Calvin Klein’s Jeremy Allen White spot and Brlo Brewery’s parody. They reminded me that authenticity and storytelling can still resonate. But most ads in the past year? Forgettable.

As marketers, we must rethink our approach. People crave connection, not interruption. If we can’t offer something meaningful, maybe we shouldn’t offer anything at all. Because in a world tuning out, it’s not about shouting louder—it’s about creating with purpose.

Mark Schaefer, blogger-in-chief

I learned so many lessons in 2024 but here are a few significant ones.

• The world is changing at an overwhelming pace, and I cannot remain relevant on my own. Being part of a supportive community is the only way to survive this onslaught.
• Every day is a new marketing day. What was true yesterday may not be true today. Be willing to let go to grow.
• Competence is a commodity. Competence is ignorable. If you are merely competent, you’re vulnerable.
• It’s easy to get caught up in the latest AI magic trick, but don’t lose sight of the fact that marketing is a people business. Work through the tech hype and stay focused on fundamentals.
• 99% of the people in the world have no clue what’s about to happen to their lives through AI.
• As the big tech companies race toward AI dominance, they are systematically and unabashedly breaking the law as part of their business strategy. 2024 was the year that “character” went out of fashion.
• In all of history, this is the most fun and interesting time to be in marketing!

Many thanks to my brilliant and generous community for adding their wisdom to this post today.

Need a keynote speaker about the future of marketing? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

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Scottsboro, Alabama, (population 15,750) is a sleepy river town known for its First Monday craft fair, Payne’s Soda Fountain, and hot, muggy summers. It would not be considered a hotbed for influencer marketing. Well, not until Sarah Stahl made it into an influence marketing case study.

Sarah is the marketing director for ReTreet, a glamping (“glamorous + camping”) site in the woods outside of town. Faced with a 30% occupancy rate and a tiny marketing budget, she needed to build awareness on the cheap and turned to influencers to spread the word.

In what could be a travel industry first, Sarah created so much positive buzz around the tiny 17-site resort that influencers pay her to stay there. How in the world did she do that? In a word, attention to detail. Sarah delivers such an outstanding experience that influencers can’t wait to get there, even from distant states. Her approach includes:

• Partnerships with local attractions and restaurants that enhance the influencer’s storytelling possibilities and boost local tourism.
• Luxury amenities such as hot tubs, outdoor showers, saunas, and fire pits ensures visually appealing content.
• Founding a ReTreet influencer community so creators can stay in touch with each other and the resort. This community-driven approach has helped spur additional content creation and more bookings from their audience long after the initial stay.

Content is the key

Retreet resort post from influencer @petitemamalife

“I knew we needed quality content in volume,” she said, “and that consumers might not trust us or understand the idea of glamping at first. With a small startup budget, it would be tough to convince them without help, so working with trusted travel influencers was our best choice.

“I also knew that consistency is key. We’ve averaged about one influencer visit per week over 52 weeks. And as they shared their experiences, we’ve received more interest. We now have a three-month waitlist for content creators to stay with us. Since they are always looking for new angles for their audiences, the content about our resort is always fresh and relevant.

Results in Sarah’s first year:

• Revenue and occupancy doubled.
• The advertising budget was cut in half, and the ROI of their marketing spend more than doubled from $13 per dollar spent to $28 on each dollar spent.
• Increased ReTreet’s Instagram account by 650%, making it the top source of leads.
• Had Instagram Reels that reached 1 million views
• Each influencer visit resulted in an average of two more influencer requests for accommodation.
• Expanded the resort to include a glass dome event space.

Perhaps Sarah’s most important success is the rapid momentum she gained from the effective influencer content. “We’ve moved beyond the struggling startup phase,” she said. “We’re at a point where we’re expecting reservations to be made a year ahead of time.”

An influence marketing case study

Sarah Stahl at a Retreet tiny house

I love Sarah’s story because it’s so improbable. A resort in the middle of nowhere propelled by influencers? And yet the success is undeniable.

Most of the time, influence marketing is in the news for something silly, like a creator falling off a wall in search of the perfect selfie. But creators are crucial to our marketing future because they are believed and often adored. Chances are, your business is neither believed nor adored, so partnering with talented and trusted creators might make sense.

I asked Sarah if she’s ever had any problems with divas who were hard to work with. The creators who have come through her resort have been professional and appreciative. If you’re going to make it as an influencer these days, you’ll have to be business-savvy. I think Sarah’s experience reflects a growing professionalism among creators.

The creator economy is massive and growing. Is it time for your business to become an influence marketing case study?

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

The post The ROI of creators: An inspiring influence marketing case study appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Pilot Ernie Meeks is one of the new influencers building trust for brands

By Aaron Hassen, {grow} community member

The most difficult job in marketing today is determining how to effectively connect with our customers in a fractured media landscape. Fortunately, we have informative research and experts like Ed Keller to guide us on where to turn next … and that might include a surprising crop of new influencers.

Here’s a little story to set up the findings of Ed’s research.

I was reading the news, and an article from The Dallas Morning News jumped out at me. The article, The new social media influencer? Pilots and flight attendants, tells the story of Southwest Airlines pilot Ernie Meeks. Ernie was disappointed when his daughter, who had dreamed of following in his footsteps, considered dropping out of pilot school. Meeks was determined to change her mind, so he created videos for YouTube and Instagram highlighting his daily routines as a pilot.

After a year, his subscribers had grown to 57,300 on YouTube and 130,000 on Instagram … and his daughter decided to remain in pilot training school. But rather than quit, Meeks expanded into podcasting, and his show is now fully backed and sponsored by his employer, Southwest Airlines.

Why would an airline invest in an employee’s social media presence? How does this connect to modern marketing realities?  The answers are found in Ed Keller’s latest research, Unveiling Influence: A Suzy Report on The Impact of Creators on American Consumers’ Lives.

Known for his groundbreaking studies on Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Ed Keller is the CEO of the Keller Advisory Group and Executive Director of Market Research Institute International. Recently, Ed turned his attention to the new influencers and their impact on consumer behavior. If you’re like me, the findings will excite you.

27 million creators … and counting

The Keller Advisory Group worked with research firm Suzy to conduct a nationally representative study of over 1,100 consumers ages 16-54. The study focused on the impact creators and influencers have on consumer attention and purchasing behaviors. Keller had previously surveyed thousands of creators to get their points of view. This time, he decided to take a look at the other side of the equation, which of course is most interesting to brands and marketing and advertising professionals like me.

Keller defines a creator as someone who self-identifies as one and makes money creating. An influencer is someone who posts content on social media regularly and has a significant following. Often, these individuals are one and the same, so I’ll be using the terms interchangeably in this article.

The study estimates there are 27 million paid creators in the U.S. or 14% of all consumers ages 16-54. But all creators are not alike, and the breakdowns are important: 

• 12.22% (3.3m) are macro-influencers with 250k+ followers 
• 25.18% (6.8m) are mid-tier influencers with 50k – 250k followers
• 39.5% (10.4m) are micro-influencers with less than 10k followers. (This segment is reported to be the most influential)

Let’s move on to some of the key takeaways from the study.

Creators are far more influential than ads

According to the survey, 7 in 10 consumers follow creators, and 80% of those followers take some sort of action due to the influence of creator content. These actions are significant and include:

• visiting the brand’s website (55%),
• following the brand on social media (46%),
• recommending the brand to someone else (42%), and
• resharing the creator’s content (29%).

The best part? An eye-popping 43% of consumers report making a purchase! This meant that compared to advertising, creator content was 2.6 times more influential in purchasing decisions for those polled.

So, what exactly is driving these results? In a word, trust.

New influencers mean trust

The study finds that creator content outperforms traditional advertising across several key attributes.

Creator content is trusted 2.9 times more than advertising and is considered more exciting, unique, relevant, and shareable. Creator content also creates a stronger emotional connection, as 83% of consumers report that they like or love the creator’s content. These qualities appear to contribute to the higher effectiveness of creator content when influencing consumer perceptions and actions compared to ads. 

Brands follow the money

As Mark Schaefer highlighted in his recent article, How big is the creator economy? Three times larger than we thought, brand spending on influencers is surging.

Keller found that nearly 6 in 10 have an ongoing relationship with brands. In his latest survey, between 73% and 76% of consumers said that creator content influences their perceptions of both large, well-known brands and lesser-known emerging brands. So, it’s no coincidence that trusted brands like Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, and Apple invest in creators.

Money is shifting away from advertisers and toward the new influencers. This year, brands will reportedly spend around $8.14 billion on sponsored social media content. According to Reuters, legacy advertising outlets like “Google and YouTube have faced competition for ad budgets from other online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Amazon.com.”

The Washington Post notes that even “Well-known news outlets have seen a decline in the amount of traffic flowing to them from social media sites, and some of the money that advertisers previously might have spent with them is now flowing to creators.” The shift in investment from digital advertising to creators highlights the increased importance and effectiveness of creator partnerships for brands.

Ultimately, it’s clear that creators are funded because of their ability to create customers, which is why Southwest Airlines would eagerly support their pilot/creator. Creators are now the arbiters of consumer attention and trust, and brands are leveraging that trust to drive purchases. 

So, the next time you have your finger on the button ready to launch yet another ad campaign, consider the data from Ed Keller and invest in a social media word-of-mouth campaign with a micro-influencer instead. That’s certainly what I’ll be doing.

Aaron Hassen is a well-respected marketing leader, strategist, and hands-on practitioner. In 2004, Aaron began his career by launching an online and print advertising service, acquired by a competitor four years later. For the next 18 years, Aaron led marketing for emerging B2B technology companies helping them multiply their annual revenues. Today, Aaron runs AH Marketing, a full-service fractional marketing team focused on Go-To-Market strategy, demand generation, and brand development for B2B revenue leaders with little time or sufficient help to address their marketing challenges.

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I’ve been giving many talks about community-based marketing, and one of the common discussion points is measurement. Isn’t that ALWAYS the most important question in marketing? What’s the value of a brand community?

But when it comes to community, brands are often entering an alternate universe — many traditional ideas of brand messaging and control are abandoned.

First, let’s be clear that when I say “community,” I mean either building or partnering with an online or offline community who:

• know each other
• gather for a unified purpose
• participate in the direction and evolution of the community

This is different than influencer marketing, which I probably need to address in a separate post. With influencer marketing, you typically lightly touch consumers through a brand mention. Through a community, your aim is to build brand love and loyalty through a consistent effort.

One other caveat — most communities are transactional and focused on customer self-service. The value of those communities is easy to measure because you can track customer service costs and cost avoidance. But a community aimed at customer loyalty and brand-building is harder to quantify.

How do we measure the value of a brand community? Here are ten ideas.

The value of a brand community

As a marketing professional, your ultimate goal is to create customers. There are two ways to do this, either through transactions or brand-building.

Direct transactions (sales) are usually troublesome in a community. People want to be there because they share some purpose with you. They want to grow, learn, and change the world with your help. Of course opportunities to sell are possible, but if all you do is sell, people will run away and never come back.

So, most unrealized benefits from a community come from brand-building. Here are some best practices I’ve observed as companies measure the value of a brand community.

1. Engagement

One of the largest and most successful brand communities in the world is hosted by Sephora. With 6 million members, 80% of the company’s revenues come through this community! But their most important metric is engagement. Nike measures success through user engagement in workout sessions, challenges, and community discussions.

If people are engaging in the community through comments and conversations, it shows the company and the community is relevant. And if they are relevant, their brand is heading in the right direction — a leading indicator of new product success and sales.

In the social media world, I’m not a fan of using engagement as a primary metric. But when it comes to community, engagement is highly prized.

2. Ideas and innovations

Many brand communities put a premium on ideas for new products and innovations. For example, IKEA, Nike, and Lego all run large communities devoted to product development. Community members have a stake in the success of these products, which drives loyalty and sales.

3. Advocacy

Research shows that trust in businesses, media, and advertising is at an all-time low. But we trust in each other. In fact, word-of-mouth recommendations and user-generated content drive a large portion of sales these days.

Using a community to drive UGC beyond the community is massively valuable for any brand, and it is fairly easy to measure.

4. Conversion Metrics

Tracking metrics such as conversion rates, customer lifetime value (CLV), and the correlation between community engagement and product purchases helps measure the transition from community member to customer.

5. Brand Sentiment

Closely related to engagement rate is sentiment. Are the brand-related conversations positive? Positive sentiment indicates a strong and healthy community that can drive UGC and loyalty. New AI tools are allowing communities to assess thousands of data points to gauge conversations.

6. Growth of Community

Measuring the number of members joining the community over a specific period is a reflection of relevance and a leading indicator of sales.

7. Brand relevance

A primary value of a brand community is the dialogue between you and your customer. A successful brand has to be a journey of relentless relevance and there is no better way to do that than to let your customers lead you to what is next.

The ideas shared in my community help me be a more relevant and effective speaker, writer, and consultant. This is the primary benefit of my community — not just to me but to all of us.

It’s hard to pin a specific dashboard measurement on this one, but it’s an important qualitative measure of success.

8. Customer Loyalty and Purchase Behavior

Some brand communities are using sophisticated tools to measure:

• Loyalty
• Purchase behaviors versus non-community members
• Referrals
• Affiliate sales
• Churn and retention rates

9. Information flow

This would go as a measure of the PR value of a community.

A value of a brand community is the unprecedented speed of information flow — in both directions. You don’t have to wait to gather a consumer panel if you want to test an idea quickly. Throw it out to the community.

Is there a rumor or problem with misinformation? You can address this immediately in a community and that can influence perception and subsequent coverage.

In a world of misinformation, a community is a place to find the truth and stop rumors.

10. Sales

Ultimately, we need to create buying customers, or we will go out of business. However, I’ve interviewed dozens of community leaders, and none of them claim sales are their primary goal. It can’t be. People are tired of being sold to. The focus has to be on the shared purpose between brand and community, which leads to commitment and loyalty.

Loyalty leads to sales, and when done right, community will certainly fuel your bottom line.

I hope these ideas help. I’ve been consulting and speaking extensively on brand community strategy, so let me know if you have further questions or ways I can help you.

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Image courtesy Midjourney

The post How do you measure the value of a brand community? Ten ideas. appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

When I dress for the day, the first question that enters my head is, “I wonder how old this shirt is?”

So … I’m not a shopper. But I do love studying the marketing behind shopping trends, and there is something going on right now that is blowing my mind. Temu and Shein are dominating the retail scene, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

And when I say out of nowhere, Temu was founded 18 months ago and is now the most downloaded retail app in the world with 250 million customers. Shein has been around longer, but since the pandemic, it has become the number one fashion retailer in the world. It’s the second-most downloaded retail app.

The fascinating marketing case study here is the non-intutive way they did it.

Both companies are leveraging a massively large selection and unbelievably low prices — taking advantage of the low-cost (and controversial) Chinese supply chain. Low prices have always had a place in the value shopper’s heart, but there is something more going on here.

Shein and the eCommerce revolution

Shein is offering basement-level prices — think $3 for a bikini — and yet seems to be pulling off fast deliveries, respectable quality, and responsive customer service. That doesn’t make sense.

Another achievement that goes against the grain is that these are cheap Chinese goods, and yet the brands are winning the hearts of fashion-conscious teens as a preferred fashion statement. Again … what?

Both companies are driving awareness hard through aggressive, ubiquitous digital advertising. But the advertising and promotions offer even deeper discounts on already low prices. They continue to build loyalty by introducing 1,000 new products a day and offering incentives for customers to earn loyalty points. Rapid innovation, aggressive advertising, and loyalty rewards are not typical hallmarks of a bargain basement brand!

The companies are innovating so fast that they have no time for product descriptions, let alone SEO. They seem to be getting by on product photos, thousands of positive reviews, and push from teens doing “unboxing videos” from their shopping adventures.

Now, here’s where it gets really weird. Research shows that about 60% of Shein’s customers consider themselves eco-buyers. They’ll even spend more for sustainable products. Yet Shein’s “fast fashion” is basically throw-away consumerism and the company has been hammered by both environmentalists and critics of harsh labor practices. Does purpose matter to these consumers … at all?

It’s an enigma that Amanda Russell and I joyfully explore in this new episode of The Marketing Companion. We explore all these ideas and suggest that these shopping sites don’t just threaten Amazon, they are becoming the new social media communities.

You won’t want to miss this. Click here to listen:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion episode 280!

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Now any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence in order to strengthen their customer relationships.

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Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in projects and research that have reinforced the idea that creators and community are driving huge changes in commercial strategies. These new dynamics are re-inventing what we used to think of as media and media buying. It’s already happening.

• Consider that a YouTube star like Mr. Beast has a bigger following than all the prime-time American news channels combined. One of his videos might get 100 million views. If you’re advertising on Fox News, you’ll be lucky to reach 2 million viewers.
• Many creators are branching off to create their own brands that have become some of the fastest-selling fashion, food, and cosmetic products on the planet.
• Young adults aged 14-32 are swarming onto Discord to find communities. The number of those active on Discord grew from 26% to 42% in one year!
• And Taylor Swift is arguably the biggest creator on the planet, influencing every aspect of entertainment and culture on a global scale.

This is what’s interesting to me: None of this was possible 10 years ago. Creators and their communities have re-written the rules of influence — and sales. Yet most corporate marketing departments are not built for these changes. How do you begin to adjust to an entirely new media world?

Well, that’s a good question, and we begin to unpack it on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion podcast. Join me and my guest, Sara Wilson, as we connect the dots between creators, community, and commercial strategies.

Let’s dive in, shall we? Click here:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion episode 277!

Please support our sponsors who bring you this amazing episode!

Bravo for Brevo!

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence in order to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

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I was perusing The Wall Street Journal and saw a headline that grabbed my attention: “Forget Retirement. Become a Social Media Star Instead.” The article recounts how “granfluencer” Linda Davis earned a six-figure income through cooking videos that attracted sponsors like Chobani and Disney Cruises. It seems like everybody and anybody is jumping on the creator economy bandwagon!

But how many people are actually making money as an online creator? New research sponsored by word-of-mouth marketing legend Ed Keller shows it’s bigger than anybody thought.

Much bigger.

This is important research, and Ed allowed me to be the first to publish these eye-popping results for my readers. Today, you’ll learn that the creator economy is a largely unaccounted-for economic engine. Fasten your seatbelt. You’re about to view influencers and the creator economy in a whole new way …

The creator economy mystery

Until now, nobody could accurately estimate how many people have monetized their online content efforts. There are two main problems:

• The creator economy is a recent development which exploded since the pandemic, and
• Nobody knew how to capture the data across a broad spectrum of participants

For example, The U.S. Census Bureau tracks 22,607 career choices, recognizing those who work in such narrow fields as pickled onion manufacturing, adult bookstores, and canoe repair. But the index makes no mention of “social media,” an oversight that misses one of the most monumental changes to have swept the labor force in years.

Millions have ditched traditional career paths to work as online creators, using their computers and phones to reshape culture and build businesses whose influence now rivals the biggest names in entertainment, news, and politics.

“Influencer” is now ranked one of the most popular career aspirations for American youth, above professional athlete and astronaut. One research report stated that 86 percent of teens aspire to be an online influencer as a top career choice.

Previous studies projected that about 10 million people in the U.S. (3 percent of the population) are making money from the creator economy. Turns out that the actual number is nearly three times that amount.

The creator economy is MASSIVE

Through a statistically-representative survey of Americans aged 16-54, Keller and his research team uncovered these mind-blowing conclusions:

• There are 27 million paid creators in the U.S., or 14 percent of the population aged 16-54
• Being a content creator is a full-time job for 44 percent of them (11.6 million), with 32 percent (8.5 million) doing it part-time and 24 percent (6.5 million) doing it as a hobby
• About one in 10 creators (3.3 million) are macro influencers with more than 250,000 followers. The greatest number of creators (10.4 million) are micro influencers with less than 10,000 followers.

To put this in perspective, there are currently ten times more paid content creators in the United States than the total number of police officers, doctors, and lawyers in America combined.

I have to admit, I was skeptical when I saw these numbers, even though I am confident that Ed and his team did exceptional work. By the way, Ed is Executive Director of Market Research Institute International.

And here’s another data point. According to eMarketer data, influencer marketing ad spend outpaced social media ad spending last year, with influencer marketing having a 20.3% positive change and social only getting 5.1% positive change. This year, influencer marketing is predicted to have 14% positive growth while social ad spend only receives 4.1%.

Brand spending on influencers is surging. 

How much do creators earn?

Ed Keller

This spending trend obviously impacts the ability of creators to earn more.

In an ad-free streaming economy, companies have now turned to creators for their promotions, routing marketing dollars away from traditional advertising to brand sponsorships. Payments from advertisers to creators in the United States have more than doubled since 2019, to $5 billion, an estimate from eMarketer shows. Key streams include:

• sponsored content
• affiliate links
• advertising revenue
• creator funds
• paid subscriptions
• merchandise

Brands aren’t just targeting big-name creators. Many turned to the broader and cheaper pool of mid-level creators. Compensation can vary from a box of free products to expense-paid “curated experiences” in the hope that they’ll fawn over the glamour of it all on their personal feeds. And, of course, advertising dollars also stream in from YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and even Twitter (X).

Through their research, Ed Keller and his team dissected the economics of the creator economy, and again discovered jaw-dropping numbers:

• The mean income of creators is $93,000 per year, but there is a large spread — more than half make less than $10,000 annually.
• Full-time creators earn $179,000 per year, versus an average of $36,000 for part-timers and $16,000 for hobbyists.
• Macro influencers earn an average of $344,000 per year; mid-tiers earn $129,000, and micro influencers earn an average of $45k; and nano influencers earn $17,000.

As Bethany Werth, a 20-year-old Minnesotan, told The Washington Post, makeup videos to her 75,000 TikTok followers pay the bills. “My eyelashes are paying for my college tuition.”

What motivates creators?

While even creators with modest followings can have substantial earnings, that’s not their primary motivator, according to Keller’s research. The top motivations are:

• Creating as a hobby
• A creative outlet
• A way to share their life with their followers
• Making money

Remarkably, for full-timer creators, money ranks seventh on the list. As previously noted, this group makes an average of $179,000 per year, so perhaps they can afford to put this farther down the list!

Summary

According to Ed, these are the most significant conclusions of his research:

• The total number of creators in the U.S. is much larger than previous estimates, probably because one-third of the creators earning less than $2,000 per year were likely unaccounted for.
• The livelihood of the 11.6 million full-time creators is a robust $179,000/year, affirming the ability of creators to make a good living once they go full-time.
• A lot of trade press attention is focused on micro influencers, which comprise the largest number of creators (39%). However, with an average income of $17,000/year, it is doubtful that this is truly the group being reached by a growing number of brands but rather a smaller subset making their way into influencer platforms.
• While money matters and full-time creators can earn a good living, brands that work with creators should take note that their main motivation lies elsewhere.

There is a lot more about creators covered in Ed’s research, and you can access the full report “Creators Uncovered:  Insights from a Nationally Representative Study of US Creators.”

I wrote the first book on influencer marketing and forecast in 2012 that content creators would be a major marketing force … before anybody was even using the term.

I wrote the book because I was fascinated that influence was becoming democratized. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are, how much money you make, or the color of your skin – you can have an impact on this world by creating content. And you can make a decent income, too. What a magical time to be alive.

I was energized by Ed’s conclusion that this powerful creator economy is an unstoppable force providing an entirely new income stream to millions of people.

And my friends, it’s just beginning.

Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant. The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak at your company event or conference soon.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post How big is the creator economy? Three times larger than we thought! appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Today I’d like to move beyond the tips and tricks phase of AI and marketing (although that is still a lot of fun!) and provide something more advanced — how to design an AI marketing strategy. Let’s step back from the hype and take a more strategic view of how AI will be applied to strategy.

The format of this post will be a little different from what you normally see from me. Since this subject is so new and my own perspective is naturally limited, this post will feature a curation of the best ideas from everything I could find (with my insights peppered in!)

I will cover:

• Two types of AI applications for marketing
• Standalone versus integrated solutions
• Primary areas for marketing benefit
• Where to begin
• Keeping the customer first
• AI marketing strategy for the small business owner

Let’s begin!

The two types of AI for marketing

According to an article in Harvard Business Review, it is easiest to break AI down into two main applications for marketing. This helps us ease into a framework.

1. Task automation

These applications perform repetitive, structured tasks that require relatively low levels of intelligence. They’re designed to follow a set of rules or execute a predetermined sequence of operations based on a given input, but they can’t handle complex problems such as nuanced customer requests. An example would be a system that automatically sends a welcome email to each new customer. These applications can’t discern customers’ intent, offer customized responses, or learn from interactions over time. But this focus makes us more productive.

2. Machine learning

These algorithms are trained using large quantities of data to make relatively complex predictions and decisions. Such models can recognize images, decipher text, segment customers, and anticipate how customers will respond to various initiatives, such as promotions.

Machine learning already drives programmatic buying in online advertising, e-commerce recommendation engines, and sales propensity models in CRM systems.

These applications use data to make us more insightful and intelligent in our marketing.

Why is this important? A number of studies show that winning companies—those increasing their market share by at least 10 percent annually—tend to be early adopters of advanced sales and marketing technologies.

Standalone versus integrated solutions

In the early days of digital marketing, my company had to build everything on its own because there weren’t any integrated solutions. Today, a modern ERP like Salesforce has everything under one roof. Likewise, in the early days of social media, we cobbled together standalone apps but today, an AI-powered platform like Sprinklr offers an integrated social media marketing system.

We are in the very same era for AI. We are being deluged by one-off solutions, but the long-term solution will be integration. Keep this in mind as you assess today’s solutions. Be patient and keep an eye on what’s coming next. The future of AI marketing strategy will be a layer of AI applied to everything we do, not just standalone apps.

Before placing your bet on a host of new apps, watch carefully how AI is being implemented into your current systems.

Primary areas of focus for an AI Marketing Strategy

1. Consumer behavior

CMSWire claims the biggest generator of strategic growth lies in leveraging AI for consumer behavior analysis. The world is changing so quickly. AI will help us pinpoint shifts in consumer priorities.

A case in point is offered by Procter & Gamble’s Olay Skin Advisor, which uses deep learning to analyze selfies that customers have taken, assess their age and skin type, and recommend appropriate products. It has improved conversion rates, bounce rates, and average basket sizes in some geographies.

2. Predictive analytics

AI enables the rapid processing of massive amounts of customer data and information. Through these systems, organizations can decipher consumer patterns as they emerge, and further determine how these patterns will evolve into trends and sales patterns.

3. Personal versus personalization

Today’s personalization systems are not necessarily personal. AI will enable granular personalized experiences and customer journeys.

4. Customer experience

The low-hanging fruit of the AI marketing strategy might be customer service, especially as chatbots become more human than humans! Hyper-personalized content and offerings can be based on individual customer behavior, persona, and purchase history.

There are many gen AI use cases after the customer signs on the dotted line, including onboarding and retention. When a new customer joins, gen AI can provide a warm welcome with personalized training content, highlighting relevant best practices. A chatbot functionality can provide immediate answers to customer questions and enhance training materials for future customers.

5. Natural voice and language processing

I am already using AI transcription and translation services heavily. But this is just the beginning. Using AI applications to learn natural language models will enable innovations in customer service, ordering, and personalization.

6. Workflow automation

So much opportunity in content creation and approval, SEO, social media management, research, and team productivity!

AI can optimize marketing strategies through A/B testing of various elements such as page layouts, ad copy, and SEO strategies, leveraging predictive analytics and data-driven recommendations to ensure maximum return on investment. These actions can continue through the customer journey, with gen AI automating lead-nurturing campaigns based on evolving customer patterns.

7. Sales Effectiveness

McKinsey reports that AI can boost sales effectiveness and performance by offloading and automating many mundane sales activities, freeing up capacity to spend more time with customers and prospective customers (while reducing cost to serve). In all these actions, personalization is key. AI coupled with company-specific data and context has enabled consumer insights at the most granular level, allowing B2C lever personalization through targeted marketing and sales offerings. Winning B2B companies go beyond account-based marketing and disproportionately use hyper-personalization in their outreach.

At the top of the funnel, gen AI surpasses traditional AI-driven lead identification and targeting that uses web scraping and simple prioritization. Gen AI’s advanced algorithms can leverage patterns in customer and market data to segment and target relevant audiences. With these capabilities, businesses can efficiently analyze and identify high-quality leads, leading to more effective, tailored lead-activation campaigns.

8. Creative Applications

I am already seeing AI enable a surge in creativity. Once there are systems in place that allow us to generate content and images in a fair way that acknowledges original artists and creators, we’ll go to a whole new level of efficient and inspiring creative output.

These use case are the tip of the iceberg. Here is the result of a McKinsey study anticipating where we might have the biggest impact from an AI marketing strategy

Where to start an AI Marketing Strategy

The authors of the HBR article suggest looking at internal priorities this way:

1. For firms with limited AI experience, a good way to begin is by building or buying simple rule-based applications. Many firms pursue a “crawl-walk-run” approach, starting with a stand-alone non-customer-facing task-automation app, such as one that guides human service agents who engage with customers.
2. Once companies acquire basic AI skills and an abundance of customer and market data, they can start moving from task automation to machine learning. A good example of the latter is Stitch Fix’s clothing-selection AI, which helps its stylists curate offers for customers and is based on their self-reported style preferences, the items they keep and return, and their feedback.
3. Look at where you have the largest amounts of data for obvious applications since most AI applications, particularly machine learning, require vast amounts of high-quality data. You can even tap into public data sources. I was able to do an analysis of marketing hotspots in my home state of Tennessee by pasting public census data into OpenAI.
4. The biggest gains from AI will come from replacing human systems that rely on repetitive, high-speed decisions, such as those required for programmatic ad buying. In an ideal AI world, human decision-making would be reserved for the most consequential questions, such as whether to continue a campaign or to approve an expensive TV ad. This is where the greatest returns from an AI marketing strategy will be found.

McKinsey points to key indicators of a successful Ai marketing strategy:

1. There is a clearly defined AI vision and strategy.
2. More than 20 percent of digital budgets are invested in AI-related technologies.
3. Teams of data scientists are employed to run algorithms to inform rapid pricing strategy and optimize marketing and sales.
4. Strategists are looking to the future and outlining simple gen AI use cases.

Many sources describe the importance of constant experimentation, especially when it comes to partnering with startups. The AI landscape is evolving very quickly, and winners today may not be viable tomorrow. Test and iterate with different players, but pursue partnerships strategically based on sales-related innovation, rate of innovation versus time to market, and ability to scale.

Keeping customers first in the AI journey

Almost all of the sources I reviewed emphasized the importance of keeping the focus on the customer, not the technology. It’s easy for the AI enthusiasm to overwhelm the reason we’re here — customer needs.

Truth is, many customers fear how AI applications are collecting, sharing, and using their data, particularly ones that give away their location or are always listening. However, customers have also shown a willingness to let go of some privacy in exchange for the value that AI brings.

Marketers should ensure that AI applications have transparent privacy and security controls and that customers “get what they give” in exchange for their data. Customers should also be given the freedom to choose what data they are willing to share and be in control of how and when it is collected and used.

AI marketing strategy for the small business

Predictably, there is an AI platform gold rush going on. It seems as though there is a new AI service being developed and marketed every day. How do you make sense of what to do and create a competitive advantage through an AI marketing strategy … even if you don’t have an IT department?

The first thing you need to know: Don’t create an AI marketing strategy just to do it. As a small business owner, every decision to reallocate resources is vital. Tread carefully.

A big difference between applying AI to a big business to a small one is the lack of data. A big business needs to turn to the big data sources as a clue on where to start. A small business should look at productivity. Where is the low-hanging fruit to save money and time?

Start by reviewing your current marketing applications for new AI features. Look at current vendors of your marketing software systems to see what’s coming for you within the platforms you already use. As I noted above, it’s going to be much better to have AI integrated into systems you already have compared to new piecemeal solutions.

Here’s an example. Many small businesses use Canva for designing everything from logos to social media posts. Canva has incorporated many amazing new AI functions. This saves you the work of finding your own unique solutions.

Here are the five areas ripe for small businesses to apply an AI marketing strategy.

1. Idea Generation

ChatGPT is a champ for brainstorming. Try prompts like this:

• I am launching a new product (add a detailed description). What are the best colors for the packaging?
• Here are the results of a customer survey. Please summarize the five major themes and suggest what actions I should take (paste results)
• I want to create a new burrito to honor Independence Day. What would be five creative names for this dish?
• I am having trouble with employee turnover. Other than increasing wages, what can I do to make my workplace a more attractive place to work?
• I want to start a business and sell electric bikes. What are the top 10 sales trends I should know before starting this business?

… the possibilities are endless.

2. Customer Experience

Chatbots are becoming increasingly popular and practical for their ability to mimic human-like conversations and perform routine tasks. By using chatbots, small businesses can deliver prompt and seamless customer service, reducing wait times and cutting staffing costs. In addition, chatbots can learn from customer interactions, continuously improving their accuracy and effectiveness.

New tools have emerged for under $100 per month that allows you to upload your own content files to “train” your own chatbot.

Automation is another way to use AI for customer service. With customer service automation, businesses can automate routine tasks such as sending order confirmations and following up on support tickets, saving time and resources while ensuring consistent and timely communication. Some automation tools can enable businesses to integrate with other applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, creating a more efficient and streamlined workflow.

3. Customer Research

While some large language models like ChatGPT can’t necessarily create unique customer insights for a specific business, you can “trick” it into helping you define customer wants and needs.

My friend Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media recently provided a free webinar where he explained a very clever way to create a customer persona, save it, and then continuously query it to optimize your content and marketing tactics. You can find the webinar here.

Another trick I use … Ask ChatGPT to be the voice of your customer. Provide a lot of detail about what you know about your customers. Then ask it to tell you their pain points and problems. This could be a source of new product and service ideas.

4. Marketing Strategy (to a point)

I’m a marketing consultant, and I have to admit, I’ve used ChatGPT to help create strategic advice for small businesses! It’s not perfect, and it certainly lacks true insight most of the time, but when I describe a business and ask for a strategic framework, it has a decent response. Certainly a starting point.

Here’s a little secret: The foundational elements of marketing are similar across almost any industry. It’s a pattern, and AI is good at patterns. So if you provide enough detail on your business, you’ll probably get a decent outline.

Then you can call me to make it REALLY great!  : )

5. Content Creation

This is the low-hanging fruit for most businesses! ChatGPT and its AI cousins can create blog posts, images, social media content, videos, and so much more. Experiment with:

• Audience research
• Brainstorm ideas
• Write outlines
• Build audience personas
• Create social media posts
• Write email marketing copy
• SEO edits
• Write product descriptions
• Improve website copy

Be warned — there are still a lot of legal issues to work out here. Who owns this material? What can be copyrighted? This has to be sorted out over time.

One last warning. A lot has been written about the quality and accuracy of AI content. Honestly, I think there is a place for Ai content, especially for a small business with limited resources.

However.

In the long term, quality wins. Quality is imperative. To win at SEO and establish authority, you have to put some human effort and insight into your content.

So there you have it, a few useful guideposts on the road to an AI marketing strategy. Good luck!

Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant. The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak at your company event or conference soon.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

The post How to Design an AI Marketing Strategy appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

The top headline in the U.S. this week was how a 21-year-old member of the Air National Guard was arrested for retaining and distributing classified national defense information through a social media community. This raised many grave security concerns, but there’s also a vital lesson here about the future of social media marketing and social listening platforms.

Let’s get into it.

The Rise of Discord

The first lesson about the future of social listening is that this leak occurred on Discord … and it was undetected there. While Discord is a mystery for many right now, it’s becoming the de facto meeting place for a generation. This 2023 study from Edison Research shows the remarkable growth of this platform among young people:

If you’re viewing this on a mobile device, the chart might be hard to see. It shows that Discord use among people aged 12-34 rose from 26 percent to 42 percent in one year. By comparison, more people in the age group use Discord than Twitter or LinkedIn.

Discord was introduced in 2015 as a chat application people could use to communicate with one another while playing online games. The platform was a niche product until the pandemic when young people were searching for ways to chat with their friends and join online communities. It currently has about 196 million active monthly users.

But Discord is very different from other social platforms like Facebook or Twitter. You can’t be easily found on Discord.

Implications of Discord

It’s likely that the leaked documents would have never come to light if they had just stayed within the Discord community. In fact, the documents had been sitting in a Discord group for months before they were discovered. The documents were only discovered when they were shared outside of the group and spread into more mainstream channels, an event thoroughly documented in this Washington Post investigative report.

The popularity of this secretive Discord channel is an example of a marketing challenge I discussed with Sara Wilson on a recent podcast episode called Why Gen Z is Hiding out in Digital Campfires.

A conclusion from that discussion is that young people are folding up their social media tents and barricading themselves in online sites like Discord (she calls them digital campfires) where we won’t be able to find them.

As the Edison research demonstrates, 42 percent of young people are on Discord and their conversations are invisible to social listening platforms. Month by month, social listening platforms are becoming obsolete, at least when it comes to young adults and others setting up shop on Discord, Telegram, metaverse sites, and other secretive apps.

This is profound. Just as these military documents remained a secret within the boundaries of Discord, so do the conversations, insights, and brand mentions that used to be on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — within reach of the social listening platforms.

The Future of Social Listening

Gen Z consumers are no longer toddlers. In America, we recently had a Gen Z elected to Congress. This is a massive group of voracious consumers who have a new set of rules when it comes to media, community, social media, and marketing.

Today, social listening platforms are a key component of our marketing dashboards. What happens when most of our customers become invisible to us? What is the future of social listening? I don’t have an answer, but we all need to be aware of this emerging reality. It’s not just military secrets that are hiding within the walls of Discord and other digital campfires — it’s brand conversations and insights, too.

For more ideas on how to reach Gen Z, I recommend another podcast episode I did with Sara Wilson called 12 Ways Brands are Flexing to Meet Gen Z on Their Terms.

Another resource to dig into this more fully is my book Belonging to the Brand. Chapter 11 is devoted to secret communities.

As Discord and other secret communities flourish, companies reliant on social listening platforms will have to find new answers.

Mark Schaefer is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books and is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant. The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world. Contact Mark to have him speak at your company event or conference soon.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

The post Why leaked secret documents point to the future of social listening appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.