Tag: Digital marketing

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Catcha Digital has announced that it has entered into a conditional share sale agreement to acquire a 51% equity interest in Digital Symphony, a data-driven digital marketing consultancy, for a cash consideration of RM22.95m.

The acquisition is the latest that Catcha Digital had undertaken, following the recent acquisition of FrameMotion earlier this month, as well as Tastefully Malaysia in late 2024.

The acquisition provides significant cross-selling opportunities between Catcha Digital’s existing advertising client base and Digital Symphony’s clientele. Catcha Digital and its subsidiaries will be able to offer Digital Symphony’s data-driven performance marketing solutions to its clients, while Digital Symphony can leverage Catcha Digital’s extensive digital media ecosystem and broad reach to enhance its offerings. 

Moreover, this data-driven synergy is expected to accelerate growth for both entities, giving advertisers a more intelligent, and results-focused approach to digital marketing.

Patrick Grove, chairman at Catcha Digital, said, “Kuhan and his team have built a company that doesn’t just run ads—it runs highly optimised, datadriven campaigns that deliver real, measurable impact. With this acquisition, we’re doubling down on the power of data, automation, and machine learning to create even better solutions for advertisers. The combination of Digital Symphony’s result-driven performance marketing and Catcha Digital’s extensive audience reach is a game-changer for brands looking to scale their digital presence.”

Launched in 2017 by Kuhan Kumar, Digital Symphony is a data-driven digital marketing consultancy that operates in Malaysia and Singapore. It specialises in performance marketing, leveraging automation, data analytics, and custom software solutions to help brands achieve their digital advertising goals. 

The company offers solutions designed to enhance digital advertising efficiency through proprietary software and machine learning solutions. Digital Symphony operates in key industries, including property development, automotive, and education, helping brands execute precision-targeted digital campaigns.

Speaking about the acquisition, Kuhar commented, “Since our inception, we’ve been focused on delivering results for our clientele. The digital landscape moves fast, and the brands that succeed are the ones that can harness technology and data to make smarter marketing decisions. Partnering with Catcha Digital allows us to take our marketing solutions to the next level, reaching more advertisers and delivering even greater value. We’re excited about what’s ahead and look forward to pushing the boundaries of performance marketing together.”

Malaysia – Digital marketing agency Lion & Lion has unveiled its new positioning, reflecting its commitment to supporting brands in traversing the hyper-connected marketing industry. 

As the industry becomes more dynamic in the digital-first marketing world, Lion & Lion positions itself as capable of developing impactful brand experiences both offline and online.

Having offices across Southeast Asia, Lion & Lion supports brands in the region through its specialisation in brand strategy, storytelling, consulting, and social media.

Lion & Lion delivers conversion-focused strategies, creatives, and brand experiences spanning digital and physical spaces. The agency executes campaigns, activations and full-scale brand transformation.

“Brands today don’t just compete for attention—they compete for relevance and resonance. Our new positioning leverages our strengths and reflects our dedication to transform brands with creativity, strategy, innovation, and technology, ensuring they deliver impact in today’s hyper-connected world,” Cheelip Ong, group CEO of Lion & Lion, commented.

“Our focus remains on empowering brands to build deeper, more meaningful connections with their audiences across all their interactions. We notice the paradigm shift in how consumers digest information and marketing, and we are equipped to help brands succeed in this new age of decentralised marketing with our borderless thinking and ability to harness strategy, creativity, and technology for brand transformation and business impact,” Ong added.

In today’s competitive environment, it’s critical brands adapt to the rapidly changing digital landscape, leveraging data-driven and results-focused strategies to stay ahead. Heading into 2025, leading Melbourne digital marketing performance agency Impressive’s team of experts has shared key insights into the shifts they predict will shape the digital marketing industry, with innovative approaches set to drive smarter, more targeted growth for businesses. 

Robert Tadros – Impressive’s Founder & CEO: “As we move into 2025, more and more brands will need to adopt a ’work smarter, not harder’ approach to stay competitive. The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and large retail and eCommerce platforms must embrace programmatic SEO as a key solution to streamline and automate traditionally labour-intensive processes. 

As an example, our Skailed platform was purposefully designed to effectively transform months of meticulous work into a fraction of the time, enabling brands to optimise thousands of pages with minimal manual intervention. By leveraging data-driven automation, companies can better meet customer demand, stay agile in a crowded market, and drive sustainable growth without overextending their resources.”

Sam Makwana – Head Of SEO: “My SEO prediction for 2025 is that keyword value will matter more than volume. For a long time, SEO agencies and in-house SEO teams have focused on organic traffic growth as a main measure of success. However, this often doesn’t consider whether the visitors are at the top or bottom of the sales funnel. As a result, even if organic traffic goes up, conversions or revenue often stay the same.

At Impressive, we’ve always valued traffic quality over quantity. That’s why our main goal is to drive traffic to high-value landing pages. With Generative AI now part of Google in Australia, we expect a major drop in top-of-the-funnel, volume-focused queries, as Google will deliver many answers directly on the search results page. Instead, the focus will shift to value-based traffic, and SEO teams who know how to attract this kind of traffic will lead the way.”

Nicholas Simonsen – Head Of Content: “AI has taken the digital world by storm over the last few years, and as a result, I have found that everyone is starting to sound the same, no matter the industry in question. Don’t get me wrong, ChatGPT and AI, in general, have changed the game in so many ways, but it’s reached a point now where I can pinpoint ‘ChatGPTisms’ in the first sentence or two of website copy. It all sounds so lifeless and generic.

Heading into 2025, I think we’ll see brands refocus on human content and on fostering that human connection between brand and consumer. With the market so saturated and spending down across the board, buyers wanted to feel connected to their favourite brands, so let’s make sure we’re giving it to them.”

Jasmine Allen – Head Of Performance: “The rise of online e-commerce marketplaces will continue to shape the future of retail, creating an environment where shopping is even more seamlessly integrated into social apps and digital platforms, allowing users to browse, compare, and complete purchases without ever leaving their preferred sites. 

This shift will continue to make the buying process more efficient and appealing. We’ve already seen major players such as Amazon continue to dominate in Western markets, while marketplaces like Shopee and Lazada continue to lead across Asia, each capturing significant market share.

As these platforms evolve, they continue refining search functionality and user experience, making it easier for shoppers to find exactly what they’re looking for at the lowest price. However, this convenience will continue to present new challenges for retailers housing non-exclusive brands, especially those relying on paid ads to maintain visibility. With intense competition from established marketplace giants, a more strategic approach is essential for these brands to stand out. To navigate this crowded digital landscape, tailored, data-driven strategies are crucial to ensure marketing efficiency and to be able to maximise return on investment amidst increasingly dominant platforms.”

Ready to Future-Proof Your Marketing Strategy?

These insights underscore Impressive’s commitment to helping brands stay agile and competitive. As 2025 approaches, Impressive is ready to help businesses navigate these transformative trends, offering expertise and forward-thinking strategies to achieve sustainable growth.

Melbourne, Australia – Digital marketing agency Impressive has announced the launch of its new service, ‘Impressive Labs’. This new solution is designed to empower organisations that prefer to manage their digital marketing internally. 

The new offering also delivers the expertise and guidance that in-house teams often lack, without the costs of traditional agency engagements.

Impressive CEO Robert Tadros stated that the ‘Impressive Labs’ support solution means that organisations building out their internal marketing teams can still access experienced professionals and deliver exceptional campaigns.

“We see the move to in-house teams, but they still need the training, strategy, and peace of mind that an agency brings. With our new In House Support offering, we give clients the best of both worlds at a lower cost than a traditional agency relationship” he said. 

A primary pillar for the ‘Impressive Labs’ offering is strategic guidance, and is worth noting that while in-house marketing personnel are often selected for their execution skills, they may lack the seniority needed to set strategic direction or quickly adapt to changing market conditions. Impressive staff have experience across 1000s of companies in a range of categories 

Additionally, the new service will offer access to the agency’s senior experts for strategic planning, whether across the entire marketing function or specific channels such as SEO or Google Ads. This enables in-house teams to benefit from high-level guidance without the overhead costs of additional staff.

Moreover, keeping pace with the ever-changing digital marketing landscape can be challenging for smaller, isolated in-house teams. Impressive’s offering includes a mix of public workshops and tailored, in-house training sessions to ensure in-house teams stay up to date with the latest tools, strategies, and industry best practices honed from managing millions in client ad spend each month.

Lastly, for organisations seeking a second opinion or an objective evaluation of their in-house operations, Impressive provides comprehensive, expert reviews. Whether it’s an audit of a specific campaign or a full marketing performance review, these services offer management peace of mind and deliver actionable recommendations to optimise efficiency.

Singapore – A survey by HubSpot and LinkedIn, conducted by Milieu Insight, reveals that more than eight in ten (84%) Singaporean companies are leveraging digital marketing for their advertising needs, yet 50% struggle with accurately measuring their return on investment.

The survey found that more than seven in ten (78%) companies using digital marketing have a strategy in place, while more than half (57%) of those without a digital marketing strategy plan to implement one in the near future.

However, the survey indicates that inadequate tracking capabilities may be limiting digital marketing’s effectiveness. Despite widespread adoption of local companies, only 17% of Singaporean respondents strongly believe that a strong digital marketing strategy leads to increased revenue, well below the regional average of 41%.

The report suggests that low adoption of essential tools like customer relationship management (CRM) platforms may be hindering effective tracking of marketing outcomes. Only 41% of Singaporean companies using digital marketing utilise CRM tools, the lowest rate among the surveyed countries.

Furthermore, beyond the low tool adoption, the survey found that 24% of Singaporean companies using digital marketing lack confidence in their team’s ability to effectively use these tools. Additionally, 49% believe their strategies failed to meet organisational goals in 2023, the highest rates among surveyed countries, indicating a potential skills gap in Singapore’s marketing sector.

Matt Tindale, head of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions for APAC, stated, “In Singapore, with the pace at which technology is advancing, there is an opportunity for marketers to enhance their skills. Upskilling and reskilling will not only help professionals adapt to changes but leverage new technology for increased productivity and enhanced outcomes. Findings from the survey indicate that while the majority of local companies are focusing on brand awareness, the real challenge is converting that awareness into actionable growth.”

“With the integration of AI into digital marketing strategies, as indicated by 60% of companies in our survey, Singapore is on the brink of a transformative era in digital marketing. Success requires the use of effective measurement frameworks and tools to support data-driven decisions, which are essential for maximising ROI. One example is LinkedIn’s Revenue Attribution Report, which connects CRM data to information from marketing touchpoints across the customer journey. These can help marketers better demonstrate the impact of their LinkedIn campaigns on key metrics such as pipeline generated, deal cycles, and revenue, ultimately helping them to make better business decisions,” Tindale added. 

Meanwhile, when assessing digital marketing impact, over half (52%) of Singaporean respondents prioritise brand awareness, in contrast to the regional preference for sales or revenue as the key success metric.

This trend towards digital marketing is on track to continue in 2024. According to the survey, digital marketing investments are set to continue in 2024, with over a third (35%) of Singaporean companies spending S$10,000 or more monthly. Most allocate 21% to 40% of their marketing budgets to digital channels. Notably, more than a third plan to maintain their current investment levels in 2024, the highest proportion among surveyed countries.

The survey also found that among Singaporean companies with digital marketing strategies, 62% consider social media the most crucial channel, followed by content marketing (50%) and search engine marketing (49%). Nearly half (42%) also rank social media among their top three critical channels for digital marketing activities. 

The dominance of social media in digital marketing is evident in budget allocation and tool usage. In Singapore, the survey found that social media marketing commands 23% of marketing budgets, and social media management platforms are the most widely used tools, employed by over 51% of respondents.

Kat Warboys, senior marketing director for APAC at HubSpot, said, “Social selling and commerce are becoming increasingly popular in Singapore, offering a highly effective platform for brands to reach, target, and engage on a personal level with their audience. Despite the growing popularity of social media platforms, brands should avoid being over-reliant on a single channel.”

Warboys continued, “More than half of global customers today leverage anywhere between three and five different channels throughout their buying journey. Success will increasingly be contingent on the ability of brands to establish a presence on the channels their customers and prospects reside on and to leverage CRM platforms to accurately measure the impact of their marketing efforts. This will be essential to actively engage and deliver frictionless experiences to audiences regardless of channel.” 

In addition to social media management platforms, Singaporean companies widely use CRM platforms (41%) and email marketing solutions (37%). Integrating these tools with a solid marketing strategy helps brands engage customers across various channels and consolidate data for better measurement and improved customer experiences.

Warboys added, “As the popularity of digital channels explode, the key to success will lie in ensuring customer data doesn’t reside in siloes across multiple platforms. Solutions could include the use of Conversion APIs that enables brands to accurately track and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts on social media platforms. As a server-side tracking option, Conversion APIs can still deliver observable data that would otherwise have been restricted by privacy controls, something marketers need to consider as third-party cookies are phased out.”

“By adopting CRM solutions that can seamlessly integrate with such tools, marketers will be better positioned to make the most of information gathered throughout the customer journey. This unfettered information flow can empower marketers with the necessary insights to drive more targeted campaigns, automatically follow up on leads generated from social media, and clearly track ROI of every ad campaign,” she concluded.

In 2024, the digital marketing landscape is more dynamic and complex than ever. Marketers and agencies face numerous challenges that demand innovative and robust solutions to stay competitive and effective. The proliferation of digital channels, the rise of AI, and the critical role of data-driven decisions have created a multifaceted environment where traditional methods no longer suffice.

Here’s how to navigate the challenges effectively:

Cross-Channel Advertising Simplified

The digital advertising ecosystem is increasingly fragmented, requiring marketers to juggle campaigns across social media, search engines, and video platforms, often leading to inconsistent messaging and utilisation of data points. Managing multiple advertising platforms often results in fragmented efforts and inefficiencies, making tracking and optimisation across channels a challenge. Digital marketers need to construct a holistic consumer journey using the best available data. Marketers should prioritise integrating cross-channel advertising into a single platform, ensuring cohesive strategies, streamlined operations, and consistent messaging across all digital touchpoints.

Consolidating Audience Data

Fragmented data sources hinder accurate customer profiling and personalisation. With cookie deprecation in the near future, stricter European GDPR guidelines, and enhanced privacy measures from technology giants like Apple, the ability to accurately identify audiences is under threat. It is therefore of utmost importance to unify audience data into comprehensive profiles. This enables precise targeting and personalised marketing efforts, which are crucial for driving higher engagement and conversions. Tools like the JOLT Command Centre can unify audience data into a single profile, facilitating precise targeting and personalised marketing.

Harnessing AI for Enhanced Optimisation

Manual optimisation of budgets and strategies can be both time-consuming and error-prone. Embracing AI-powered solutions allows real-time, data-driven automation and optimisation, significantly improving programmatic campaign performance and reducing human error. Automated optimisation has been a feature of some programmatic platforms for a while, but we have seen improved performance from enhanced artificial intelligence models, making it an important tool in marketers’ and agencies’ arsenal. It is imperative for marketers to identify AI-driven automation and optimisation tools to ensure real-time budget and strategy adjustments, enhancing campaign performance with minimal manual intervention.

Comprehensive Reporting and Attribution

Accurately measuring the effectiveness of campaigns across various channels is a perennial challenge. With the exponential increase in data and measurements, there is the constant danger of paralysis from analysis. Marketers and agencies should focus on tangible business performance data that provides strategic direction instead of just looking at individual media performance or vanity metrics. Implementing unified reporting and attribution tools provides detailed insights into performance metrics, allowing marketers to understand ROI and make informed, data-driven decisions for future campaigns. JOLT Command Centre, Supermetrics and Nugit for example offers comprehensive reporting and attribution capabilities, providing detailed insights into campaign effectiveness and empowering marketers to make data-driven decisions.

Embracing the Future

As the digital marketing landscape evolves, staying updated with the latest technologies and strategies is imperative. By addressing these common challenges with innovative solutions, marketers and agencies can enhance their campaign effectiveness, drive better results, and maintain a competitive edge in the future.

Conclusion

The future of digital marketing lies in leveraging advanced solutions to overcome existing challenges. Streamlining cross-channel efforts, utilising AI for optimisation, unifying audience data, and enhancing reporting and attribution are key strategies that will empower marketers to succeed in the dynamic landscape of 2024 and beyond. Identifying a tool that exemplifies these strategies, offering an integrated platform designed for modern marketers to navigate the complexities of digital marketing with greater efficiency and effectiveness, is key to stay ahead in a competitive landscape.

This thought leadership piece is written by Khairul Helmi, business director and digital tech stack development at JOLT Digital

Singapore – Global creative transformation company WPP has teamed up with global technology company IBM to launch a new business-to-business (B2B) solution powered by IBM’s AI and data platform watsonx designed to reinvent how B2B marketers identify and engage clients and prospects across the buying journey. 

The ‘WPP Open for B2B’ solution will help marketers solve complex B2B marketing challenges, accurately identify and engage buying groups, and improve clients’ return on investment. 

These buying groups are made up of multiple stakeholders with different priorities who influence key purchasing decisions both inside and outside of organizations, which can make it difficult to deliver a consistent message over a long sales period. Traditionally, understanding how to adjust that message across the right channels to guide buying groups to purchase is challenging and often leads to inefficient marketing spend. 

Moreover, WPP and IBM will strategically collaborate with LinkedIn to help brands better understand buying groups so they can market more effectively and reach target buyers.

The solution has a capability called ‘AI-powered Buying Group Brain™’ a WPP AI model that can more accurately identify target buying groups in a B2B client account, built with IBM watsonx.ai and trained on trustworthy data from the client and third parties through IBM watsonx.data. It can also inform how marketers deliver personalized and consistent experiences across channels and across the duration of a long-term influencer campaign. 

It also has the Chief Marketing Officer command center, an AI assistant that serves as a command center for CMOs, bringing forward data and insights and connecting underlying systems so senior marketers can plan and model scenarios, predict results, make more data-driven decisions and execute recommended actions.

Stephan Pretorius, chief technology officer at WPP, said, “Our clients want to get in front of the right people, at the right time, on the right channels, with the right message. However, most solutions in the market today are designed for consumer marketing, targeted at sole decision-makers at a single point of purchase. WPP Open for B2B, and our collaboration with IBM and LinkedIn, will help solve some incredibly complex challenges in the B2B marketing space, using the best of WPP and IBM technology and expertise.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Adashek, senior vice president of marketing and communications at IBM, said, “B2B marketers have been focused on creating truly personalised, relevant and consistent experiences for buying groups at scale for years. Our collaboration with WPP and LinkedIn provides real-time, actionable insights that are based on trusted data. We are excited to create and use these new, powerful and trusted AI solutions to deliver a force multiplier for B2B marketing.”

Lastly, Penry Price, vice president at LinkedIn, commented, “With success in B2B requiring customers to reach between 6 to 10 stakeholders, building relationships and ‘collective confidence’ among the entire buyer group is key. We are looking forward to working with WPP and IBM to determine how our unique knowledge of buyer groups can help inform WPP Open for B2B and help clients deliver more effective advertising campaigns.”

Philippines – Ayudante, a digital marketing and measurement consulting agency based in Japan, has announced its acquisition of Sparkline, an independent digital marketing company headquartered in Singapore with an established presence in the Philippines, positioning the Philippines as the next key market for expansion.

With this acquisition, Sparkline will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayudante. The Singapore-based digital marketing agency is known as one of the first certified partners and resellers of Google Marketing Platform (GMP) in Asia, establishing a reputation for its industry-leading expertise in data utilisation consulting.

Ayudante, Japan’s first GMP-certified partner and reseller, has been expanding its international team to support global business growth for its Japanese clients. The acquisition of Sparkline marks a significant regional milestone, demonstrating a successful Japanese regional acquisition and boosting confidence in regional companies’ ability to attract international buyers.

Furthermore, Ayudante’s acquisition of Sparkline highlights multinational interest in Southeast Asia’s dynamic tech ecosystems. Recognising the Philippines as a key market, Sparkline plans to offer GMP services there, aligning with the country’s growing demand for data analytics and digital marketing solutions amid government-led digital transformation.

Beyond GMP services, the collaboration will also focus on multilingual SEO and digital marketing. The companies’ developers will enhance data development, tag automation, and digital marketing in the GenAI era. This strategic move is timely for Southeast Asia, where businesses increasingly rely on advanced data analytics and automation to remain competitive.

The company names will remain unchanged, and the terms of the acquisition have not been publicly disclosed.

Following the acquisition, Naohiro Yamaura, COO of Ayudante, will assume the position of chairman of the board at Sparkline under the new management structure. He is one of the most successful figures in the GMP business in Japan, having authored eight books and leading the industry. Moving forward, Yamaura will collaborate with Sparkline CEO and founder Aleetza Senn to accelerate Sparkline’s growth in the Southeast Asia market.

Commenting on the acquisition, Senn said, “Sparkline has always been about providing bespoke and agnostic analytics services to businesses using digital data for customer and marketing growth. This alignment with Ayudante is really exciting and helps us scale that vision to many more businesses in the region, especially at a time when the industry is being disrupted due to privacy regulations and change.”

Hiroshi Yasukawa, CEO of Ayudante, also shared, “I am pleased to be partnered with Sparkline, which has the longest history in our business field in Singapore. Together, we aim to become the top GMP reseller in the Asia-Pacific region.”

2024 hasn’t been an easy year. Tight marketing budgets, a challenging digital advertising landscape, and the crunching of third-party cookies — there are plenty of hurdles for digital marketers. But with challenge comes opportunity, and smart marketers can use them to do more with less.

This article covers some of the biggest trends that will shake and shape the digital marketing industry this year, based on Brandwatch’s latest Digital Marketing Trends report. We’ll cover how you can use them in your digital marketing strategy. 

Trend: Marketers embracing AI

AI’s the secret sauce, but even robots need a human touch. 

Mentions of AI are everywhere. Game-changing companies, such as OpenAI and Midjourney, are disrupting industries and making headlines regularly with new features and developments. 

AI will change the way we work in the near future, and companies that don’t embrace AI will be left behind. This year, marketers will need to figure out how to apply AI to their marketing efforts without losing the human factor.

In September 2023, Brandwatch asked 516 marketing professionals about their predictions for the biggest digital marketing trends in 2024, and a staggering 92% said that integrating AI into their marketing will be the number one trend. The industry is seeing a significant shift, with marketers redefining their strategies to improve their results with AI technologies. 

And discussions about the challenges and opportunities of AI are massive. From November 2022 to November 2023, over 1.64 million articles were published, generating over 55.8 million total engagements. Interestingly, articles over 3,000 words in length receive a higher engagement rate than shorter articles. This could indicate that readers are really interested in learning more about the topic. 

What do marketers care about when it comes to AI and marketing? Mentions of SEO and content creation increased by over 90% in conversations among marketers on X and Reddit.

Brandwatch image

The analysis shows that AI can help in a variety of marketing activities. This year, we’ll see marketers implementing AI as an integral part of almost all their activities and becoming more sophisticated about how to use AI for the best business outcomes.

Pro tip

Don’t forget the human touch when implementing AI, or you risk losing your brand’s voice and, ultimately, your customers. For inspiration, you can keep up with the latest AI trends by monitoring online conversations.

Trend: Personalisation as the customer magnet

The marketing persona is dead.

Many brands are in the same boat – trying to win customers in highly competitive markets. Standing out from the crowd and getting consumers’ attention is getting harder. And turning one-time customers into loyal customers is even more tough. 

This is where personalisation comes in. Brands that deliver a superior, tailored customer experience are more likely to convert new customers into repeat customers. In one survey, 60% of consumers said a personalised shopping experience made them want to return and buy again.

But here’s the thing: Consumers not only appreciate personalised marketing, they expect it. When consumers share more personal information with a brand, they expect a more personalised experience in return. In fact, three-quarters of customers expect personalisation after a company asks them for personal information. 

There are many ways to personalise a customer’s experience. For example, offering special offers to celebrate a customer’s birthday is an easy way to surprise and delight on a personal level. Another is to offer personalised products. Let’s take the British brand Skin + Me as an example. The cosmetics brand not only offers personalised packaging of its products, but customers can also consult a dermatologist to get the skincare products that best suit their needs.

Pro tip

Keeping your customers happy and engaged is critical to a long-lasting relationship. Implementing well-crafted loyalty programs can effectively entice customers back while demonstrating appreciation, ultimately nurturing lasting connections.

Trend: Creativity wins consumer attention 

Creativity is the neon sign in a sea of greyscale. 

In today’s world, getting consumers’ attention takes a lot of work. The average American is exposed to between 4,000 – 10,000 ads every day. This information overload makes it difficult for content marketers to cut through the noise. 

Getting information across as quickly as possible is key, and short-form video will continue to be the tool of choice for marketers. Whether it’s Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, or YouTube Shorts, marketers will become more sophisticated in how they incorporate video content into their content strategy to get their message across in a matter of seconds. 

Content marketers will also have to get more creative to grab consumers’ attention. With the human attention span shrinking to shorter than that of a goldfish, content marketers need to shake things up. In 2024, more experiential and interactive content campaigns will keep consumers entertained. 

Mars Wrigley, for example, ran a campaign in November 2022 that capitalised on the controversy surrounding one of its products. According to Mars, 40% of consumers hate their Bounty chocolate, and the brand used this insight to run a “No Bounty” campaign, announcing that they would be removing Bounties from their Celebrations box.

Lovers and haters alike took to social media to post their opinions and memes, and the campaign quickly went viral. Online conversations about Bounty and Mars catapulted to nearly 29k mentions in November 2022, and over 24k people were talking about the Bounty affair. In total, the campaign generated nearly 75 billion impressions.

Pro tip

Keeping it simple and short is the recipe for success. Remember to get the most important information into the first few seconds of your video. Look at your existing content and repurpose it into short, snappy videos.

Trend: Social listening powers strategy

Social listening is the secret weapon for marketing strategists. 

Did you know that only 1.5% of online discussions about brands and their products and services come from brands themselves? With social media users worldwide expected to reach 5.17 billion by 2024, social networks are becoming an even larger pool of consumer opinions and insights.

Brands that don’t monitor these online conversations miss a huge source of what consumers are saying about their products and services. They also miss insights into how consumers feel about competitors and their barriers to purchase. These unsolicited online consumer conversations contain valuable insights for marketing departments as well as customer services and product development teams.

With social listening tools, marketers can gather real-time consumer insights that can help them optimise their marketing strategies to become more customer-centric. In Brandwatch’s survey of 516 marketing professionals, 76% agreed that social listening tools will be used to inform marketing strategies in 2024. 

With insights from social data, marketers can see how their campaigns are being received and use the unsolicited feedback to optimise their current and future campaigns. They can see which content performs best, which products customers love, and what their pain points are. They can benchmark their brand awareness against competitors and identify threats and opportunities.

Pro tip

Stay ahead of the competition by using social listening to discover the latest market insights, consumer trends, and emerging competitors. Regularly monitor the conversations around your competitors to identify opportunities and optimise your marketing strategy.

The biggest digital marketing trends for 2024

Consumer behaviour and preferences are constantly changing. It’s a universal truth that brands need to adapt and refine their marketing strategy constantly to stand out in a competitive landscape. 

Whether implementing new AI technologies or experimenting with video content, it’s crucial to prioritise the customer’s perspective. Understanding the value these initiatives offer to your audience is key to staying ahead.

A customer-centric approach should be at the core of your marketing strategy, and tracking consumer opinions with social listening tools will be key to staying ahead of the competition.
Interested in more digital marketing trends that will have an impact in 2024? Read the full report to find out more.

This article is written by Emily Smith, Content Marketing Manager at Brandwatch.

Singapore – GrabAds’ “Marketing Manager”, its web-based marketing platform dedicated to SMEs, is now available on mobile in a bid to help SMEs in the Southeast Asia region to boost their sales. The platform was previously launched in June 2023.

‘Marketing Manager; has also introduced the all-new “spotlight campaigns” feature, exclusively for mobile, where Grab curates specially designed campaigns – often only for a limited time- to assist merchants in maximising visibility and enhancing sales conversions. 

Through this feature, merchants can strategically reserve high-visibility spaces for their stores, exclusively within Grab-hosted campaigns, increasing exposure and driving sales with a single, impactful campaign.

Moreover, MSME merchants on Grab can also use Marketing Manager’s newly enhanced features to drive more sales, including ease of creating ads based on their target audience requirements and sales goals; real-time reports help merchants readily gain insights into how successful their campaigns are; and ability for merchants to only pay for successful orders on a cost-per-order (CPO) basis.

Ken Mandel, regional head of GrabAds and Brand Insights, said, “GrabAds is committed to providing self-serve solutions to help our MSME merchant partners promote their products and drive more sales for their business through Grab. MSME merchants juggle various roles–from chef to bookkeeper, accountant and marketer– which necessitates their need for an easy-to-use, flexible yet effective marketing tool.”

He added, “When we conducted our own survey among our merchants, nearly half the merchants said that they prioritise conversion and cost when selecting an ad platform, which is why the latest features on Marketing Manager on mobile address the everyday challenges that our MSME merchants face.”

‘Marketing Manager’ on mobile is designed for merchants looking for straightforward and swift campaigns on mobile, providing a user-friendly option and is now available in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. 

Meanwhile, for businesses in need of more advanced tools, the web-based Marketing Manager Pro offers more comprehensive features suited for digitally savvy merchants seeking greater customisation for their ad campaigns.