Budget season for next year is here — or nearly here — and we’ve identified three can’t-miss trends for your business.

1. SEO: “Long-tail” steals the spotlight.

High-volume search terms historically have been the golden goose of SEO, with so-called “long-tail” terms — terms with lower monthly search volumes — being a starting point. But that approach has been turned on its head. “Traffic” means little if visitors are not your target audience. One hundred monthly visitors who are actually your audience, and whom you can move down the funnel, are worth more than 1,000 random visitors.

Search engines increasingly want to answer the intent of a search, and the intent of most searches is something specific. Few people, for example, search “used cars for sale” and want to browse vehicles from across the country. They’re usually looking for a make and/or model in their area.  This means SEO can be built on momentum and footholds, rather than forcing a top-down approach. We’ve seen this firsthand: Using this approach, we’ve been able to increase qualified traffic by more than 300% and increase rankings for related terms simply by optimizing a page for specific questions and searches.

Using this approach, we’ve been able to increase qualified traffic by more than 300%.

2. AI: Tools go bespoke.

The legal and privacy complications of using widely-available generative AIs for content creation are compounding. There’s no denying the power of large language models and similar technologies, but established brands are increasingly hamstrung by the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the output of these models.

We expect big brands will pay big money for models they can trust — models that have been trained on verified data sets, and that can be fine-tuned to brand standards and sensitivities.

For businesses who can’t afford to shell out for a custom model, it will be important to partner with an agency that understands the landscape, understands both the benefits and risks, and can help you choose the tools that are secure and will boost your efficiencies the most. (For more on this, check out our latest AI-focused blog post here.)

3. Video: The medium officially becomes table stakes.

You might read the above and think, “This still needs to be said in 2024?” Unfortunately, it does. Audiences no longer just like video — they expect it. And they will reward you for it! Check out these stats:

• Landing pages that lead with video outperform. Relevant embedded video content can increase landing page conversions by up to 86%.
• Social posts with video outperform. Data from SproutSocial shows that short-form video is the most engaging type of in-feed content and that consumers find short-form video 2.5 times more engaging than long-form.
• TikTok rules the social roost when it comes to time spent. People spend more time on the video-driven app than any other social media platform. On average, TikTok users spend 23.5 hours a month browsing and posting content.
• YouTube continues to gain market share. Baby Boomers and Gen X are YouTube’s fastest-growing demographic. The platform also reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any broadcast or network TV station. Did we mention they have 2 billion monthly active users?
• Brands are increasing video spend. More than 90% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands, and brands are responding accordingly. Fifty-two percent of marketers reported bigger video budgets in 2023 compared to 2022, and we expect that trend to continue in 2024.
• Video gives an SEO advantage. Google continues to double down on rewarding “helpful content,” and if users find video helpful… well, you can connect the dots. The proof is in the SERP (Search Engine Ranking Page) — for many topics, Google is now placing chapterized videos at the top of the results page, above any organic webpage links.

There’s just no way around it — businesses that don’t invest in video are putting a ceiling on their marketing efforts.

Let’s collaborate as you plan for 2024

We’ve helped countless businesses like yours establish strategies and content calendars to ensure the marketing budgets are used effectively. Contact us here or send a message at imprint@imprintcontent.com and let us know how we can help!