When it comes to the world of digital marketing,
one thing will always be true;
trends will change, and fads will fade.
So how can you tell if a marketing trend
is something you can't ignore
or if it's on its way out the door?
You know I love to keep it real so you can stay relevant.
So in this video, I'm gonna share with you
my five marketing predictions for this year.
Keep watching.
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Hey, posse, what's up?
It's Alex coming at you this week
with my personal predictions to help you
level up your digital marketing this year and beyond.
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Alright, so let's get to it.
Here are my 5 marketing predictions for this year.
We will start with number five on my list
and end with the biggest one of them all.
Can you guess what it is?
Topping off my list at number five, community building.
So first things first.
In order for any marketing strategy to really stick,
and I mean really stick, you need to be focused on
building a loyal community who shares your values.
You should not be focused on simply going viral,
or only on growing your followers on Instagram,
or using any outdated nonsense to hack your growth.
Why, because while that type of growth
might look shiny and impressive on the surface,
it does not pay off in the long run.
So yeah, you might see a spike in followers or subscribers,
but what good is that
if they aren't aligned with your message
or fall squarely in your ideal customer audience?
In fact, I've seen firsthand how going viral
isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I had a couple of Reels go viral this past year.
And yes, while my following did skyrocket,
it became harder and harder to connect with my true fans.
You know, those of you
who have been following me since the very beginning
and are raving fans
and will follow and engage with any content I put out there.
Because thanks to the algorithm changes
that have limited my reach and engagement,
I am reaching less of the people
who I actually wanna be in front of.
So I promise you, if you take the time, and yes,
it does take time to build a real community
by rallying your audience
around a shared set of beliefs and values,
I promise your marketing efforts will feel so much easier,
and they will be more effective
because when you have a community of loyal super fans
who are dedicated to your brand,
they will buy from you again and again and again.
In fact, in my most recent launch,
80% of my revenue came from existing customers,
which means I didn't need to pay a single cent
to get those customers.
So listen to me very carefully.
It is way easier to turn a customer into a repeat customer
than it is to turn a stranger into a first-time buyer,
especially right now
because it's getting more and more expensive
to buy people's attention online.
So why not focus on converting the people
whose attention you already have?
Even if you're starting small, a small but engaged audience
is far more powerful than a large and unaware one.
So start focusing on community building right now.
Over the last few years,
I built a community from zero to over 300,000.
And yes, while it did take time and hard work,
all of that work has definitely paid off
because no matter what algorithm changes come along,
no matter how expensive paid media becomes,
as long as I continue to nurture my community,
my business will continue to grow
as I launch new programs and products
and increase my customer lifetime value.
And that brings me
to prediction number four, omnichannel marketing.
Alright, like it or not, linear marketing is over.
The old-school direct-response mentality of buy,
die, or unsubscribe is dead.
And any marketer who continues
to optimize for immediate sales
will really struggle this year,
and that is because customers are savvier than ever
and are no longer falling for a forced approach to marketing
that pressures them to buy immediately or else.
So what I'm actually seeing now
is a much longer sales cycle,
with 53.65% of my customers purchasing after 60 days.
Yes, they are taking more time
to interact with my brand across multiple channels
before committing to buying anything from me.
And that is totally cool.
In fact, the average customer
interacts with my brand across 34 touchpoints
before they make their first purchase from the Copy Posse.
How crazy is that?
So that is why you need to be
diversifying your marketing effort.
And I hate to say it,
but Instagram is no longer the be-all end-all.
And, I know, it's really hard to hear for me too.
I love Instagram.
With reach drastically affected by recent algorithm changes,
having a follower on Instagram
doesn't really mean much these days.
And the sad truth is the majority of your followers
probably don't even see your stuff anymore.
Plus, with scam accounts and spam comments,
and impersonators out there behind every corner,
Instagram is quickly becoming a place of frustration
for a lot of creators and customers, myself included.
So while I still love Instagram as a platform,
and yes, of course,
I'm not saying I'm never gonna use Instagram,
I will continue to post there again and again,
probably every single day this year,
I am seriously considering ramping up my other channels
through omnichannel marketing.
And you should be too.
So I'm talking about Messenger, SMS,
LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest,
and, of course the gold mine of marketing,
the one you should never forget,
the one you should be 100% always focusing on,
building your email list.
No matter what, you wanna give your audience
multiple ways to engage with you.
Not only does that build more authority and trust,
but it also gives your customer more control
over how they interact with your brand.
Rather than being forced down a funnel
and pressured to buy on day one,
they can control how and when they interact with you.
And remember what we talked about in trend number five.
Customers take longer to make their first purchase,
and that might continue to get longer over time.
And that's because it takes time and repeated exposure
in order to build that know, like, and trust factor,
which is why omnichannel marketing
is a must for any business this year.
And because I love stats, here are some stats to show you
just how powerful this marketing strategy can be.
Marketers using three or more channels in any one campaign
earned a 287% higher purchase rate
than those using single-channel campaigns.
Customer retention rates are 90% higher for omnichannel
versus single-channel marketing.
And omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value
than those who shop using only one channel.
Yeah, those numbers are huge and should not be ignored.
So what's the most powerful way that you can show up
across all of these different platforms, you ask?
Well, I'd like to introduce you to number three on my list,
what I call three-tier video marketing.
Yes, yes, yes, you already know
that video marketing would make this list.
In fact, it has been a trend
on every single trends and prediction video
that I have ever done, ever.
Video marketing has been on the rise for years.
So really, this is nothing new.
Video marketing is marketing.
So if you're not already using video
as part of your marketing strategy,
then it is time to get with the program.
But I wanna take that a step further
and clarify what type of video
you actually should be focusing on because there are a lot.
And I'm sure you've heard people out there
say that short-form video is the future,
and it is all you should be focusing on.
But hold up because I actually don't agree.
Don't get me wrong, I think short-form video is great,
and I love using it in my content marketing strategy.
But I don't believe that short-form video alone
is enough to drive long-term sales
and create a community of loyal and repeat customers.
So that is why I actually recommend
following a three-tiered approach to video marketing.
Tier number one, short-form video to help you grow.
So where short-form video really shines
is when it comes to growth
and getting a lot of new eyeballs on your content.
So as I mentioned earlier in this video,
I've had a few short-form Reels
go viral this year on Instagram.
I had one in particular that had millions of views
and gave me tens of thousands of new followers,
which is great, but followers do not always mean customers.
And honestly, the vast majority of those followers
will probably never become a customer
and might even unfollow me at some point
because they were never really aligned
with my message in the first place.
In fact, in all transparency,
I've lost a shocking number of followers
over the past month or so.
And yes, a lot of that is likely due
to the cleanup that Instagram is doing,
getting rid of bot accounts and fake followers.
But I'm also likely losing a lot of fair-weather fans
who nonchalantly followed me after watching a viral video
and then unfollowed me
when they realize that I just wasn't their cup of tea.
And that is awesome
because I only want the right people in my audience.
I wanna find the right people
and then get them to stick around.
And that is why long-form video is also so, so important.
So yes, tier number two is long-form video
to help you nurture your audience.
Long-form video is invaluable
because this is the type of content
that actually nurtures the people in your audience
and helps you build a real community
that sticks with you and becomes your customers.
So long-form video is where
you're actually able to deliver value
because let's be honest, there's only so much value
that can be delivered in maybe a 30-second video.
But an 8 to 10-minute video like this one
is a lot more valuable to your audience.
And if you take anything from this video,
let it be this...
Now more than ever,
customers demand value before they buy from you.
Whether that value is coming through the form of education,
entertainment, or inspiration, it doesn't really matter.
But customers want real value before they commit
to going any further on the journey with you.
So YouTube is taking off for this exact reason,
and that is why it still reigns supreme
on my list of hot predictions for this year.
People are craving more than 30-second dancing videos
and memes during a midnight scroll sesh.
Don't get me wrong, I freaking love those.
But if you don't believe me
just how powerful long-form video is,
take a look at these YouTube stats.
YouTube is the number two website by traffic in the U.S.
Yes, it is the second most visited website in America,
only coming second to Google.
Online video consumption has increased
by 121% in the last three years on YouTube.
YouTube's revenue increased by 21 times
over the last 10 years, from 1.3 billion to 28.84 billion.
And YouTube is projected to have 2.85 billion users by 2025.
So if you're looking to start
producing long-form videos like this one,
YouTube is clearly the place to be.
And I highly recommend you do it
along with your short-form video content.
But let's not forget the very last tier.
Tier number three, live video.
This helps you connect with your audience.
So this is really where the magic happens, right.
So if short-form video content is how you grow
and get more eyeballs on your content in a fast-paced form,
long-form video is how you nurture that new audience
and convert them into customers with value.
Then live video is really
how you connect with those customers
and retain them for the long run.
Now, live video is special because it is unscripted.
It gives your audience a real sense of who you are
and allows them to connect with you on a much deeper level.
And connection fosters long-term loyalty.
Now, this doesn't necessarily mean
that you have to go live once a week
on Instagram or Facebook to answer community questions
or teach content live.
Although, you absolutely can do that, and I recommend it.
In fact, I teach all of my programs live
because something magical happens
when I'm teaching live in front of my students.
There's a flow. There's a cadence.
There's a chemistry that you just can't replicate
in a scripted video.
But you could also do this
just by posting daily on your Instagram stories
and just sharing updates, and documenting your journey.
It's real, it's unscripted, and it creates connection.
Doesn't have to be long. It just has to be real.
And speaking of connection, people and blogs,
AKA vlog style videos,
are actually the most popular category on YouTube,
making up 32% of the videos posted on the site.
So again, that just shows
how much people love connecting with other people.
They're craving connection. They're craving authenticity.
Our customers want to engage with us on a deeper level,
so give them the opportunity to do that through live video.
Alright, next up on my list, prediction number two.
You knew it was coming, AI. Yes, Artificial Intelligence.
It is not coming, it is here, and it is here to stay.
But, but, but, but that doesn't mean
we need to be afraid of it.
It is a tool, not a takeover.
We should be embracing this technology with open arms.
So use AI to help you streamline your content creation.
Make your video editing quicker.
There's awesome tools out there
to add subtitles to your videos like that.
Use it to help with your SEO.
Use chatbots and AI funnels to help you capture more leads
and give more value to your customers in a timely manner,
exactly when they ask for it.
There are so many ways that you can use AI in your business.
But listen to me very carefully.
AI is not a shortcut to building a brand people trust.
So yes, adding AI into your marketing strategy
is a great way to save yourself some time
when it comes to ideation, first drafting,
systematizing, operationalizing your content,
but it absolutely cannot replace the insight,
value, personality, and high-level wisdom
that a human can bring to the table.
So whatever you do, do not fire your designers.
Do not fire your copywriters. Do not fire your proofreaders.
Just help them work more efficiently and effectively
with the help of these tools,
and you will get the best of both worlds.
So I highly recommend you take this prediction
in summation with all of the other predictions I'm sharing
because it is just one tool and trend
that is taking over this year.
All right, and that brings me
to the number one prediction on my list
that will help you really rise above this year and beyond.
Number one, lead with value and values.
So this relates back to so many things
we've already talked about in this video.
But hear me out.
Customers are fed up with being treated transactionally.
They do not wanna feel like they're just a lead
or customer in your business, just a metric or a number
that you have to hit every single week.
They wanna be a part of your brand. They wanna feel valued.
They wanna feel seen. They wanna feel heard.
They wanna feel respected.
They do not want you to shove a product
or sale down their throat with every single interaction.
And that is because the market is savvier than ever before,
and they just no longer tolerate hypey claims or clickbait
or free content, hm mm, with no real value, right.
And that is exactly why the influencer,
as we know it, it's dead.
Don't freak out, but it's true.
The market is bored of vanilla content
and perfect pictures that are all aesthetic
but have no real substance behind them, right.
The same poses, the same pallet, the same aesthetic feeds,
the same felt cute might delete later,
hehe kind of captions, right?
I am so over it. And I know I'm not the only one.
In fact, a little test.
Scroll through your social media feed today,
and I guarantee you
it looks a lot different than it used to,
maybe five or 10 years ago.
For one, there are a lot more videos,
like a lot more videos.
There are a lot more memes,
and there are a lot more stories.
And that's because people today
crave something more than just pretty pictures
and glossy highlight reels.
They want captivating and inspiring stories,
funny and relatable anecdotes, vulnerable shares,
practical advice, and values-based views.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
People want connection with the brands they interact with.
They wanna buy from brands and businesses
who share the same values as they do
and fight for what they believe in.
So today, the most iconic brand leaders are not influencers.
They are messengers.
So if you haven't already, let this be the year
that you lead with value and values in your business.
Do not be afraid to stand for something and call it out.
Create content that actually
helps real people solve real problems.
Then watch as your business takes off
because your marketing strategy is simply you
showing up as you engaging with your customers
and offering them real value.
And there you have it.
My five predictions for the future of digital marketing.
Are you already doing these things in your business?
Were there any that surprised you?
I would love to hear from you.
Go ahead, comment below, and let me know.
And let me know if you have any video topics
that you would like to see me do this year.
I am wishing you and everybody else
a very, very Happy New Year.
Thanks for sticking with me.
I'll see you next time with a brand new video.
Until then, I'm Alex. Ciao for now.
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In this video, I'm gonna show you
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