Unlocking the Future of Content: Our key takeaways

Future of content
31st July 2024 Blogs

Creating engaging content that goes beyond demographics is crucial for brands to cut through the noise in today’s digital age. To delve into this topic, Strata hosted an event last month all about “Unlocking the Future of Content”, and invited our Consulting Director, Lea Karam, to deliver the keynote. In her keynote, Lea explored the ever-evolving marketing landscape, explaining that all the stages – awareness, purchase, discovery and consideration – can now occur simultaneously:

“The marketing funnel and marketing ecosystem have changed. It’s not a funnel anymore. It’s a loop. Awareness and action were part of the traditional funnel. Now, awareness, purchase, discovery, and consideration can happen simultaneously. People can know about your event and brand instantly.”  Lea Karam

The Impact of Digital Platforms

Lea highlighted how revamped digital platforms have disrupted communication and altered consumer behaviour, and that understanding the behavioural triggers behind decision-making is essential for authenticity in marketing.

Focusing on the purpose and impact of content in today’s digital ecosystem, Lea discussed the paradox of choice, which is where too many options can lead to decision paralysis. Alongside this, she emphasised the importance of inclusivity and diversity in creating content that truly connects with key demographics, and suggested leveraging influencers and the creator economy to build trust and engagement.

“Skipping audience mapping and community-building homework won’t work. It will only make content strategies fall short. Audience mapping is so important, because if you don’t understand who you’re speaking to, their triggers, and their passion points, you’re going to end up speaking to Ozzy Osborne and King Charles [same age, same gender and part of the same mosaic group] at the same time and create content that would resonate with the whole world. That’s not the point.” – Lea Karam

Leveraging Predictive Technology

Lea recommend leveraging predictive technology when creating engaging content, saying that brands must embrace AI. She noted that while marketer’s expertise will continue to remain critical in crafting compelling strategies, AI is a great tool that can be used to complement human creativity and innovation.

“Generative AI, like ChatGPT, makes text and content, while predictive AI looks at patterns and behaviours to give a real view of consumers. This is key for getting detailed insights and connecting authentically with people.” – Lea Karam

AI advancements in audience segmentation reveal the gap between what consumers say they’ll do and what they actually do, helping brands go beyond basic demographics by analysing consumer conversations to create detailed psychographic profiles based on real behaviours. Lea believes AI is essential for understanding and addressing diverse consumer needs and should be a key part of every brand’s strategy. However, she cautioned marketers not to replace human touch and interaction completely, as these are key when driving conversions and creating trust.

“Incredibly insightful”

Commenting on the event and Lea’s keynote, Giles Cattle, director of creative, strategy and business development at Strata, said:

“Lea’s keynote speech was incredibly insightful. Our guests were blown away by the great examples she shared and were grateful for the takeaways that will help them to develop relatable event and content strategies, with our help of course.

Brands can’t achieve true engagement without experiences that connect and captivate. For years, we have all been saying how content is king. Therefore, events are the perfect opportunity to foster that culture of belonging that so many audiences crave.”

To find out more about how you can create engaging content that goes beyond demographics and truly resonates with your audience, contact our expert team today.