2024 has ushered in marketing strategies that serve up a fresh cocktail of traditional methods with cutting-edge technological advances.
As a result, content marketers are increasingly focusing on learning to work with new technologies, with 48% citing this as their top upskilling goal for this year.
In today’s interview, seasoned marketer Tripp Underwood shares insights into the adoption of interactive, holistic, and “blockbuster” marketing techniques that are reshaping the industry.
Who Is Tripp Underwood?
Tripp Underwood, VP of Content & Strategy at Cramer, has experience across content marketing; including print, digital, and outdoor advertising. He has developed projects ranging from small pop-up events to large corporate gatherings and has worked in B2B, B2C, healthcare, and non-profit sectors.
Holistic content marketing is an approach that integrates all aspects of a brand’s marketing efforts to present a unified message across all platforms and channels.
Holistic marketing includes content for:
- Social media
- Email campaigns
- Traditional advertising
Interactive content marketing, on the other hand, involves creating content that encourages active participation from the audience. This includes quizzes, polls, interactive videos, or any content requiring user engagement beyond passive consumption.
This type of marketing works to increase audience engagement, gather data on preferences, and enhance user experience by making content consumption more flexible and personalized.
Cramer Creates Interactive, Fun Experience
Underwood's approach involves creating multi-sensory experiences that resonate with audiences on all levels, including elements such as:
- Intention
- Emotion
- Inspiration
"Live at one moment, and on-demand later."
"Interactive in one situation and static in the next. The secret – if you can call it that – is taking the time to understand what the audience needs from your content, now and in the future," Underwood tells DesignRush.
“Mapping out their immediate and big-picture needs is the real work – scaling experiences up or down to make them more multi-sensory or interactive in the moment is the fun part.”
Netflix-Inspired Marketing Is What We Aim For
It’s worth noting that there’s been a noticeable uptick in content marketing investments, with 45% of B2B marketers planning to increase their budgets – this increase is particularly evident in video marketing content.
So, how does this play into blockbuster marketing?
Underwood explains it as a marketing strategy inspired by media giants like Netflix and HBO Max.
“Franchise-like content works best when applied to a specific product or service and is most effective when aimed at audiences already familiar with your brand. It’s less useful at the top of the funnel and more impactful at moving people through the murky middle of their buyer’s journey.”
What makes blockbuster marketing stand out is its ability to enhance a business’:
- Familiarity
- Customer relationships
- Brand loyalty
Underwood reminds us about the importance of starting with what makes a client's offerings believable and engaging to their audience.
He mentions experimenting with episodic content like interactive videos, comedic parodies, and talk show formats.
These are all formats that video production teams can easily replicate, while its success lies in its capacity to capture and hold an audience's attention through entertainment compositions they already recognize and enjoy.
Blockbuster Marketing Enables Content Repurposing
Once a content “series” concludes the opportunity to expand its impact presents itself – be it through eBooks, webinars, or blogs.
By repurposing the original scripts while maintaining a consistent visual style, these new content pieces can introduce additional details or alternative calls to action.
As Underwood explains, “Once a 'series' is wrapped, you can take a transcript or script and use it to create additional content, like e-books or infographics, so long as you’re utilizing the same visual identity as that of the video.”
“Ideally, these supplemental pieces will offer new details or different calls to action to engage more people or test different messaging.”
More than being an effective way to reuse content on various platforms and via different content styles, blockbuster marketing is also a surefire way to curb overspending on your marketing budget in the long run.
This approach maximizes the use of initial content investments by extending their life and reach across different platforms.
“If budget or resources are a concern, as they are for many companies right now, it helps to see which episode 'topics' get the most viewership before ordering the creation of additional content," Underwood explains.
"If you have a finite amount of time or money to dedicate to a project, make sure you’re spending it on the topics that garner the most interest.”
The Market is Oversaturated with AI Content
We’re all likely sick of hearing the term “generative AI” by now.
However, glossing over its impact on the marketing industry today would be doing a disservice to what it’s capable of achieving beyond just outlining articles or writing meta tags.
As it stands today, generative AI is playing a major role, with about 85% of digital agencies integrating AI writing tools into their daily routines.
“Generative AI will continue to dominate marketing trend conversations in 2024," Underwood argues.
"Content creation, strategy, communications plans – the algorithms will continue to be applied everywhere – and that’s great.”
In terms of content creation, many companies are using generative AI tools behind the scenes to enhance processes like storyboarding and conceptualizing, while maintaining a more selective approach for content directly viewed by consumers.
Yet, Underwood advises caution, suggesting a careful approach to incorporating generative AI to maintain a unique brand aesthetic.
"We’re in the infancy of understanding the technology’s potential, so companies should be experimenting with it broadly," he comments.
“As of now, AI-generated content still has a specific look and feel to it, and lots of markets are oversaturated with that look right now.”
You Shouldn't Use Short-Form Videos to Promote B2B Products
Underwood reveals the main opportunities for adapting content to new formats like short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
“Short-form videos like those of TikTok and Insta Reels are dominating social platforms and will continue to do so in 2024,” he states.
Short-form video content has been the go-to for marketers in recent years, mostly to keep audiences engrossed with their content before their dwindling attention spans run out.
Underwood expresses that 60-second videos as a full-on introduction to your brand may not be the best way forward for B2B businesses.
Rather, he suggests similar but alternative uses for this type of quick-look content.
“Instead of using short-form videos to push products, I recommend B2B companies use them to promote company values,” he explains.
Using short videos of employees sharing their personal stories and what your brand values mean to them is a much better brand growth strategy.
Here's why:
- It leverages current social media trends (also known as trendjacking)
- Engages consumers directly
- Enhances the image of your brand long-term
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