Insights

In today's competitive real estate market, engaging potential buyers is key to swift property sales. This blog explores how real estate video production can captivate audiences, highlight property features in unique ways, and ultimately boost sales.

The Rising Importance of Real Estate Video Production

As the world moves increasingly online, the real estate industry is adapting accordingly. The growing trend towards digital consumption has emphasized the need for more than just static images and text descriptions. The introduction of high-quality real estate video production has proven a game-changer in how properties are marketed and sold. Unlike traditional photographs, videos provide an immersive experience, offering potential buyers a more detailed and authentic feel of the property, which, in turn, facilitates quicker and more confident purchasing decisions.

Incorporating video into property listings can dramatically increase visibility and engagement. According to Hubspot, videos now represent a majority of all internet traffic, making them a critical component of any effective marketing strategy. For real estate agents and homeowners, the ability to produce compelling video content can significantly enhance the attractiveness of their listings, allowing viewers to imagine their lives within those spaces. Moreover, the versatility of videos means they can be shared across multiple platforms, including social media, websites, and email campaigns, effectively reaching a wider audience.

Storytelling Through Video: Showcasing Properties in a New Light

The essence of effective real estate video production lies in storytelling. It's not just about displaying the property, but about crafting a narrative that connects emotionally with potential buyers. Storytelling transforms a simple walk-through into a journey, inviting the audience to envision their future in a new home. This method not only enhances the memorability of the listing but also increases the likelihood of engagement and inquiry. Effective storytelling incorporates the unique selling points of the property, the community's lifestyle, and the potential for making memories.

Technical Tips for Creating Compelling Real Estate Videos

Quality is key in real estate video production. From lighting and composition to storytelling and pacing, each element plays a vital role in the final product. Utilizing tools such as drones for aerial shots and stabilizers for smooth walkthroughs can add a professional touch that sets your video apart. Key considerations include ensuring clear audio for voiceovers, adequate lighting to highlight the property’s best features, and thoughtful editing to maintain a compelling pace without sacrificing informative content. By focusing on these aspects, real estate professionals can create videos that capture and retain viewer interest, driving further inquiries and visits.

Maximizing Reach: How to Share Your Real Estate Videos Effectively

The power of real estate video production is fully realized when the videos reach their intended audience. Maximizing reach entails a strategic approach to sharing content across various platforms. Social media channels, such as Instagram and Facebook, offer potential for high engagement, especially when leveraging tagged locations, hashtags, and paid advertising options. Additionally, embedding videos on property listings and company websites can improve SEO rankings, making it easier for potential buyers to find your listings. Email newsletters featuring video content can also re-engage past clients and encourage word-of-mouth referrals.

Real-life Success Stories: Real Estate Video Production in Action

The impact of real estate video production on sales and engagement is best illustrated through real-life success stories. Agents and agencies adopting video production report a marked increase in property inquiries and significantly shorter sales cycles. For instance, a luxury real estate agency leveraged drone footage to showcase the expansive surroundings of a high-end property, resulting in a notable uptick in engagement and a rapid sale. These success stories underscore the tangible benefits of integrating video into real estate marketing strategies—transforming how properties are presented and driving notable results in sales performance.

Virtual Tours: The Next Best Thing to Being There

In an ever-evolving real estate market, virtual tours have emerged as a pivotal aspect of real estate video production, offering a near-physical experience of property walkthroughs from the convenience of a potential buyer’s home. These immersive tours provide a 360-degree view, allowing clients to explore every nook and cranny of a property without the need for physical visitation. The inclusion of interactive elements, such as clickable information points, further enhances the user experience, providing detailed insights into special features of the property. Virtual tours not only save time for both buyers and agents but also broaden the audience reach, attracting international or out-of-state buyers who can virtually visit the property before making any travel arrangements.

Why Real Estate Video Production is the Future of Property Sales

Discover how real estate video production isn't just a trend; it's a powerful strategy to enhance property visibility and attract potential buyers. By focusing on storytelling, leveraging social media, and considering virtual tours, real estate professionals can significantly boost their sales. Remember, the goal is not just to show a property, but to tell its story in a way that resonates with potential buyers. With the right approach, video can be your most persuasive sales tool.

In the inexorable race to elevate customer experience, web design is blending new and old to be bigger and better.

Build it and they will come: the paraphrase of the famous movie line definitely applies to web design. With all of the focus and effort to drive traffic to a company’s website, marketers should make sure visitors find and enjoy an immersive, interactive and inspiring online experience. In 2024, continued technological innovation and an even greater focus on user engagement have brought the following web design trends to the fore.

Denser, Richer Graphics‍

Web design is moving away from the clean and minimalist designs of the past decade toward denser and richer graphics. Credit the goal of a more immersive user experience and the increased technical capacity for more design-intensive sites. Processors, graphics processing units and web browsers have advanced to a point where, according to Webflow, designers are empowered “to create visually captivating and emotionally resonant websites, unfettered by previous constraints of slow load times and performance issues. We’re entering a new era of digital creativity.”

Adding Some Hype to Your Type

With design components such as layout, size and color constantly evolving, in addition to the usage of more dynamic and interactive elements, it’s no surprise that typography is following suit. Not just about messaging and communication, typography is now “a character on the screen,” Webflow asserts.

“In 2024, we expect to see a blend of classic and modern fonts, large and bold statement typefaces, and experimentation with overlapping text and mixed media,” the SaaS application firm forecasts.

Web design seeks to create visuals that engage and move the audience. Kinetic typography or moving text is not surprisingly a popular tactic to do so. With the field moving from information conveyance to an engaging visual element and webpages that are simply informational to the experiential, designers can use kinetic typography to “promote accessibility and inclusivity” while maximizing narrative-driven designs, especially landing pages and campaigns, according to Webflow.

New & Improved Techniques

In 2024 and beyond, look for design methods that create a more dynamic visual experience and help provide a familiar, seamless and more intuitive user experience. Parallax scrolling, where background content moves at a different speed than foreground content, adds depth and movement to the user experience. While the technique is not new, incorporating more live and video content instead of static designs and imagery is a fresh, bold move to stimulate consumer eyes and deepen the level of engagement.

Skeuomorphism is a way to make a webpage more user-friendly by using elements that imitate real-world counterparts in look, feel and function. A trash bin icon and the shutter-click sound made by most camera phones are prime examples. Webflow calls the revival of skeuomorphism “an emotional response to the over-digitization of our day-to-day lives. With so much of our current lives operating in a virtual space, users are increasingly drawn to designs that mimic a pre-digital world.”

AI-generated designs

As everyone knows by now, AI is on the rise and it’s no different in the design world as the technology is poised to revolutionize the digital landscape. Think about the possibility of, rather than every user having the same content, custom graphics based on user data and design systems delivering a level of personalized experience not seen before. AI design tools can achieve this dynamic delivery while also significantly speeding up projects at reduced cost.

“Web design is evolving from the crafting of beautiful window scenes along the customer journey to creating full-on, immersive experiences,” said Michael Rivera, infinitee’s VP, Creative Strategy. “While thinking bigger, marketers, with their designers and developers, still have to master those tactical elements, from typography and various techniques to microinteractions. It’s an exciting time for creative branding and we can help your firm make the most of it!”

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From the givers to the receivers and the creative conceivers, the retail industry is still all about people.

Retail today is of the people, by the people, for the people. That means despite a rapidly changing retail landscape, including high-tech innovation, you’ll find smart brands staying focused on the No. 1 priority. From social media influencers’ authentic content creation and connection approach to the dawning of a new consumer generation to critical employee retention efforts to even AI helping to deliver hyper-personalization, retail is still about people first and foremost.

Creator Commerce

The rise of social media and digital commerce has spawned the role of the influencer as consumers look to experts for advice on products and services. Forbes even went as far as to say these content creators “are the cultural leaders of the 21st Century.” Well, we can at least agree that the advancement of online media sharing has democratized retail marketing and consumption: easy access to the Internet and social media means anyone can create and share content around the world, including about products, goods and services.

“Retailers should embrace these creators and treat them as part of the community for the brand,” writes Shelley Kohan. “Content creators provide a new way to introduce products with authentic recommendations, and they help connect people with products they’ll love based on their shared tastes or expertise.”

The creator economy market is projected to double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs.

Eyes & Ayes on AI

If one promised improvements to the shopping experience, interactive online features to help with service requests, and increased efficiencies with regard to content creation, retailers would respond, ‘Where do I sign up?’ For those reasons and more, they’re increasingly adopting AI, which Forbes calls “the most significant disruptor in retail since the advent of online shopping.”

“Micro-segmentation and building robust communities are two ways marketers build brand assets to grow customer loyalty,” Kohan asserts. “[With AI] brands are figuring out how to deliver hyper-personalization in a relevant and non-creepy way.”

Preparing for Gen Alpha

The term ‘Next Gen’ has been widely used for the latest, cutting-edge version of products and technologies, but now is the time for retailers to begin preparing for the literal next generation of consumers: “Gen Alpha.” How will these digital-first natives be different in their preferences, expectations and habits? Brands emphasizing fun, humor, sensitivity and awareness, creative outlets, and expressions of individuality will be successful, according to Leslie Ghize, executive vice president of Doneger | Tobe.

“The volatility of Alphas’ formative years – pandemic, climate crisis, loneliness, financial insecurity and societal division – will inspire them to intentionally craft healthy, happy existences before they hit late adolescence and adulthood,” she tells Forbes, adding that they will show proactive tendencies versus the reactive of Millennials and Gen Z.

“And retailers should never forget their most important asset, their people,” said Vince Vitti, infinitee’s VP, Business Development, and the firm’s recruitment marketing guru. “As brands strive to achieve that authentic human connection with consumers, they’ve got to give the givers in that equation a highly engaged, rewarding and inclusive work environment. Employee well-being has never been more important in this challenging labor market.”

Increased return to office volume is a most welcome commercial real estate sign as more office decision-makers choose to give workers a why, not the whip.

Return to office (RTO) is not just a CEO talking point or corporate plan anymore. It’s increasingly becoming a reality. Just check the numbers: February foot traffic at office buildings nationwide was nearly 19% higher year-over-year, according to an AI-enabled office building index that tracks such volume via cell phone data in some 1,000 office buildings across the country.

Overall, there’s still much work to do, however, for office managers, owners and investors to once again feel optimistic about occupancy and, for the latter two, the resulting cash flow and, in turn, capital appreciation of their commercial real estate assets. Office visits were still down 31.3% from February 2020, “the nation’s last ‘normal’ in-office month before COVID changed everything.” Yet, that gap narrowed by more than 5 percentage points since the month before.

The story on returning to the office initially focused on the who, when and where for obvious reasons, but the what and why factors are coming to the fore. Specifically, what is the form of office amenities and surrounding attractions and appeal that provide the why, the motivation, for workers to return?

Location, Location, Vocation

Even a real estate novice knows the importance of location. Regarding office values, RTO becomes a factor as well. After all, tenants are the lifeblood of income-producing real estate. The tech and finance sectors may be boosting RTO volume and are therefore elevating the outlook for office properties in cities with a strong presence from those industries.

Miami and New York continue to “lead the post-COVID office recovery pack,” according to Placer.ai's data based on their strong tech and financial tenant representation, respectively. Visit volume to Miami buildings was down only 9.4% compared to February 2020 and up 23% year-over-year. New York office traffic was down 14.5% compared to right before the pandemic and up 21.7% year-over-year. Dallas, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. also outperformed the nationwide baseline of -31.3% difference since February 2020.

Kaplan adds retail to tech and financial services as the only industries expected to continue to push for a full return to the office. The reasons cited are that leaders in those fields tend to spend more on commercial real estate and are "the most adamant" that remote work can pose security risks.

Quality Leads to Quantity

To play off the real estate investment phrase ‘flight to quality,’ employees are more likely to return to quality, as in newer Class A or creative office buildings that offer versatility, agility and a well-amenitized, ESG-focused, engaging place for authentic coworker connections to happen and company culture to grow.

As a result, Class A buildings posted a vacancy rate nearly 3% lower than the national average in 2023. On the creative office side, rent in buildings close to the Atlanta BeltLine’s eastside increased by 189% from 2012 to 2023 as opposed to rent growth of 49% overall for metro Atlanta during that same period, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

“We spend most of our time as brand builders and storytellers strategizing on how to attract consumers, but this is another vitally important target audience, one that we often call a company’s greatest asset,” said Vince Vitti, infinitee’s VP, Business Development. “From dynamic workspace design to an emphasis on office connections to surrounding restaurants, entertainment and recreational options, we can continue to elevate the office in service of both workers and owners.”

For more than 30 years, Atlanta-based ad agency, Infinitee, has left an indelible mark on the retail and commercial real estate landscapes across the US. Through strategic branding, innovative messaging, high-impact creative, and unparalleled industry insights, the results-driven agency has supported CRE titans and privately-held development firms alike in propelling their businesses forward.

CEO, Tim Patton, shares what to expect next from Infinitee, “With the dedication of our exceptional team members, Infinitee will continue to be the agency of choice for CRE branding and marketing strategy. By leveraging our teams’ collective knowledge and establishing truly collaborative client partnerships, we will continue to raise the standards of excellence in the CRE marketing space, achieving unrivaled success together.”

Patton’s entrepreneurial background and experience serving major brands (including Clorox, Auburn University, Cintas, Carhartt, Coca-Cola, Meta, and Procter & Gamble) solidified his dedication to the creative industry and shaped his vision of using high-end creative solutions as a means for sustainable business growth. This vision, coupled with his ability to lead, learn, and embrace emerging technology, is the driving force behind Infinitee’s expanded service offerings, enhanced focus, and renewed market positioning.

Earlier this month, Infinitee launched its new website—a living, breathing case study in business expansion and the agency’s commitment to the CRE industry. Built on a Webflow platform, the site uses SEO strategies, AI technology, and industry-leading tools to provide actionable insights on what resonates with visitors. Real-time access to this information empowers Infinitee’s strategists and creative teams to predict trends, pinpoint market challenges, and drive consumer decision-making. Now a powerful tool for business development, Infinitee is eager to utilize this tech stack to transform client websites into 24/7 sales tools that unlock new opportunities for business growth.

Says Patton, “Infinitee empowers and inspires organizations and leaders to be unstoppable in achieving their business goals. Through strategic thinking, storytelling, branding, and marketing, we separate your brand from the rest with bold ideas that drive lasting results. At Infinitee, we are invested in your success and are committed to positioning your business to achieve its greatest potential.”

The new site launch is the first touchpoint in a series of campaigns demonstrating Infinitee’s CRE expertise. This roll out continues with ICSC Las Vegas in May, where members of Infinitee will collaborate with marketing leaders on the challenges they face in the space, and how an agency partnership can alleviate these challenges and deliver results.

Interested in connecting before ICSC?

Use our contact form to request details — we can’t wait to meet you.

Showtime is go-time in the retail conference world, but attendees should first master the meeting fundamentals.

When you get a chance to go face-to-face with the top dealmakers and experts in your industry, you should make the most of it. A new meeting, deal or relationship could be the difference in a conference, a year or even your career.

Those driving innovation and evolution in retail real estate can be found at the International Council of Shopping Centers or ICSC. Whether a local or regional event or the premier national conference, ICSC Las Vegas every May in Las Vegas, attendees should take great care in their planning and preparations, while also making time for extras.

Plan

Why should you go to ICSC? The question sounds simple, but it’s important to have detailed, reality-based objectives for attending the conference, starting with your target connections.

“Should you meet with owner/operators or should you meet with tenants or a combination of both. If you don’t have a good reason to go, such as a project or site, then don’t go because it wastes everyone’s time,” writes John Orr, president of Carolina Retail Experts.

After creating a list of targeted contacts you want to meet and why, work diligently to schedule the prospects for firm meetings. Your company booth in the convention hall is always a good place to meet given the concentration of team support and brand visual power behind you. If not there, make it as convenient for your prospect as possible… they have probably been on their feet all day.

“After the first few years of the conference, I started planning my attendance around the comfort level of my shoes,” says Ryan Nixon, a more than 20-year sales veteran of ICSC Vegas. “By Year 15, I ditched the suit for slacks and a sport coat, my pace slowed a bit to preserve my feet and I never left the hotel room without a PowerBar and Gatorade.”

In addition to stamina, prepare your calendar a year in advance, Orr recommends. Especially important when your conference schedule includes many stops each year, blocking off the time for ICSC as soon as possible reduces the possibility of conflicts down the road.

Prepare

Being organized is being in control, it’s been said. That control means a greater chance of success when pitching your retail business.

First, your ICSC meeting materials should be easily accessible (including plenty of business cards!). Time is of the essence when connecting with prospective clients so make those few minutes together smooth and efficient. Orr adds the “pro tip” of not being totally reliant on Internet access; make sure your presentation materials and marketing collateral are available offline as well.

It goes without saying that your presentation should be well-rehearsed. When prospects are confused by a hole in your messaging or distracted by a fumble, they are less likely to appreciate and connect with the product or service you’re offering.

Finally, it’s ICSC so make sure you know prospects’ stores and their competitor stores and understand the market, Orr adds.

Think Extras

Extra effort is a good thing in business, and so it is at ICSC. Scheduling that additional time to walk the exhibition floor (with the right shoes) and drop in at various booths might lead to the discovery of new or expanding concepts or happening upon that friend from two jobs ago or a fellow alum with powerful connections. “We enjoy this environment, it is exciting and full of action. And that is where our team thrives.” said Tim Patton, Infinitee’s CEO.

Don’t stop there. Scheduling “special time outside of the show hours to take clients or prospects to dinner or meet for coffee” is a good way “to solidify existing relationships and create new ones,” according to Orr. Let’s face it: people are going to remember a nice dinner and hours of conversation versus another hustle and bustle appointment in the conference crowd.

And don’t forget about “after the conference”. Once you get home, the follow-up begins. It’s a good idea to sort your notes/cards into piles. One pile is for immediate follow-ups which might typically be a specific proposal, or any info to send in the pursuit of new business.  The other pile is for follow-up/thank you notes, with the goal of emailing them within a few days of returning home.

Like a reporter, brands must stay on top of the who, what, where, when, why and how of digital marketing to optimize performance.

Digital marketers, store that shotgun approach safely away, forsake those for the-sake-of appearances tendencies, and check the check-the-box approach at the door. It’s not enough to show up in this dynamic marketing sphere, you better show out. That means embracing digital marketing best practices to maximize results for building your business.

Digital or online marketing offers many advantages for brands to generate attention and sales for products and services. Delivered right to a handheld device, whether via social media, websites, search engines, email, or text messaging, your messaging could not be more accessible. Forbes shared the following best practices to turn those big advantages into big results.

Goals to Go

Like any good business move, initiative or program, your digital marketing efforts should start with a plan. What is to be targeted? What are your goals? Increase website traffic, build brand awareness, boost brand engagement, elevate your thought leadership profile in the industry, generate more qualified leads, expand your email prospect database and, of course, increase sales are examples of top digital marketing goals, according to Forbes contributor Janette Novak.

Know Your Audience

It sounds self-explanatory when trying to increase attention and ultimately sales for your brand that you know the direct object, the people to whom you’re trying to reach. It pays to be detailed and systematic in this step though. Define your target audience by shared attributes (e.g., age and gender), then identify the problems or issues this group has. There’s no better messaging reaction than ‘they get me and my needs.’

Establish a Budget

Unlike the days of print ads, TV spots, and billboard signs, the price of online marketing is quite right.

You don’t need a large budget to get started, so digital marketing can be an effective tool for all types of businesses, writes Novak.

It’s important to know the cost of the tech tools needed to deploy your digital marketing efforts, including SEO and social media management software, as well as the human resources needed to run and feed them, including copywriters, videographers and designers.

System Selection

A brand’s website is the Mother Ship, its home base, the hub to which all the other channels or spokes connect. Not surprisingly, launching a company website is step No. 1 in digital marketing for most businesses. Additional digital marketing methods — social media, SEO and email are the most popular — should depend on what’s being sold, where the target audience spends their time and, of course, budget, according to Forbes.

Track & Analyze

Evaluation happens in school, sports, government and elsewhere, and so it should also be with your digital marketing efforts. Tracking and analyzing performance metrics — Novak calls it relatively easy, just don’t put too much stock into early numbers — indicate what parts of the plan worked well relative to your goals and what didn’t. This leads to informed decisions for future continuance or modification of tactics, as well as those times when it’s back to the proverbial drawing board.

“With all the high-speed commercial clamor out there, achieving authentic and effective connection with one’s target audience can feel like trying to command a kid’s attention in the middle of the world’s biggest toy store,” said Vince Vitti, infinitee’s VP,  Employer Branding & Recruitment Marketing. “The good news is that all those digital marketing channels mean more options for brands to find their sweet spot in terms of audience location, messaging and budget. We can help!”

With community spaces and features never so important, owners and operators are spending extra effort on apartment extras.

‘Give them what they want’ could be a good multifamily maxim. Apartment operators must go beyond meeting renter needs, with the main driver being resident retention increasingly warranting amenity-rich community spaces.

But renter habits and preferences change — especially since the pandemic — and not all amenities are created (or received) equally. The challenge for multifamily owners and managers is getting the amenity package right and then finding a way to generate revenue from those areas, according to Bisnow’s Studio B.

Extras & Externals

To create bonus revenue streams from amenities, multifamily operators can charge for extras. Residents could receive limited access to an amenity per their lease agreement — Studio B uses the example of 10 hours per week in a coworking space — and then be charged for any additional time.

Also, multifamily communities can take a page from the events venue book by leasing out spaces to people, including externally. Who hasn’t been to a clubhouse and pool area for a birthday, graduation or anniversary party? Lee Miller, Studio B contributor, adds, “If you have a wider [apartment] portfolio, you could allow people from other properties in your portfolio to pay to use amenities in another property.”

Knowing Who’s Going

Every marketing pro knows the importance of the move and measure approach, i.e., capturing metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of tactics and campaigns. The same goes for the all-important apartment amenity game.

“The biggest struggle for a property manager is knowing what’s going to resonate with residents,” says Miller about a range of amenities from traditional meeting rooms and cafes to bowling alleys and golf simulators. “These spaces aren’t cheap so they need to make sure they’re investing in amenities that not only attract residents but are really used when people move in.”

Apartment operators should look to technology that both facilitates a seamless experience and crunches the numbers on amenity use for enhanced operator analytics. It’s not enough to have a booking platform that facilitates the management of amenities, they also should demand tools that help monetize those spaces.

Technology-enabled and tracked from season to season and property to portfolio, the optimized apartment amenities mean greater ROI and efficiency, as well as enhanced staffing benefits. A cloud-based system frees up leasing agents from the booking responsibility when residents want to reserve a space, Miller notes, and amenity usage analytics can help operators with personnel deployment.

“We’ve discussed the top multifamily amenities before, and those become even more important in this new post-pandemic chapter of live-work-play for multifamily,” said Michael Rivera, Infinitee’s creative director. “To maximize rental revenue, it’s critical to not only get those community differentiators right, but to also manage them the right way. Partnering with a community branding leader committed to strong collaboration and innovative, creative, highly engaging, and high-impact strategies will help.

From hyperlocal engagement to high-volume delivery and quick hits to long-term collaboration, influencer marketing helps brands stay nimble and connected in a rapidly moving communications world.

The digital marketing space moves at lightning speed. The good news is that brands don’t have to execute the fast and furious, as well as deep and long, content efforts all by themselves. Influencers are there to help with social media endorsements and product placement, but with that special, boots-on-the-ground, impossible-to-commodify persuasive power.

Forbes calls the influencer marketing space in 2024 “brimming with potential for significant shifts and innovations… gearing up for some big changes… [and] shaping up to be an exciting ride.” For brands and content creators, what are the next important moves for the industry “that’s always on the move”?

1. Going Local & Long-Term

There’s no such thing as marketing campaigns that are too targeted or local. Brands want to drill down to connect deeply with specific communities and interests, and they know influencers, specifically of the niche and nano- kinds, can help them. As Forbes reports, geotargeted influencer campaigns allow brands to leverage those local marketers and their strong familiarity of regional preferences and trends. Niche influencers offer smaller audiences but higher levels of engagement.

“It’s like having a conversation with a neighbor rather than broadcasting to a crowd — more personal, more relevant and, often, much more effective,” asserts Danielle Wiley, agency CEO and expert on B2C influencer marketing.

How can you improve on such deep engagement efforts? Go long as well, as in long-term collaborations with influencers. After all, brands strive for authenticity and credibility to build trust and loyalty, and those things are more effectively achieved from consistent influencer brand endorsement over time. They are reducing sporadic promotions and fleeting appearances for the influencer long game, which is more conducive to a genuine feel and engaging narrative.

2. AI Yesses & No’s

It’s not a stretch to see influencers at the forefront of AI with more and more marketers using the technology this year. After all, it’s a high-speed space, and AI can expedite content creation tasks and help analyze follower likes and comments to determine the next, best content steps.

Faster execution and better content analytics are never bad things, but Forbes does issue a note of caution. Influencers and their partnered brands over-relying on AI can make posts seem artificial or overly polished and lead to content ideas that are increasingly detached from audience values. Then, there are ethical concerns.

“For instance, if an AI tool creates too artificial of a scene, it could mislead followers, causing trust issues,” writes Wiley.

3. Jacked Up For ‘Trendjacking’?

Speaking of the high-speed, viral, real-time world we live in, brands better be prepared to go with the flow, specifically capitalizing on trends and media movement at a moment’s notice. We love Forbes’ phrasing: “Brands will need a ‘bucket of money’ for trendjacking.” There’s a time and place for market and user research, messaging meetings and design review, but companies also need the capacity for timely and resonant output, “a powerful strategy to keep brands relevant and actively involved in the cultural dialogue, connecting with audiences in real time,” Wiley adds.

“With the advancement of influencer marketing, brands continue to push boundaries, which means they shouldn’t settle for the same old analytics while they should stay on top of tech tools growing to meet the moment, including Snapchat’s evolution,” said Chantelle McOuat, Infinitee’s Social Media Director. “Ultimately, we agree with Forbes’ position that the role of full-service agencies, with their ability to lead amidst such complexities and leverage the dynamics, becomes even more crucial in 2024.”

Brands’ marketing moves must balance quick and engaging with deep and meaningful in an ever-evolving business landscape.

The marketing song remains the same: connect with audiences with content that makes a lasting and impactful impression. Yet, many business factors affecting brands can be dizzying in their dynamics, including consumer behaviors and tech advancements. Good marketing strategy is finding a way to align all the moving parts to reach that main objective.

That’s why it’s critical for branding professionals to stay on top of the latest marketing trends. Want to do more in 2024? Forbes counts down the top 5 marketing trends for the new year:

1. Conversational Marketing & AI-Driven Interactions

Waiting in line at the ol’ customer service desk in many ways seems like the Stone Age. In the era of smartphones and Siri, today’s consumer wants answers now. Catering to the immediate gratification consumer universe, conversational marketing “is poised to redefine customer interactions,” according to Forbes. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants allow brands to instantly engage consumers, addressing their informational needs and advancing their purchasing decisions. Through speed and personalization, such conversational marketing tools elevate the customer experience, which increases satisfaction and ultimately conversions.

2. Virtual & Augmented Reality Integration

The global virtual reality (VR) market is expected to grow from approximately $60 billion in 2022 to more than $435 billion by 2030. The possibilities are, well, virtually limitless for brands using VR and Augmented Reality as they continue to push to create captivating, immersive experiences for customers. One innovation allows residents in senior living communities to revisit their childhood home, wedding location or other special place from their past. Brands will increasingly incorporate these technologies into their marketing campaigns as VR and AR hardware become more accessible, Forbes notes.

3. Sustainability and Ethical Marketing

“From eco-friendly packaging to fair trade sourcing, marketing in 2024 is as much about values as it is about value,” writes Jennifer Gaier in Forbes. Increasingly, it’s not enough to do well with modern consumers; brands must do good by them as well. As reflected in the heightened corporate focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance), consumers these days go deeper beyond the sale or a campaign to what matters most to brands and how they regard and support things like environmental and social responsibility. Sustainability and ethical marketing are a smart way to grow meaningful connections with customers as well as the bottom line.

4. Hyper-Personalization Through Big Data and Analytics

The days of shotgun marketing are gone, and personalization and customized experiences are in. With so many ways to collect customer information and better and better processing technology, such as machine learning, brands better be taking advantage of Big Data and analytics to fashion “hyper-personalized marketing strategies where content, product recommendations and even advertisements are customized for individual consumers.”

5. Video Marketing and Short-Form Content Dominance

The fact that the number of U.S. households owning television sets grew from approximately 8,000 in 1946 to 45.7 million in 1960 is an old school, yet still very impressive confirmation of the power of the visual medium. In new school marketing, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and similar short-form video platforms are elevating the dominance of video. Used for more than just ads, “the ephemeral nature of this content, combined with its engaging visual appeal, aligns perfectly with the dwindling attention spans of modern audiences,” asserts Gaier.

“When your name means unlimitedness, you’d better be ready for new trends and challenges,” said Vince Vitti, infinitee’s VP, Employer Branding. “As brand makers, storytellers and creative advocates for your business, we’ll be there every step of the way to help your marketing team view challenge as opportunity and something new as a chance to improve.”

Social media posts should spur the moment while also being designed and executed in support of strategic brand goals, including audience engagement and customer loyalty.

What if you had a one in a hundred chance to catch your target audience when they're on Instagram? Research showing that users spend an average of 12 hours on the social media platform or about 1% of their time each month should make one thing clear to marketers: it’s really important to post when your top users are online to maximize engagement and ultimately increase conversions.

"Timing and consistency are the unsung heroes of social media success. Even the most compelling content deserves the spotlight at the right moment. In our experience, it’s not just about creating content, it’s curating moments that connect with our audience. Something that sticks with us constantly is “It's not just about what you say; it's about when and how often you say it.”

It can be all too easy for marketers to treat social media posting as merely a box to check on a to-do list or to schedule content based on some conventional wisdom on the daily calendar, but in the business of connection, it’s critical to do all you can to connect with your most important followers. HubSpot delves into why it's important to post to Instagram at specific and consistent times.

Increasing Engagement

The global average Instagram engagement rate is nearly 6%, according to 2023 HubSpot research. The software company likens engagement on the platform to throwing a rock in a still pool. Your brand wants staying power after the first ripple of immediate likes, comments and saves after posting. The next wave comes from Instagram features such as Favorites, Search and Videos, each interconnected but with its own independent algorithm. Posting at the right time helps beyond the immediate marketing moment.

For one of our clients, Tanger Outlets, a 2023 objective was to provide their audience with information on deals, savings, and promotions. Our strategy was focused on ways our audience could earn even more discounts strictly through social in an interactive way. Last year we introduced “comment to like” on Tanger’s Instagram and Facebook platforms which included copy that mentioned “Want XX off? Comment “YES” to learn more”. Once our audience responded in the comments, we would then send them a link that provided information on how to get more savings at their favorite stores. This kind of approach increased overall engagement but was also something we have adopted in our strategy moving forward.

Building a Loyal Audience

Marketers know that customer loyalty is not like flipping a switch; it takes time and effort to build. The timing of your social media posts factors into this important effort because setting expectations for your target audience and being consistent with your timing and touch helps build relationships. Followers who see that your brand wants to engage and, in addition to high-quality products and services, can count on that effort will keep it top of mind, making them more likely to develop devotion.

“Recognizing when your demographic and target market are most active online is crucial to building a loyal audience. It's not just about being present; it's about being present when it matters most to them. By aligning your content schedule with their online habits, you create a dynamic connection that resonates, engages, and leaves a lasting impression”.

Again with Tanger Outlets as an example, we are constantly monitoring when our audience is online, what content they are responding to, etc. It is our goal to understand our audience on a deeper level, so we can better understand their behaviors and what they will engage with.

Keep Time on Your Side

So what is the best time to post on Instagram? Posting between 6 and 9pm and 8 o’clock in particular on Friday (followed by Saturday and Wednesday) is optimal, according to 2023 HubSpot research.

But the real answer is perhaps one that the checklist marketers don’t want to hear: it depends. When is your audience online? Obviously, it matters the industry you’re targeting and whether they’re east or west coast. As Hubspot reports, people in financial services are easiest to reach on Instagram on Sunday nights while workers in agriculture are more available on Saturday mornings.

“From post timing to trying out different features to even testing new Instagram algorithms, let’s not lose sight of the fact that content quality is still essential — content is king,” said Tori Alexas, one of infinitee’s Brand Managers. “Once we get content to the high brand standards of utility and appeal, then we optimize with Instagram tools and tactics, including, of course, timing that caters to our target audience.”

The creative and analytical sides of marketing must come together to raise the standards of messaging, experience, values and culture in support of brand value.

Business has always been about how much you put in, but even more so what you get out of it:

Return on Investment. Yet, with marketing’s role to, so to speak, set the scene for sales, the connection from inputs to outputs has been traditionally viewed more as a dotted line. In a world with no shortage of metrics and pressure to produce though (combined with economic anxiety), how can CMOs prove brand worth?

“At a time when being able to demonstrate impact is more important than ever, the ability for marketers to quantify the value of the brand they’ve built can serve as an asset in difficult discussions with the C-suite, all while also serving as an indicator for the health of the business,” writes Deloitte Digital’s Maggie Windsor Gross and Mark Singer in Forbes.

The two opposing camps within marketing, the creatives and the analytical, must find common ground to prove brand worth. Stronger together, armed “with precise, data-driven insights that emphasize brand impact and how brand investment lifts every part of the company,” they’ll be able to stand that ground versus the C-suite and any other critics. According to Deloitte Digital, they can do so by using the following marketing benchmarks: Values Alignment, Experience Satisfaction, Message Memorability and Share of Culture.

Values Alignment

More than three out of every four consumers (76%) would refuse to buy from a company that supported an issue conflicting with their beliefs, one study found. That’s the importance of Values Alignment, which when achieved can send a brand’s customer loyalty score substantially higher than industry averages. It fuels the trust part of the marketing-sales funnel that leads to bottom line results. “Research shows brands that do best here are purpose-driven and are unafraid of taking a stand on social and societal issues,” asserts the Deloitte Digital team.

Experience Satisfaction

Did you know that 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience? And, as you’ve probably heard, unhappy customers will tell twice as many people about their bad experience as completely satisfied customers will tell about their positive ones. Not surprisingly, Experience Satisfaction, the second marketing benchmark, is vital. “The brands that perform best are human-first [rather than digital-first],” writes Gross and Singer.

Message Memorability

Like traditional brand trackers, this benchmark measures how quality content connects with the right people at the right time in the right place. Combining creativity and calculation, top brands performing well in this metric convert up to 75 out of 100 customers, showcasing full marketing-sales funnel performance, according to Deloitte Digital.

Share of Culture

This final metric prioritizes brand interaction and participation with customers. Companies that take part in extensive and inclusive cultural conversations with consumers broaden those relationships and elicit deeper feelings from them. That leads to staying power and, as Gross and Singer state, a new marketing channel: word-of-mouth recommendations.

“Since branding has been our thing for more than 31 years, you shouldn’t be surprised to know we’re brand defenders as well. That means showing the branding goods but also the gains,” said Amy Norton, Infinitee’s Director  of Strategy & Accounts. “With a reputation of combining a creative, personal touch with measurable results, we can elevate your game and boost your brand’s worth.”