Welcome to the dynamic landscape of 2024, where the pulse of marketing beats with unprecedented vigour, and staying ahead of the curve is not just a choice but a necessity.
In a world that’s ever-evolving, being attuned to the zeitgeist is a strategic imperative and in today’s column I unpack three of the big ones that weave through all current applications of business growth and customer communication and look at how we can begin to be more attune to them.
These imperatives hold true across the spectrum, whether you are shaping an organisational brand, orchestrating a corporate personal role, or are an entrepreneur navigating the nuanced waters of personal branding—an inescapable reality for all of us now, regardless of our business or professional status.
Nina Christian
Navigating the Wellbeing Wave: Redefining Success Beyond the Bottom Line
There’s a lot of research and commentary around how at a macro level, big brands, large corporations even governments are leaning heavily into having a “wellbeing focus” around their operations and impact.
Where the impact of what the brand does spans just beyond economic success, and environmental impact – but also encompasses social sustainability – at both a community level as well as at an individual level.
For the first time ever, last year the Australian government has released an entire report guiding corporations to “measure what matters” and advocate for wellbeing as a success factor alongside commercial success.
Given what many of us have been through in recent years, expect to see and hear more about this in 2024. This taps into a huge trend, a focus that most of humanity has right now, around quality of life.
And given there is a groundswell of momentum in this area, it’s become the “expected” not the “norm”.
This is way beyond CSR (corporate social responsibility) and traditional ESG (environmental, social and governance) as a box-ticking exercise or as a “nice to have”.
And platitudes and hollow promises and well-worn cliches (even when well-intentioned) don’t cut it. Tangible and measurable and repeatable stories of human impact are becoming the norm. And the delicate, creative and thoughtful ways these stories with audiences is crucial.
This is true for large and small brands alike – including personal brands! Expect to see a shift in which personal brands gain traction, and which ones people switch off from in 2024 – this will be a really big factor.
Whether you run a business or are in a corporate role, people are going to gravitate to you if they can feel a positive impact from engaging with you (or conversely, they will distance themselves if your interactions, messaging or content leaves a bad taste in their mouth).
People are by and large rather jaded and hugely skeptical, and big bold claims, even if they’re true from years ago, don’t hold the same weight today. The ultimate currency is your ability impact NOW.
It might sound hard, but it’s actually not as hard as you might think. Everyone has the ability to contribute tangibly to the wellbeing of others (and most already DO in their day-to-day lives without realising the magnitude of it!). The key is uncovering this, identifying how it supports your commercial strategy, and shining a light on it so that the impact of it radiates further than it does now.
Turning Insight into Action:
Think about how what you do – in your business, your role, your team, your company, impacts on wellbeing at a societal level, and at an individual level. Allow this lens of wellbeing to develop as you talk about what you do, and be subtly infused into your content, conversations, and commercial interactions.
Personal Brand Uplift: 2024’s Imperative to “Be Seen”.
2024 will definitely be THE YEAR of the PERSONAL BRAND. This hasn’t happened overnight – things have been building to this over many years. But this year we are reaching a threshold where it’s now no longer a nice-to-have to stand out, or the luxury of more progressive firms, it’s moving towards a necessity to “be seen”, and moreover, being acknowledged and engaged with.
When I decided to shift away from the traditional marketing agency model back in 2018, after running an established and reputable marketing agency since 2000 it felt unusual and in some respects, as if I were “going against the grain”. But even all that time ago I could see a “best before” date for a lot of traditional approaches, especially for small businesses and those in the B2B sector.
The way things were niching, the way the marketplace was changing – and the biggest one of all – the RISE of the PERSONAL BRAND. Where people don’t want to hear from logos, but they are open to hearing from and connecting with PEOPLE. And not just a name slapped onto an email.
At its core, your personal brand is the emotion people feel about you when they interact with you or think of you.
The beautiful thing about your personal brand is it’s completely portable, versatile, flexible, and whatever other adjective you care to use to describe pliability. I’ve used my personal brand to promote and support such a raft of diverse endeavours – and they have ALL worked because the constant that weaves through that is ME.
Just like the constant that weaves through the ebbs and flows of your business and professional life – is YOU.
Tapping into your identity and essence, and then getting proficient in how to “lend” that to whatever it is you want to focus on commercially in this season is the top skill in business I reckon. It also helps you a ton in life generally too.
Turning Insight into Action:
Whether you are the “face” of the business or hold a role in an organisaction, in some way you most likely interact with people both inside and outside your business. And you get to craft the narrative that determines the way they feel about you – which ultimately leads to more new business, longer and deeper customer relationships, internal promotions and increased exposure externally.
The core things that make up a powerful, stand-out personal brand are:
STORIES – is what you share about your work relatable, relevant, inspiring?
IMAGES – what are they communicating non-verbally and are they interesting, personable, fresh?
EMOTIONS – how are your values expressed, and does your brand make people feel?
MESSAGING – what you want to be known for?
This is what makes the difference between a “meh” personal brand, and one that’s compelling and connected.
AI in Focus: Streamlining Your Marketing Without Losing Your Identity
This time last year the topic of AI was all the rage. Thankfully things have settled – one thing is for sure though, the tools are here to stay, and marketing is not exception. Things are just getting more specialised and focused, which overall is a good thing.
Don’t let it be a distraction though. It’s not a magic pill, especially when it comes to marketing and your personal or organisational brand. It’s not a substitute for YOU.
But what it can do is make your life easier – but only when you have the right focus, and at the right time. Easier said than done, right?!
There are a dizzying amount of genuine uses, and getting caught up in the distraction will shift your focus and precious energy from where it needs to be.
Turning Insight into Action:
Take a step back and before touching any tools, get clear on WHY, WHERE & HOW you can use AI in a REPEATABLE and STREAMLINED way to build LEVERAGE and into your marketing without compromising on your brand voice or identity.
When it comes to marketing tactics there is still way too much “cookie-cutter” and “outdated & irrelevant” stuff out there, or stuff that’s current and good, but way too hard on the poor old brain to execute week-in-week-out.
There is a better way and that starts with a very clear strategy on what you want to achieve and how you intend to go about doing it. And only then, look for the best tools that will help you do that as seamlessly as possible without compromising on the integrity and authenticity of the messaging, so you don’t negatively impact on the connection that you are seeking to build with your audience.
These three monumental marketing trends are shaping the narrative of 2024 and it’s up to us how we apply them in our own context and harness the inherent power that rests within each of them. These trends are not confined to corporate entities; they transcend boundaries, influencing personal brands and individual professionals too.
You are likely not going to always get it right, at least the first time, and so a curious, explorer’s mindset is vital as you feel your way through the current season and turn these insights into action, aligning your approach with these trends to propel your marketing effort in the right direction 2024. But as you do, you’ll move towards marketing alignment and a more impactful approach that serves your customers, your business, and you personally as well!
See Also: Nina Christian: Personal positioning and your reputation capital
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Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist, & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way.
She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of marketing agency Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).
Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands. With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me® which she delivers globally to business leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs.
She is the author of the book Marketing Me: Take Charge of Your Personal Brand and Make Your Mark on the World which helps professionals who want to market themselves authentically, but don’t understand what makes them truly unique and significant or have the confidence to express their value in a way that feels good.
Being a hands-on mum of five children, Nina has developed a knack for simplifying complexity. As a result, her systems and processes are practical, accessible and impactful.