Our end of year review is finally here (2023 was a doozy, and it’s all thanks to AI!) and we thought we’d share our standout breakthrough marketing takeaways.
The popularization and hyper-fast evolution of artificial intelligence in marketing has heralded a new climate of efficiency and effectiveness. For us, AI has helped us nearly double our leadflow in 2023 compared to 2022. It’s kind of ridiculous how well it’s working.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at the breakthrough marketing strategies we discovered in 2023, how we used them, and why you might want to follow suit in 2024.
1) Using AI for Programmatic SEO
Central to our progress in the last year has been programmatic SEO – we even wrote a pSEO playbook about what we’re doing to get such great results:
Programmatic SEO, for those who are unfamiliar, automates content creation for a vast array of keywords, mirroring the strategy that platforms like TripAdvisor use to dominate search results. This approach democratizes the ability to rank for numerous keywords, making it accessible even to smaller entities.
Yet, this breakthrough marketing strategy comes with a cautionary note: The emphasis on quality cannot be overstated.
The temptation to generate vast quantities of content can lead to a dilution of quality, adversely affecting website rankings (as seen in the March 2024 Core Update). It’s a delicate balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and maintaining the integrity of content, which just highlights the (continuing) need for rigorous quality control measures.
Key Takeaway: Leveraging AI and programmatic SEO can significantly increase efficiency and effectiveness in marketing strategies, but maintaining content quality is crucial to success.
2) Evaluation and Utilization of Key AI Tools
The digital marketing scene is now thoroughly flooded with tools claiming to revolutionize marketing, which is both a good and bad thing. In 2023, ChatGPT was so widely adopted that more and more “.ai” domain tools that leaned on it began coming out of the woodwork.
Check this out: This is zonefile.io’s assessment of the influx of .ai domains in the last few years, with the notable increase being last year. Coincidence? We think not.
That’s when we started seeing a ton of tools coming out, like:
- Decipher.ai: Provides creative ideas from video and transcripts for new content.
- Jasper.ai: Enhances content creation with AI-powered writing assistance.
- Albert.ai: Drives digital marketing strategies with AI optimization and insights.
- Murf.ai: Offers a versatile AI voice generator for realistic speech synthesis.
- Keywordinsights.ai: Provides AI-driven analysis for keyword research and SEO strategy.
- Perplexity.ai: Delivers accurate answers and information through AI-powered queries.
- Reclaim.ai: Automates scheduling and time management tasks with intelligent AI.
- Lavender.ai: Improves email writing with AI-based analysis and suggestions.
- Originality.ai: Detects plagiarism and ensures content originality using AI.
- Undetectable.ai: Specializes in creating AI-generated content that bypasses detection tools.
- Copy.ai: Streamlines the content creation process with AI-generated copywriting.
- Aiva.ai: Composes original music and enhances musical creativity with AI.
- Krisp.ai: Offers noise-cancelling technology for clear audio in calls and recordings.
A tool’s effectiveness should not be judged by its novelty or popularity, but by its ability to drive tangible business outcomes, specifically revenue growth.
Always critically assess the utility of tools in the context of their specific business goals almost daily. With how many options are springing up everywhere, it’s really important to validate any new tool’s efficacy before investing in it too much.
And for the love of sanity, avoid getting tangled in annual subscriptions as often as you can! Make the tool(s) that you’re testing each week (during the free trial) your core focus to see whether it’s going to serve your needs. If not, then chuck it.
Key Takeaway: The right (for your business) AI tools can revolutionize marketing strategies, yet their selection should be based on tangible business outcomes rather than novelty, with a focus on avoiding long-term commitments without proven value.
3) Prioritizing Quality in Content Strategy
Low-quality content can significantly hamper organic reach and damage a brand’s reputation. The advice here is clear (and, yes, a little obvious): Focus on creating high-quality content, even if it means producing less.
This strategy not only preserves a brand’s reputation, but also enhances its standing with social media algorithms, leading to better engagement and reach.
Creating content that resonates with your audience requires a deep understanding of their needs, preferences and pain points. It’s about striking the right balance between quantity and quality. Instead of churning out content just to keep up with a publishing schedule, invest time in research, ideation and crafting messages that truly speak to your audience.
And as wondrous and exciting has AI has been the last year, it definitely opened the floodgates to a bunch of half-assed content. Your content should be above all of that.
This could involve leveraging data analytics to gain insights into what your audience engages with the most, or even soliciting feedback directly from your audience to understand their content preferences.
Key Takeaway: Quality content is essential for maintaining brand reputation and enhancing engagement, even if it means producing less of it.
4) Leveraging Cross-Platform Content Amplification
For us, repurposing top-performing content across different platforms led to significant increases in engagement across LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram:
This naturally gained us the maximum impact of successful content by tailoring it to the preferences of audiences on various platforms. The practice of adjusting content based on specific platform algorithms and user engagement patterns is key with all of the idiosyncrasies of each placement and it’s respective audience.
We mentioned Deciphr.ai earlier for a reason. This tool has helped us convert audio content (podcast) into articles and social media posts, which have really sped up the process it takes to curate and develop new content. It’s even helped us out with SEO keyword suggestions and captions for short-form videos:
Key Takeaway: Maximizing the impact of content by repurposing and tailoring it to fit the unique preferences and algorithms of different platforms can significantly boost engagement.
5) Community Engagement for Enhanced Visibility
An innovative approach to boosting content visibility involves incentivizing audience engagement, particularly through comments. This strategy, which has proven effective on platforms like YouTube, leverages the platform’s preference for active interaction to increase content reach.
By encouraging viewers to participate in discussions and offering rewards for engagement, marketers can significantly amplify their content’s impact. This is a perfect demonstration of the power of community engagement in driving success.
Key Takeaway: Actively engaging the community and encouraging participation can greatly amplify content visibility and success, leveraging platforms’ preferences for active interactions.
Final Thoughts on Marketing Breakthroughs from 2023
From harnessing the power of AI and programmatic SEO to prioritizing content quality and leveraging cross-platform strategies, the lessons I shared here can be a blueprint for achieving breakthrough marketing success.
Moreover, the emphasis on the founder’s mentality highlights the integral role of leadership in steering businesses toward growth and innovation. As AI continues to permeate digital marketing and other industries, I strongly encourage you to consider how you, too, can incorporate it into your own marketing automation and implementation methods.
Naturally, AI isn’t a 1:1 replacement for human agency yet, but it has come so incredibly far in such a short span of time at optimizing the entire workflow of marketers. How will you use AI in 2024 to maximize your own marketing?
If you’re ready to level up your content with AI tools, Single Grain’s AI experts can help!👇
For more insights and lessons about marketing, check out our Marketing School podcast on YouTube.
