Marketing opportunities in 2023: podcasting, omnichannel, and aligned influencers

Executive overview

Most marketers are chasing AI while underutilising channels that are wide open and cheaper. Podcasting has less than 10 million shows versus over a billion blogs. TikTok ads run 40-50% cheaper than Facebook. Refreshing old content outperforms publishing new content.

Aligned micro-influencers and underutilised channels beat AI-driven and celebrity-endorsed marketing right now.

Biggest marketing opportunities for 2023-2024

• Podcasting: under 10 million podcasts versus 1 billion+ blogs — still an open landscape
• Omnichannel approach: TikTok ads 40-50% cheaper than Facebook for many clients
• Refreshing existing content: algorithms favour updated pages; Wikipedia's dominance proves this
• LinkedIn massively underrated for B2B — ranks second only to YouTube for NP Digital's consulting revenue
• WhatsApp has global reach but remains underleveraged by most marketers

Why celebrity endorsements fail (and what works instead)

• Generic celebrity deals fail because the audience doesn't match the product
• Kylie Jenner promoting a marketing agency: irrelevant audience, poor conversion
• When celebrities create their own aligned products (e.g. Kylie Cosmetics, Fenty), conversion is strong
• Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile worked because he had equity, believed in it, and was deeply involved
• Micro-influencers with 100k-500k highly engaged, niche-specific followers outperform celebrity deals
• Alignment is everything: LeBron James for Tonal (fitness equipment) converts; LeBron for a CPA course would not

AI: opportunity, not threat — yet

• AI tools augment workers; replacing humans in marketing is still 5+ years away
• Current AI weakness: outputs inherit bad inputs; misinformation on the web corrupts results
• Employees who learn to leverage AI will outcompete those who don't
• Making AI mandatory internally lets you expand headcount rather than cut it
• Open AI APIs useful now for better-informed business decisions, even if imperfect

E-commerce: what separates good from bad

• Strong e-com businesses build funnels with upsells and downsells tied to the core product
• Upsells that offer speed or automation convert best
• Text messaging now outperforms email for e-commerce revenue (if phone numbers are collected)
• Adding PayPal as a payment option typically lifts revenue by ~18%
• Use survey tools (e.g. SurveyMonkey) and session recording (e.g. Crazy Egg) to diagnose drop-off
• Choose SMS apps that integrate natively with your CRM — avoid manual workarounds