This post is the second in a three part series that will inform the creation of my 5 year career plan in digital media marketing. To learn more about this project, please go here.
A futurist aims to analyse existing and emerging technology, social patterns and economics to predict the non-existent future (Sammartino 2018). In adopting this role of a futurist, within this blog post I will draw upon thought leaders’ versions of the imagined future in digital media marketing. Through this, I will utilise the power of abstraction and futurology to determine the short to long term future of content creation, social media and digital agencies.
Wendell Bell (1998) discusses a futurist’s role is to expand the alternative possibilities that people consider before they decide to act one way or another. From the following research, I have created an informed and comprehensive guide for myself and individuals interested in entering the digital marketing field regarding the possible forecasted futures of the industry. With this guide, readers can choose whether they wish to enter a career moving towards this informed imagined reality, with resources provided in each section to offer further utility to readers.
IMAGINED FUTURES OF CONTENT CREATION
- Video Content Creation
Short/Medium Term Future
Within the next 5-10 years, marketing thought leaders have determined the importance for emerging marketers to gain skills in video content creation, as this is an overarching trend within the digital Anthropocene. In 2021, a survey conducted by Hubspot found that 70% of marketers say that video is now their primary form of media used in their content strategy. 9 out of 10 people in this same report found people want to see more videos from brands. Canva’s B2B Head of Content Rachael Perry has furthered this argument, saying, “Video content is positioned for massive growth now, especially as video-first social platforms like TikTok continue to rule.” Indeed, this demonstrates that individuals wishing to develop their career in marketing should undertake to develop skills in video content creation and editing, how to utilise video platforms such as TikTok and Youtube, how to define your audience and how to track video performance.
A specific area of video content creation that is predicted to become massively beneficial within marketing is user-generated content (UGC) and influencer generated content (IGC). UGC is any content created by an unpaid user, while IGC is content created by influencers paid to do so. According to Anderson (2019), UGC and IGC are the future of marketing as it is greatly beneficial for a brand to establish a sense of community and relationship with their audience. Becoming an expert in creating and sourcing user-generated content will be a highly valued skill within marketing agencies, especially as trust in traditional marketing will continue to decline in the future (Anderson 2019).
As a starting guide, here are some valuable videos for developing skills in video content creation that will assist in your employability for the predicted short term future:
Long Term Future
According to Dator’s law of future studies, the future cannot be predicted as it does not exist. In predicting the long term future for video content creation, marketers agree with this sentiment as the constantly changing digital landscape makes it impossible to see the future. However, general predictions for the future suggest that video advertising in marketing will need to be far more personalised for consumers as customer data will become far more advanced. With this, it is seen that video advertising will become highly regulated, with strict data privacy rules that will affect video marketing content.
One prediction from Deloitte suggests the possibility of global digital platform companies replacing national broadcasting, removing the need to create traditional video advertisements and purely focussing on digital platforms. Further, it was suggested that advertising agencies would become irrelevant as digital platforms will develop intuitive ad trading models, resulting in a shift in digital agencies focussing on content creation rather than ad spending.
To prepare for this long term future, I suggest being comfortable with learning about video advertising regulations for the platforms you work with to always be up to date with platform expectations. Here are some sources on the current 2022 regulations:
https://influencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-video-ad-specs/
2. Deep Fakes
Short/Medium Term Future
As technology develops within the digital oasis, an emergence of the use of deep fakes has also forecasted a direction for content creation. Indeed, marketers agree that there is a developing need to create constant unique content for each platform and the language. This trend toward globalised video content creation has seen marketers use deep fakes, being “deep learning artificial intelligence to replace the likeness of one person with another in video and other digital media” (Johnson 2021). From this, it can be determined that deep fakes will be utilised to create video content in the near future, with one London company already doing this, calling deep fakes “the future of content creation” (Financieras 2022). The emergence of this new technology is predicted to become a central part of cyberculture across many industries.
Neil Patel (n.d.) argues that marketers should be utilising deep fakes for their marketing within the near future, saying that creating mass amounts of individualised content allows for better targeting and higher conversion rates in social media ads. Further, deep fakes allow video content creation to become much more manageable, with the ability to correct footage errors or alter the script without re-shooting footage, saving time and money.
If you wish to become highly valuable in video content creation, developing your skills in creating deep fake videos may be a great way to become competitive within the job market! If you are interested, here are some videos to get you started:
Long Term Future
The long term future of cyberculture utilising deep fakes for video content creation can go in many different directions. In my research, an interesting trajectory for deep fakes is shown through a start-up app that allows consumers to “scan videos of their face, upload the videos to their platform and within minutes be able to produce deepfake output replacing the model with the consumer” (Navidi 2020). This suggests a direction for further customer personalisation, with consumers being able to change the video advertising they consume to be customised to their body and measurements (fashion companies, for example). Indeed, this technology is not dissimilar to the customisation of avatars within video game platforms, as shown in the film Ready Player One. With this new usage for video content creation, how product videos are produced and how the videos explore the product will be entirely different in the long term future of cyberculture.
To prepare for this new method of video content creation in the long term future, I suggest being open to using new technologies and styles in the short term future. Here are some new styles you could try out:
3. Artificial Intelligence
Short/Long Term Future
A significant aspect of going into a role of digital media marketing is creating content in various mediums, including writing blogs, captions and other types of copy. Indeed, some thought leaders believe that artificial intelligence will become a considerable threat to content creators in the near future as they can write copy more efficiently than humans ever could (Lu 2022). This apprehension to artificial intelligence is represented upon a larger scale in science fiction films such as West World and Robot & Frank, mirroring AI criticism from thought leaders such as Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking. However, it is unlikely that AI will ever replace humans in content creation roles. Still, there is potential for them to assist in the tedious parts of writing, which could be hugely beneficial for marketers.
Chris Lu (2022) predicts a short/medium-term future in which AI can write a first draft within minutes, leaving marketers the role of fine-tuning and humanising the work to become more digestible. Indeed, this will make content creation more efficient, with marketers working on social media or blog post copy having the potential to benefit from this assistant technology highly.
Today, you can use existing technologies to get you comfortable with assisted AI in your content development. I highly recommend you check out copy.ai – a website that offers AI-generated content. Here is what copy.ai produced for me with the prompt ‘the future of content marketing’:
IMAGINED FUTURES OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
- Platforms
Short/Medium Term Future
TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021 and has the top place for phone app screen time (Monson 2022). The rise of TikTok as a platform has changed the social media landscape and has made social media giants such as Instagram and Facebook scramble to keep up with TikTok’s highly successful short video format. Indeed, the short term future of social media is placing a big focus on video content, with businesses all wanting to have a presence on TikTok. Further, TikTok has altered advertising culture within the digital oasis, emphasising the need to make ads that don’t feel like ads, creating a shift in video advertising (Morgan 2021). The future of social media marketing could see content marketers creating product/service advertisements that; better target their audience, are efficient and utilise UGC and IGC.
Individuals that wish to work in marketing need to become familiar with TikTok and TikTok’s advertising capabilities. More and more entry-level LinkedIn positions demonstrate brands want young people that understand TikTok and have content on the platform. To set yourself apart from other marketing applicants in planning for your future, develop a UGC TikTok portfolio. Here are some resources about TikTok marketing:
Long Term Future
When investigating the long term future of social media marketing and relevant platforms, thought leaders speculate about the Metaverse and its probable future impact. According to Jemima Myers (2022), the Metaverse is “an online digital world that users can immerse themselves using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR)”. This cyberspace has the potential to replicate films such as Ready Player One and with it an entirely new cyberculture in which cyborgs emerge due to attached virtual reality goggles. Indeed, the Metaverse platform is offering marketers a whole new way to interact with their target customers, offering in-world purchases, hosting virtual events, and even paying for virtual billboards within the platform.
According to Cathy Hackl, “Brands will need to rethink their narratives in three dimensions, and marketers will need to embrace emerging technology at a faster speed. In the Metaverse, everyone is a world builder, including brands.”
In order to stay relevant as a marketer in the long term future, you will need to be prepared to market within the Metaverse. Here is a video explaining the future of digital marketing in the Metaverse:
2. Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence
Short/Long Term Future
As social media marketing moves towards becoming more and more digitalised, the short term future is predicted to see a rise in chatbots handling 80% of “regular consumer queries” (C Com Digital 2022). In the near future, chatbots will take away a lot of mundane tasks that social media marketers have to deal with, such as segmenting a target market or responding to customer enquiries. With the rise of chatbots, there is a possibility that they will also begin to run social media accounts such as brand Twitter pages and handle customer responses via social media (C Com Digital 2022).
However, chatbots have a reputation for being frustrating, and often people would always rather talk to an actual human being. Representations of AI malfunctioning can be seen in films such as West World and 2001 Space Odyssey, creating an inherent doubt within audience’s minds. Chatbots will begin assisting social media marketers in the short to long-term future, but they (hopefully) won’t ever take over your job. To stand out in a social media marketing position, possess familiarity with chatbots and how to create them. Here is a great resource on how to do this:
https://www.tidio.com/blog/how-to-create-a-chatbot-for-a-website/
IMAGINED FUTURE OF DIGITAL AGENCIES
- PPC and SEO
Short/Long Term Future
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising strategies are currently a very prevalent practice by digital media agencies (Yec 2021). However, with over a quarter of internet users having installed an ad blocker on their browser, it is clear that digital agencies will need to move towards Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaigns for their clients in the short term future.
According to Kali Bliss (2019), “the future of SEO is in understanding the user’s intent and the deeper layers of wants and desires that drive behaviours”. The short term future for digital agencies thereby will involve constantly having to readjust to consumer behaviour and desire within cyberculture, with a need to predict these behaviours actively.
In the longer-term future, digital agencies will need to adapt to technology pushing for internet voice search, which will affect SEO (Bliss 2019). Indeed, Adzooma (2019) sees a future in which digital agency workers will collaborate with technology, with the marketer’s focus on humanly connecting to target customers. Science fiction films such as Blade Runner and Anita Battle Angel depict possible long term futures in which humans and technology collaboratively coexist. This direction will require a higher level of understanding of SEO and PPC and creativity on how to connect with customers. To stay competitive within this future market, start learning how to utilise PPC and SEO efficiently; here are guides you can use:
2. Remote Tech
Short/Medium Term Future
COVID19 saw a massive shift towards remotely working online, with organisations such as digital agencies having to adapt to remote technology to communicate and track their teams. With this, new team members had to learn how to use many platforms remotely. Digital agencies in the near future will continue to use new and upcoming platforms and expect their team members to know how to use these platforms (Liska 2019).
To prepare for a future in digital media marketing, you need to be competent in platforms such as google analytics, basecamp, canva, hubspot, excel, google ads and more. Mark Liska (2019) has prepared a comprehensive list of platforms you should be familiar with before entering into the job market:
KEY TAKEAWAYS OF THE OASIS OF CONTENT CREATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN DIGITAL MARKETING
My research portrays a future with a strong reliance on technology within the digital Anthropocene. More specifically, through my research, the digital media marketing industry is predicted to require digital marketers to have strong technical skills and be competent in a range of specialisations. Elenora Massini discusses the idea that “there is not just one future, there are many futures…”, displaying how these predictions are still not concrete visions of the future. However, in enacting as a futurist within the digital media industry, I have developed a solid understanding of the potential futures that will inform my career choice. Indeed, this futurist process has shown me that within the short term future I should enhance my skills in video content marketing, PPC and SEO, artificial intelligence, social media and more to prepare for the future of digital marketing. These insights would not have otherwise been realised without this analytical process, demonstrating the benefits in applying futurology theory to your chosen career industry.
As Chris Moore says, the future is now.
Thanks for reading! And remember to Keep It Sweet.
Reference List:
- https://stevesammartino.com/what-is-a-futurist/
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/future-content-marketing
- https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-deepfake
- https://www.proquest.com/docview/2648535190?pq-origsite=primo&parentSessionId=A2B9WEbAKMADv%2FjFWpJBfiFU3MgNqQ6eS8Ng6r5uuvA%3D
- https://medium.com/@14ideas/user-generated-content-is-the-future-of-marketing-25a304770e32#:~:text=User%20generated%20content%20(UGC)%20gives,authentic%2C%20meaningful%20approach%20to%20advertising.
- https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/gx-future-of-tv-video.html
- https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/ai-content-marketing-future
- https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/future-of-tiktok-ads/
- https://www.franchising.com/articles/tiktok_and_meta_the_future_is_here_are_you.html
- https://digitalagencynetwork.com/is-the-metaverse-the-future-of-digital-marketing/
- https://popupsmart.com/blog/metaverse-marketing#marketinginthemetaverse
- https://ccomsys.net/million-dollar-idea/are-ai-chatbots-the-future-of-social-media-marketing/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/01/27/the-future-of-growth-the-top-digital-marketing-trends-of-2021-explained/?sh=74dab22a572e
- https://searchengineland.com/will-traditional-ppc-agencies-die-out-in-the-age-of-automation-321439
- https://www.gobfw.com/digital-marketing/digital-marketing-platforms-to-learn/
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