Digital Professional Institute Instructor Shares Her Insights
For start-ups and well established businesses, marketing is a crucial tactic for getting a brand’s message out to its customer base. As society becomes more and more dependent on digital and social media, new marketing trends are emerging. Stephanie Moritz, head of PR and social media at ConAgra Foods and an instructor with the Digital Professional Institute (DPI), shares her thoughts on the forefront of marketing trends.
“Marketing professionals are continually evolving to reach their customers in the most effective way possible. Our world is digital dependent, but the trends go beyond simply tweeting a message or image. Think about creating stories and moments the consumer can relate to for the best campaigns,” says Moritz.
Below are Moritz’s top marketing trends:
- Age of agile and innovative CMO: Just like in hockey, marketing professionals must be able to make fast plays. They are prepared for the NOW, NEW and NEXT.
- Accelerated Convergence: Moritz expects to see Digital, Social and Media proliferation this year. The lines between traditional marketing functions, agencies and tools will start to blend and it’ll become mandatory to understand the brand across digital, social and media for efficiency and effectiveness.
- Entrepreneurial Mindset: With the real-time nature of social, an entrepreneurial mindset is necessary for both planned and near-in opportunistic content and editorial opportunities. Even high budget, well-supported campaigns have a scrappy, real feel to them. Moritz explains that a great example of this is Cannes; the best work had an entrepreneurial bend to it.
- Win Consumers with Head and Heart: According to Moritz, it’s crucial to understand universal truths or human insights. Marketers should build a product through a brand and create an emotional connection for the best results.
- Democratizing Creativity: Expect more on-going co-creation. “More marketers will put out a portfolio of creative on the web and let consumers pick their favorites and produce them. Think consumer bred products, advertising, creative, packaging, etc.,” says Moritz.
- Sharable Stories: What’s a story if you don’t share it? If you can’t write or text the idea or tweet it then you don’t have one. Moritz explains that it’s crucial to increase creativity around storytelling in static visuals, short-form written, text, short-form video, long-form videos, etc. Storytellers, the new creative, are the new most wanted. The ones who can crack the code in TV, Digital and Social will be coveted.
- Owning Moments: From macro to micro this is a relevant trend. “Get it right with the right audience at the right time. Own the moment through editorial plus social/digital content,” explains Moritz.
- Listen, Ask, Action = Advantage: Social listening and integration of customer service, digital search, ratings & reviews and social media will provide the new frontier of consumer intel for businesses. However, it also presents a new low cost and fast response way to ‘Ask’ consumers questions through social surveys.
- Who’s your Tech Start-up?: With more tech start-up incubators popping up across the country, including Chicago’s own 1871, companies are looking to partner or even purchase their own start-ups for purposes of creating and getting ahead of new technology.
About Tribeca Flashpoint Academy
Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, Tribeca Flashpoint Academy is one of the industry’s most well-known and respected digital media arts schools—providing intensive, hands-on, apprenticeship-style degree programs that propel graduates into “the business” in a way few other institutions can. Often described as part college, part industry apprenticeship, we offer a progressive training model through which students begin using state-of-the art equipment and software and working on real-world client projects beginning their very first semester on campus. They graduate in as little as 15 months with robust resumes and the insider industry know-how they need to step seamlessly into their careers in the digital media arts.
About the Digital Professional Institute
The Digital Professional Institute is an exciting new program aimed at starters and working professionals to enhance their digital toolkit. We offer 10 week specialist programs in Digital Marketing, Social Media, and Video & Post-Production. Our non-degree, non-credit bearing program offerings reflect the targeted, hands-on, outcomes-focused educational philosophy of our parent company, TFA, a leader in digital media arts education.
