It feels like 2018 has just started, but spring is already just around the corner. The end of the first quarter is the perfect time for marketers to review progress on goals.
This year, brands will need to tailor marketing strategies to an ever-growing audience that is as diverse, critical and digital as ever.
To give you a leg up, the team at WARC (the World Advertising Research Centre) surveyed 600+ marketers around the world to find out what their priorities and challenges are—and discovered five themes.
Take voice strategy. Recent research by NPR and Edison Research suggests one in six U.S. adults own a smart speaker like Google Home or Amazon Echo, leading some to call voice the fourth sales channel for brands. But according to WARC’s survey, only 16% of brands have audio guidelines at this point.
2017 also saw a backlash against brand purpose. From scorned campaigns like Pepsi and Kendall Jenner, to complaints that award schemes are over-rewarding socially good ideas, brands are realizing they have to take the long view on purpose rather than jump on the bandwagon.
Are you nodding along? In today’s infographic, you’ll discover all five marketing challenges—according to your peers—and three best practices and pitfalls to avoid.