Marketers Look to Generative AI, Increased Personalization and User-Generated Content to Drive Sales: Bombora Study

Q4 Bombora Marketing Pulse also finds advertisers focused on optimization

The rise of generative Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is reshaping the content-marketing landscape. And generic marketing strategies are giving way to individualized approaches, enabling businesses to build deeper connections with their customers. Those are just two of the main findings of this quarter’s Bombora Marketing Pulse, which became available today. This report’s “snapshot industry” — the sector in the spotlight — is healthcare.

“If you want to understand marketers’ priorities, just look at the topics they are researching more than usual,” said Bombora CMO Jeff Marcoux. “Based on the insights from the Marketing Pulse, it’s clear that marketers are more and more interested in personalizing their pitches to consumers, and that brands increasingly view user-generated content as not only safe but necessary. Marketers who ignore these trends risk falling behind forward-thinking competitors in the race for consumer attention.”

Moreover, brands are investing more resources into understanding their positions in the market, ensuring their reputation, and maintaining a consistent brand image.

What’s driving these trends? Brands are keen to give the people what they want:

· 75% of consumers would rather buy from brands that offer personalized digital experiences
· 90% of consumers said they would prefer to see brands share content from actual customers
· 82% of shoppers want a consumer brand’s values to align with their own, and they’ll vote with their wallet if they don’t feel a match

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Meanwhile advertisers, pushed to optimize spending, are pivoting toward more targeted, interactive, and digital-centric modes of reaching their audiences.

Among the largest topic spikes Bombora measured this quarter:

In-App Advertising research soared 1,037% in Q2 2023 as compared to Q1 2023
Brand Safety research skyrocketed by 846% in Q2 2023 as compared to Q2 2022
Web Content research increased by 627% in Q2 2023 compared with Q1 2023
Content Personalization research went up 492% in Q2 2023 compared to 2022 weekly averages
Employee-Generated Content (EGC) research grew by 310% in Q2 2023 as compared to Q1 2023
User-generated content (UGC) research grew by 213% in Q2 2023 as compared to 2022 averages

Bombora’s Marketing Pulse uses Intent data collected from Bombora’s Data Co-Op of more than 5,000 B2B websites to illustrate how interests are evolving over time and explore how marketers can best elevate their business through these uncertain and rapidly changing times.

The new report highlights trends in healthcare, noting that as healthcare organizations seek to create better experiences for patients in the wake of the pandemic, healthcare marketers are increasingly focused on personalization. Research into Digital Engagement by healthcare marketers increased by 292% in Q2 compared to 2022. Over the same period, Content Personalization jumped 437%, and Email Personalization went up 142%. Research into Real-Time Personalization increased 278% in Q2 2023 compared to 2022 weekly averages.

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