Community trust, distinctive brands and human perspective lead this month’s digital marketing trends. Here’s what they mean for your business.
In this monthly digest, we share the digital updates catching our attention and our team’s take on what to do with them. June’s themes connect discovery, credibility and measurement: how customers find you, what makes them believe you, and how you understand the result.
Reddit Served Up a Reminder About Trust
Reddit brought a Community Deli to Cannes Lions, turning online conversations into a physical gathering place. Behind the sandwiches was a clear pitch: community discussion plays a role in how people discover brands and decide what to buy. See Reddit’s activation.
Our Take: Your content marketing strategy should reflect the conversations customers are already having. Look at the questions, comparisons and objections appearing in your category’s communities. They can reveal what your advertising and website still need to answer.
If customers keep asking whether a product lasts, show evidence of durability. If they are comparing service providers, explain your process and who you are best placed to help.
KitKat Turned a Heist Into a Brand Story
After a shipment of KitKat bars was stolen, the brand invited people into the search through its Stolen KitKat Tracker. The response became “The KitKat Heist,” which picked up a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in June. Read Nestlé’s campaign announcement.
Our Take: A recognisable brand voice helps a business respond when something unexpected happens. KitKat had years of familiarity to draw on.
For smaller brands, the practical lesson is consistency. Build a voice customers recognise across advertising, emails, social posts and customer service. That familiarity gives your next campaign something to build on.
LinkedIn Wants More Perspective in the Feed
LinkedIn outlined its work to identify generic, repetitive content and surface posts bringing professional experience, context and expertise. Its June update reinforced the value of contributing a useful perspective. Read LinkedIn’s update.
Our Take: Start with an observation your team can contribute. What surprised you in a campaign? Which question keeps coming up with customers? What did you change your mind about?
AI can help organise and sharpen the writing. The experience, examples and judgement should come from your people. A specific lesson from your business gives readers more to work with than another broad prediction.
Pinterest Is Moving Closer to the Shopping Decision
Pinterest announced new AI tools for advertisers, alongside Ask Pinterest, a limited-access experiment in AI-powered shopping. These developments show how AI in digital marketing is extending into product discovery and consideration. Explore Pinterest’s announcement.
Our Take: Think about the questions customers ask before they know which product they want. Show how your product fits a room, routine, occasion or problem.
A customer planning a small outdoor space may need ideas before they need a particular chair. Useful imagery, clear product information and practical examples help connect that early interest with your offer.
YouTube Is Making Later Search Activity More Visible
Google made Attributed Branded Searches globally available as a reporting metric, helping advertisers see searches attributed to an earlier ad impression or view. It adds another piece to the marketing attribution picture. Read Google’s YouTube update.
Our Take: Someone can watch an ad, carry on with their day, then search for your brand later. Review that behaviour alongside direct response results when assessing video.
Attributed searches add context, but they do not establish incremental sales on their own. Use them alongside qualified enquiries, revenue and overall business performance to understand whether interest is becoming something valuable.
What to Take Into Next Month
Choose one useful change from this month’s digital marketing trends. Answer a recurring customer question, bring a stronger team perspective into your content, or improve how you assess video.
Give the change a clear purpose and review what happens. The value comes from turning an update into something your customers can understand, trust or act on.