The latest research from Adobe Express has revealed Australian consumers are looking for honesty and AR/VR tech in 2024 content marketing. Adobe Express surveyed 1013 people globally to understand how different types of content resonates with consumers and influences their purchasing decisions.

Building trust with customers is one of the key cornerstones of any successful marketing campaign. This was reflected strongly in the survey, with honesty and transparency in brand messaging and marketing content at the forefront of what consumers were most interested in. The survey revealed that written content was seen as the most ‘authentic and trustworthy’ (44 percent), but globally, consumers believed that user-generated content was the most successful in this area (42 percent). No longer does the age-old adage of a picture telling a thousand words ring true, as photos were believed to be the least authentic and trustworthy (30 percent) type of content. This is likely due to the rise of AI and deepfakes proliferating online and threatening our understanding of truth and reality. 

Mind the generational gap

When it came to different generations, user-generated content was the winner in the authenticity stakes for Gen Z, and video was their content of choice (98 percent). Video also resonated with Millennials (91 percent) and declined substantially with Gen Xers (78 percent). Baby Boomers preferred to consume online content via email. 

Content length was a major part of the survey and provided interesting insights into what appealed to consumers. Medium-length content (two to five minutes for video and 300 to 700 words for written work) was most likely to result in a purchase and was the overall length preference for consumers. In addition to the results, the survey found three in five people globally believed that their attention spans had declined when engaging with online content. Gen Z were most likely to hold this belief.

Content marketing and AR/VR

When it came to brand messaging, the top three strategies consumers were interested in seeing implemented were transparency and honesty, followed by authentic and behind-the-scenes content, and lastly, short video content. Globally, an overwhelming number of consumers (85 percent) wanted to see sustainability in brand strategy, with South Africa (97 percent) leading the charge. 

The other main interest for consumers was the use of AR/VR technology utilised in content. Overall, participants surveyed were more interested in VR (34 percent) than AR (25 percent) technology. Almost three in five said that they would be likely to buy something from content that used an emerging technology (AR, VR or interactive stories).

Australia in a nutshell

When it came to local results, Australian consumers had preferences that were all their own. Email was the content type most likely to encourage a purchase among Australians and user-generated content was what they found most authentic and trustworthy. The likelihood of Australians discovering content on social media was 52 percent, a far cry from Mexico which ranked the highest at 70 percent. For a country that prides itself on having a good sense of humour, it’s no surprise that the top two types of video content that resonated with Australians were entertaining and humorous.

Much like the response globally, transparency and honesty were at the heart of what Australian consumers were looking for in 2024. However, where Australia varied the most from other participants surveyed globally was their interest in content using VR/AR technology. This was ranked as the second-highest strategy Australians were interested in seeing implemented in content marketing for 2024.

Photography by Firmbee.com on Unsplash.