Marketing Trends for 2024

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to take a look at some of the hottest marketing trends that will be sure to take 2024 by storm. Here are my predictions for 2024 trends in marketing that you can implement into your strategies.

My first 3 focus on AI:

AI – general

AI technology has advanced in leaps and bounds and is used across many sectors, although it has greatly impacted the world of marketing. 69% of businesses use AI for content generation purposes, although the AI boom is not without concerns. The widespread prevalence of misinformation touted by AI is certainly problematic and requires more work to verify any claims made.

There are also issues with the potential for data breaches caused by people sharing private data with AI generators, as well as future job losses as more tasks get automated or performed by an AI. AI-based decision-making could also cause problems through discrimination and bias against marginalised groups. There are consumer concerns about AI too. 75% of consumers are worried about being misinformed by AI. This wariness is not unfounded – the verisimilitude of AI-generated images and video have been leveraged for political advertising which verges on propaganda. Meta has recently taken steps to ban such content, but it’s hard to see how this ban will be enforced.

Despite this, 65% of consumers say they would trust businesses that use AI and feel that the use of AI technology could improve the customer experience. 65% of consumers also say that they would use the AI tool ChatGPT instead of a search engine when searching for information.

AI has other beneficial uses too. Marketers could create highly specific and individualised customer experiences using AI. Data-driven marketing powered by artificial intelligence could help to pinpoint the exact needs of customers. This could even roll out to in-person customer experiences at shops and other retail environments, thus raising customer loyalty, although this does raise some concerns about data privacy.  AI can also be used to analyse and optimise advertising campaigns in real-time, improving the overall ROI.

AI Chatbots

AI chatbots are increasingly used by businesses to respond to customer queries instantly without the need for human intervention. They use natural language processing (NLP) to replicate the experience of talking to a person by using a conversational style of communication, which can help set customers at ease. Dominos had success with their chatbot which enables customers to order pizza without downloading an app, making a phone call or even visiting their website – they just opened the chat in Facebook Messenger.

In a time where consumers expect instant answers at any time of the day, AI chatbots can easily facilitate this. There are times when a consumer request needs a human response, but for most straightforward queries, it will be sufficient. A survey by Twilio reveals that 38% of marketers plan to use chatbots for customer care in 2024.

AI content generation

AI is already used by 61% of marketers for content generation purposes. This could be for social media captions, website content, and long-form copy like blogs and articles, as well as image creation. Github’s developer tool Copilot is an AI that offers assistance with code and uses the AI language model GPT-3, and has been reviewed favourably by developers.

AI has been a game-changer that can save a lot of time, although AI content generation is not perfect by any means. Generative AI can produce masses of content quickly, although that doesn’t mean it is good quality. AI-generated content can be unreliable, generic and may produce plagiarised content, which can harm both the brand and SEO.

30% of consumers are confident that they could identify AI-generated content, although it’s hard to say how accurate their estimations are. Even tools designed to detect AI-produced copy are not that effective. A study found that even linguistics experts were not able to reliably tell the difference between AI and human-generated content. Either way, if AI-generated content is not fact-checked by a person, consumers may spot the discrepancies and it may harm the public perception of the brand.

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More focus on data privacy

There is more focus than ever on data privacy and protecting the rights of data subjects. This doesn’t mean that less data will be collected, however, it just means that more data will be anonymised. The Apple iOS 14.5 update gives more privacy to their users and allows them a greater level of control over how their data will be used.

The Google Analytics update to GA4 also gives similar levels of privacy by anonymising IP addresses by default and allows users to customise their data retention settings. There will be more data collected overall on user interactions that can be used by marketers to better target their desired audience.

Voice Search

Voice search is already massively popular – more than 1 billion voice searches are made every month. Going forward into 2024, voice search will be used more and will continue to impact SEO. Some of the ways this has already occurred include the use of long-tail keywords, searches in the form of questions, and the use of NLP to provide answers. People use voice search on their mobile devices as well as smart speakers, TVs and wearable tech, so it’s safe to say that voice search isn’t going anywhere. This could also tie into the use of AI chatbots and virtual assistants.

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Social Commerce

Consumers continue to do a lot of shopping on social media, especially TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and 47% of marketers say they sell directly within the apps themselves. Customers are attracted to the seamlessness of shopping on social media, and removing steps between seeing the desired product and being able to make a purchase helps significantly.

One notable statistic is the number of people aged 59-77 who are shopping online – the ‘baby boomer’ age group is more likely to have bought a product or service online in the past week than Gen Z. This could be due to their increasing tech-savviness and their superior spending power compared to younger generations. Some brands have successfully tapped into this audience of so-called ‘invisible women’ (those aged 35+) with outstanding results, such as Trinny London, whose sales figures hit £23.7 million last year. Marketers would do well to not forget this key demographic in 2024.

Native Advertising

Native advertising, also known as sponsored content, has been driving higher engagement and better click-through rates than traditional ads, which consumers seem increasingly blind to. This could be due to the way it blends in with the native content on the page, e.g. promoted listings on Amazon or in-feed ads on social media that resemble regular posts.

Native advertising also inspires a greater level of trust than other forms of ads. In a world where consumers are increasingly cynical and wary of ads, well-executed native advertising that is seamlessly integrated into native content can be very effective.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing shows no sign of slowing down in 2024, with marketers planning to spend a predicted $7.14 billion on influencers. We will also likely see some integration of AI and influencer marketing, with the introduction of AI-based or even virtual influencers. These would be more easily controlled by brands and cost less, although their long-term success remains to be seen.

Marketers will need to exercise some caution, as some consumers are turned off by the over-saturation of influencer content and a lack of overall authenticity. Brands should focus their efforts on micro-influencers who can create more targeted content rather than relying on celebrities and big names.

Short-form video content

The content juggernaut that is TikTok shows no sign of slowing down for 2024, and neither does the short-form video content it has helped to popularise. Short-form video is ideal for storytelling, adverts, influencer marketing, customer reviews and more. An astounding 91% of consumers say they want to see more videos from brands. It forces content creators to get to the point faster, which is appreciated by time-poor and attention-lacking consumers. The ROI is also stronger due to the relatively short time it takes to produce, as creators can make several short-form videos in the time it takes to make one long-form video. Marketers should focus on optimising their video content for soundless viewing as many viewers can’t or do not wish to have their volume turned up while watching.

Sustainability and Ethical Marketing

Consumers increasingly prefer brands that share their values, especially on environmental issues and social responsibility. Marketers must pivot towards sustainability in marketing strategies as well as production and other business activities, and do it in a way that can be proven. Consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z take a dim view of greenwashing. 62% of consumers want to see brands taking a stand on sustainability and social issues.

Brands also must consider the economic climate when planning marketing strategies so they don’t appear out of touch or ignorant. This year, Iceland executed a marketing masterstroke in their decision to not make a traditional Christmas advert, instead they offered more price cuts to support their customers in the current cost of living crisis.

Community Experiences and the Metaverse

The Metaverse dominated tech and marketing news in recent years, and while original pioneers Meta quietly abandoned their Metaverse plans, the concept continues to gather traction in the marketing world. Virtual storefronts and AR-driven immersive product experiences are some ways that metaverse technology could boost customer engagement. Some consumers have already embraced some metaverses in gaming, such as Roblox and Fortnite, which offer co-operative gaming and a new way of socialising online. Brands have already started to create a presence in these games and make their own virtual stores, like Vans World and Gucci Town. This may seem silly, but users are exchanging real-world cash for Robux, an in-game currency that they can spend in the Roblox metaverse.

Have a great 2024 and if I can help you to deliver any of these either through my consulting or with the support of my global marketing agency, SK, just get in touch.

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