Marketing as we all know, is a combination of strategies aimed at reaching and retaining more customers. The entire focus of marketing is on customer engagement and retention – because that is the source of all revenue. We can definitely expect more innovative marketing trends in 2024, which particularly leverage on emerging ICT and technology tools. It is no longer news that companies and brands worldwide are working smarter (not just harder) to please customers in every available way.
Going the Extra Mile: A Deeper Dive into Digital Marketing
An insane volume of internet consumerism coincided with increased digital marketing worldwide, right from the COVID-19 era. Consumer trends and habits are now more carefully studied. Personalized customer experience is taking the front row. And in this digital age, information pools continue to expand. A combination of the internet, telecommunications, and new technologies now offer diverse and super-fast access to that vast information pool. All these developments have had marked impact on marketing trends in 2024.
Furthermore, dynamic tools to access that information pool keep multiplying every day. They have become versatile tools in the hands of marketers – in fact, they are the very enablers of customer-centric marketing. To be more precise, these digital tools are getting more entertaining and attractive – especially social media. The way social media platforms have quickly become marketing tools is mind-blowing.
Digital marketing will play an ever-increasing role in successful product branding and widening the reach of advertisement. That is no longer disputable. Nor does it eliminate the traditional, physical methods of marketing on the streets; digital marketing actually enhances its success. What that suggests is that a successful marketing strategy in the modern day (2024 inclusive) employs ALL available marketing channels. Whether physical or digital, every marketing strategy is needed to deliver all-round success.
The billboards, flyers, word of mouth, vehicle labels, street campaigns, and more, are further boosted by digital marketing. As more people get addicted to social media and internet platforms, those who ignore street advertising would be hooked up through captivating online content.
In a bit, we shall examine the evolving and emerging marketing trends to watch out for in 2024. In our humble opinion, these marketing strategies should be fully exploited to remain relevant to customers.
Evolving Marketing Trends of 2024
Responsive Website and Mobile Design
There is an ever-increasing number of internet users who use mobile devices, such as phones and tablets. Which makes it important to design or optimize your website for easy mobile access. How? Firstly, create mobile-friendly versions of your website. Again, work on enhancing the loading speed, the web page design, the ease of navigation, and quick customer support. All these strategies will ensure your present and potential customers do not get frustrated while attempting to access your website. Otherwise, they would drift away and seek help elsewhere.
Also Read- The Benefits of Outsourcing for Small Businesses
Leveraging SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a cheap method of making your online content rank higher (and be more visible) on search engines, using keywords. It has seriously boosted the web exposure of SEO-optimized websites in recent times, thus attracting more patronage. Digital marketers need to create more useful and relevant content, without ignoring the judicious use of relevant keywords. Such keywords will direct search engines to easily locate a brand on search engines like Google Search or Bing. Beyond text content, images, videos, forms, web address, web page elements, meta tags, social media content and more also require SEO optimization.
Employing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Voice Search
Artificial intelligence (AI) has mightily simplified a lot of everyday business and personal tasks. From generating trending topics, to producing meaningful content, personalized customer support, enhancing search engine operations, voice recognition, chatbots, virtual reality, automated email campaigns, etc. The list goes on and on. In fact, more people are now getting hooked onto AI assistants like Siri or Google Voice Assistant. And AI is equally offering itself as a potent tool for marketing.
For broader access to consumer data (which includes voice data), embedding voice search tools into apps, websites, and search engines is highly recommended. Furthermore, the use of AI to forecast and study consumer trends will be a top scorer for marketing success.
Marketable Short Form Video Content (especially on TikTok & YouTube)
YouTube and TikTok have long conquered the video content creation and sharing space, because videos ARE especially entertaining (of course). The ability of video content to quickly attract and engage customers is awesome, especially if the concept is interesting. Not only that, TikTok has further made short-form video content insanely popular. TikTok generated over 16.1 billion US Dollars in revenue in 2023 alone, with 1.5 billion monthly users in the same year. And now the short-form video trend has migrated to YouTube.
The YouTube Partners Program allows creators to monetize both short-form and long-form videos, once they hit 1000 subscribers. Thus, marketers have no option but to invest in this far-reaching strategy. They can leverage videos to promote their brands and secure more loyal followers with creative, meaningful content, and personalized adverts.
More Content Creators & Influencers Collaborating with Marketers & Brands
Video-sharing social media platforms (with YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram at the forefront) have become powerful tools for content creators to showcase their talents. Whether by creating tutorials, How-To videos, other useful information, or entertainment material, more creatives are dominating social media and building a large followership. Digital marketers and established companies are quick to turn these huge fanbases to their advantage.
Marketers may not have direct access to these followers elsewhere. But they can enter into paid partnerships with content creators, and also float targeted ads on their video content. That way, marketers will quickly access their target audience amongst a creator’s fanbase. Furthermore, many celebrities and skit makers have acquired large followership by virtue of promoting online entertainment, sports, or other such famous industry. The same paid partnership packages are offered to them; and both parties benefit immensely from the arrangement.
Intensified Social Media Marketing
Social media apps have proven successful in networking people and creating vibrant online communities across the globe. Thus, they have naturally transitioned into online marketplaces (as we have repeatedly emphasized above). Individuals, business owners, corporations, and governments can now connect with potential and existing clients through social media marketing and campaigns. It is progressing at an increasing pace that will not stop anytime soon. Which also makes it necessary for digital marketers to create welcoming, engaging content that will draw consumers to keep coming back for more.
Live Streaming
We cannot underestimate the popularity of live streaming events. Before the COVID-19 era, live streaming of physical events had already become popular. From sports (and e-sports), political and celebrity events, TV shows, social functions, to video game tournaments. The restrictions of the COVID-19 era further increased its widespread acceptance.
Now the majority of social media platforms and communication software (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, WhatApp, Zoom, Discord, FB Messenger, etc.) have embedded live streaming functionality. Typical websites can easily implement live streaming plugins as well, with the option of recording the event. It offers the opportunity to reach thousands, even millions of people at once in a remarkably quick time using targeted adverts.
Enhanced User Data Protection and Privacy
With tons of user information on the internet, one needs to be concerned about the safety and usage of personal data. What efforts are you making as a marketer to safeguard user data, as they interact with your brand? Are they protected from security threats such as hackers or scammers? Is there any risk of exposure to an unwanted third party going around to harvest user data for unauthorized or unethical reasons? These are reasonable safety concerns. And the more your brand pays attention to it, the better for everyone.
Improved Customer Experience
There is no doubt that customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of every marketing effort. Should any organization ignore this critical fact, it is doomed already. Dissatisfied customers will not only drift away, but can convince others to abandon that brand. Customer testimonies can be powerful. Which is why it is critical for marketers and brands to invest in both enhanced customer support and customer experience. Giving prompt support and attention to customers, getting feedback from them, and improving all-round user experience constitute additional marketing strategies that work.
Multi-channel Marketing
Just as we emphasized earlier, it is necessary to capture and retain your customers through every available channel. That is, deploy all available online and physical channels to reach your customers; synchronize them, and do it consistently. Outdoor/physical campaigns and adverts, web adverts, email marketing, social media, SMS, content marketing, SEO, search engine marketing, name it. Make use of rich, meaningful and engaging content. And work on personalizing user experience. These strategies altogether help to secure and increase customers’ loyalty to your brand.
