Marketing trends come and go every year. Thousands of businesses make millions of dollars as they follow those predictable trends. While thousands of businesses also go in loss because of not staying up to date. Today, to help you ensure your 2024 marketing efforts see sure-fire success, we’ve gathered top 8 marketing trends predicted for 2024, backed by research. Tailor your marketing strategies beforehand to get the edge you need.
Let’s get into the meat, shall we?
Top 8 Marketing Trends Predicted for 2024
1. Video Marketing is The Future
Video marketing is taking over — not that it’s new in marketing — compared to previous years, it’s seeing explosive growth. In 2016, the video usage was around 61%. Today, it’s 86%.
Therefore, you must integrate videos in your regular content production.
Here’s where:
Interactive live videos
TikTok videos
Facebook/IG reels
YouTube shorts
Facebook Ads
Wish to upscale your Tiktok lead generation? Learn how to make a personality quiz for your Tiktok bio.
What should those videos be about? About your brand and products…obviously.
But not always.
People hang out on those social media platforms to become social — not to be sold to. Ensure your content provides value in the form of entertainment, education, inspiration, empowerment, and so on. While you can definitely promote your products and services, it’s always better to build a massive audience by providing generous value upfront, says Andrew Priobrazhenskyi, CEO of DiscountReactor.
By generous value, Andrew meant to provide educational and problem-solving content. Your content should ideally help your audience, if you want to build meaningful relationships.
For instance, your audience might give you tons of reactions on a funny reel on Instagram. But they can scroll and instantly forget about your brand. Meanwhile, if your videos are about helping them do something or achieve something; let’s say ‘tips to remove acne within 30 days’, they will not only like your video, but will stop, follow, and check out your brand’s page.
In short, solve their problems and help them become a better version of themselves.
Your video content mix should be on the 80/20 rule — 20% for your brand, and 80% for your audience.
You can do:
Explainer videos
Behind the scene videos
Fun quizzes and challenges videos
TikTok trends videos
Recreate viral videos
Employee/customer story videos
Launch a full-scale campaign for your new product (goes without saying…duh)
When creating videos, don't forget to focus on SEO. Videos are an important component when it comes to an SEO strategy, so you by creating engaging videos you can win on multiple fronts. Here are some SEO tips for video creation
Here’s an example of Go-Pro’s video, for creating viral-worthy videos for your brand in 2024. It has a cat, a fireman and action.. what would you need more ;)
But, your videos don’t necessarily need to be long-form, and professionally produced. Audience enjoys authentic experience. Hubspot’s report showed that short-form videos bring in the highest ROI, when it comes to social media marketing. It makes sense because platforms like TikTok exploded in recent years. Seeing the potential, Facebook introduced Reels, and YouTube introduced Shorts.
These giants are investing in short-form videos because the audiences’ behaviors are changing; they now consume fast-paced, short-form video content.
If you can’t afford high-end gadgets, just open your smartphone camera, hit record, and talk. Apps like TikTok and Instagram have built-in sounds, music tracks, and filters — so you don’t have to edit your videos separately. (Pro Tip: Make videos about the trends your audience follows to appear in their feeds.)
2. Influencer Marketing Is Expanding
Thousands of businesses are leaning over influencers to scale. Influencer marketing works because influencers work relentlessly, creating massive engaging content — which keeps their audience loyal to them. Their followers see them as trustworthy. Their followers look up to them, and even take advice.
Imagine a scenario…
A fitness influencer with 1M followers on Instagram — just one mention on the story can generate thousands of eye-balls for your business within 24 hours. And imagine the numbers if you hire them to promote your products and services every single day.
The scope of influencer marketing is limitless.
Have look at the graph of influencer marketing that’s been only growing each year:
So buckle up, research for the top performing local influencer in your city, and start reaching out to them in early 2024.
But what if you’re not a DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) brand? You might ask.
Well, there are thousands of SaaS and B2B content creators on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Reach out to them, and offer them customized plans that can suit you both.
Robert Warner, Head of Marketing at Virtual Valley says “Influencers and content creators are the future of marketing because they’ve loyal audiences that pay attention to them, daily. And I’m sure you & I both understand that, today, in the world of online business, attention is the currency.”
You can either research and reach out to them manually, or use one of these tools to quickly find an influencer that matches your expectations; in terms of followers and engagement.
These tools are:
But, remember to keep in mind the three Rs of working with influencers:
R1: Relevance: The influencer you choose must be relevant to your audience. For example, if you’re selling gym clothes, your ideal influencer must be someone who regularly hits the gym, publishes photos in their activewear, and your audience also follows them.
R2: Resonance: The audience of the ideal influencer must be interested in your products or services. You must niche down. For instance, if you sell gym clothes, even though a soccer player will come under the fitness category, he or she should not be your ideal influencer. Your ideal influencer must be someone who has a gym-freak audience.
R3: Reach: Ensure the influencer you’re choosing has enough followers, so you can get the reach you need, and meet your sales goals.
Brands usually start building relationships with influencers by inviting them to events, featuring them on their sites, engaging with their posts, or giving them exclusive access to a new launch. Your best bet is to, once you make a list of ideal influencers, start engaging with them on social media. Slowly, you can move to a long-lasting partnership.
3. Seamless Customer Experience is the Call for 2024
It won’t be wrong if I say every year, and even every month, is for the customer. But there exists a startling shift in people's beliefs about what customer experience truly is. It goes beyond convincing people to buy from you.
Let me explain.
Today, the priority is to offer a seamless customer experience that entices people to come back. By seamless, I mean zero hindrances. Just click, buy, and that’s it.
Your sales progress automatically if you focus on building positive relationships and offering a great customer experience.
Today, you’ll see even small businesses have integrated chat bots on the websites and social media channels that offer 24/7 support. There are now buttons on Instagram and Facebook that let customers buy — without ever letting their scroll disturbed.
Now that’s a seamless customer experience.
Tom Miller, Director of Marketing at FitnessVolt adds his insight “Customers expect a seamless online experience from the moment they engage with a new brand online; from their social media post, website, and to the point of the final sale. Resonate with the audience and respond to their queries. Customers today have more power, and tend to do full-scale research before making a decision.”
You’ll earn trust, and a deep personal relationship if you optimize your systems so they provide seamless, and engaged customer experience.
Everything is fast and seamless today. Fast mobiles, fast apps, fast computers, and fast everything.
So it is imperative that you deliver an experience that they remember.
Here’s a scenario…
When was the last time you purchased from a brand…and their website experience was so good that you’ll blindly visit them again, and buy from them? Yes – that’s what seamlessness is about.
The rise of this seamless experience comes from the ‘Omnichannel’ marketing strategies brands are now implementing. If you’re unaware, Omnichannel approach is about using consistent and personalized brand messaging, and integrations across every channel; stores, social media, website, and more. For instance, customers can buy the same products and enjoy the same brand ‘feel’ from Instagram, Amazon, websites, and stores.
Research shows companies who use an Omnichannel approach retain 89% of their customers on average.
Have a look at this infographics that explains what things customers value the most, when it comes to customer experience. Big red bubbles (convenience, efficiency, easy payment, friendly service, etc) matter the most.
4. Social Commerce is Finally Taking Huge Leaps
Social commerce is not a new business model, but I’m so happy it’s finally taking a huge leap. Why am I happy? Because with social media marketing, every big and small brand gets the equal opportunities to promote their products and services. Unlike mainstream media, TV and radio ads, on social media, people are the power. If people find your brand’s page interesting, and regularly interact with it, no power on earth can sabotage your growth. Social media algorithms are designed so – they automatically favor the content that users find helpful, entertaining, and want to interact with.
According to Steve Rose, Vice President at MoneyTransfers “Utilize influencer marketing, ads, and organic social media growth for selling more online in 2024. The best part is that you can easily blend social media marketing strategies with other forms of marketing, which can save you costs and time.”
If you’re a B2C brand, social platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest have great potential for you. While if you’re a B2B or SaaS business, LinkedIn and Twitter are the places you should start with in 2024. Most of these platforms have made buying and selling so much easier with integrated chat bots, templates, and cool features.
Check out social commerce stats:
5. Push Notifications — Yes They’re Driving Business
Ever thought push notifications will make up for a huge marketing trend for 2024? Well, there are two basic reasons for that.
The first: Because email marketing is saturated, it’s challenging to connect with the audience. 74% of the average consumer receives emails from 1-10 brands, in the US alone. This is why brands are now leaning on push notifications to retain their audience.
The second:People are now addicted to their smartphones, goes without saying. (A prime example would be me: my screen time is 12 hours a day :D) They’re always on their cell phones, scrolling or doing any sort of online activity. Which is why it makes sense to send out push notifications to get the attention of your potential buyers.
What’s so interesting is that more than 50% of consumers actually allow these push notifications — which opens you to a huge business opportunity.
But keep in mind: as much as consumers would love to hear from you, they definitely don’t want to be annoyed. Play safely with push notifications. Start by sending once a day, and then gradually experiment with more. Do A/B tests. Analyze results. Stick to what works.
Here’s the industry-wise graph for how many times you should send push notifications:
6. Messenger Marketing Is Taking Deep Roots
Messenger marketing is when brands use messaging apps for marketing purposes; such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, LinkedIn Inmail, and Wechat. Acquiring new leads or customers is the biggest challenge on social media because your ads or posts can easily get lost in the crowd. Just like emails, brands send marketing messages on these chatting apps in the form of text, photos, or even videos.
Here’s an example: when you visit a local hardware or accessory store, they might ask for your WhatsApp number so they can add you in their WhatsApp group. With the recent update, now you can add 1,024 people in a WhatsApp group. Imagine 1,024 people receiving your marketing messages every single day with just one click.
There’s a huge potential in messenger marketing. Why? Because customers will no longer need to Google your products separately, visit your website, or explore your social media pages. Without leaving their chatting app, let’s say, WhatsApp, they can easily talk to the customer support service, purchase products, or even view their purchasing history with you.
Most banks today, for example, are already providing live customer support on WhatsApp.
It’s the most efficient, smooth, and convenient method of marketing. Just to give you some perspective, Facebook Messenger users exchange 8 billion messages — every single day. And that’s just one app. There are users on WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wechat, and more.
The open rates on messenger marketing is insane. Medium discovered, on average, the open rate is 90%. That makes sense because consumers spend hours every single day on these apps, making it lucrative for businesses to grab their attention, boost brand awareness, and make sales.
7. Socially Conscious & Planet-Friendly Buyers
The rise of sustainability. Eco-friendly buying habits exploded in recent years. Consumers now believe brands bear responsibility to keep their products eco-friendly, reduce carbon emission, and care for the planet. In a survey, 66% respondents said they now consider sustainability when purchasing.
Due to the same reasons, brands are now pushing sustainability missions. Here’s a powerful sustainability mission statement of Beyond Retro, a vintage clothing brand:
“Our dream is to reclaim, reduce, and reuse 10 billion items”
There are now even socially responsible platforms to promote well-being, and foster goodness in the world. One such example is Weare8.
8. AI Will Help Marketers Make Better Informed Decisions
AI will prevail even more in 2024. Marketers will use AI to predict consumers behaviors, their buying patterns, streamline their workflows, automate marketing efforts, and more. 61% of marketers already say that AI is their biggest helping hand marketing efforts.
One of the prime examples are AI-powered copywriting and graphic designing.
Tools like Jasper.ai, Copy.ai, and more are helping content marketers create content like Ads and blog posts instantly; even though these tools still require human super-vision, but with time, the technology is only improving.
Besides copywriting, new systems like DALLE 2, create realistic looking art within seconds; all you need to do is to type what art you want, and these AI-powered systems generate art within seconds. Visit Openai.com to access this tool by yourself.
All in all, AI will be the best friend of marketers.
To Sum Up:
What You As a Marketer Should Keep in Mind for 2024
That’s it – hope you found it valuable. Tailor your 2024 marketing strategies according to the trends backed by data to get an edge over your competitors, and meet your new year goals.
Needless to say, even though marketing trends come and go each year, your core marketing strength should be this: creating content that focuses on your target audience.
Abdul Saboor, Full Stack Developer at The Stock Dork says “Provide unique experiences that match with your brand identity, change their lives for the better, and establish deep personal relationships with your audience. Because, guess what, trends don’t make you a solid brand that withstands the test of time — but your audience sure does.”
With that being said, if you haven't read the whole thing above, here are the top 5 trends of 2023:
Video marketing
Influencer marketing
Seamless customer experience
Social media commerce
Push notifications
Messenger marketing
Sustainability buying
AI for automation
Looking for additional marketing related tips? Check out our article about B2B content marketing done right.
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Author
Kruti Shah is a content writer and marketer at The Marketing Drama. She loves to write about insights on current trends in Technology, Business and Marketing. In her free time, she loves baking and watching Netflix. You can connect with her on Linkedin.
