Stepping into this new year, everyone is hopeful for better times ahead. The business world certainly hopes 2024 will see a revival of the global economy with new opportunities and fewer challenges.
In the global marketing arena, trends are expected to evolve, albeit with their foundations firmly placed in areas that have already been tried and tested and established as rewarding in 2023. In this vein, some of the trends in marketing for 2024 are rooted in what we know from last year’s learnings. So here’s what we need to keep an eye out for:
The visual will continue to dominate
This is not astonishing. Advertising and social media have become increasingly visual in the last few years and this trend will continue to gain ground because consumers are now more than ever primarily responsive to visual content.
To this end, consumers have been taking pictures on their smartphones and using Artificial Intelligence to edit those images in order to match what they want to seek out online. LinkedIn states that the global scope of the image recognition market is valued at just over $ 27 Billion this year. However, Raconteur, which is a London-based publishing firm, reveals that just 8% of retail brands have incorporated a photo search capability into their apps. So, this is something that retailers should be looking into this year.
AI is here to stay…
Another unsurprising trend that will be around and will see tremendous growth in the months and years to come is the deeper integration of Artificial Intelligence or AI into daily life. This will drive how businesses market their products by aiding to enhance not only creativity, ideas, and execution of strategies, but also in researching and tabulating the numbers that are so integral to successful and informed decision marketing.
Furthermore, market research shows that as much as 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product if the marketing is personalized. As such, AI will help in such personalization by ensuring that the necessary tools required by marketers to understand their customers and target their specific needs are readily available. Therefore, along with this application, 2024 will also see a development in the use of Augmented Reality to sell products to consumers, wherever they are.
AI-powered Chatbots will further allow for greater personalization as they guide consumers through the sales pipeline by answering their burning questions and directing them toward specific products and services that will tick all the boxes. As a bonus, these Chatbots will also be instrumental in building consumer trust in the brands they engage with.
Social Media will thrive, with TikTok at the helm
Just as much as you and I spend significant time on social media this year, so will the average consumer. While Instagram, Facebook and TikTok usage has increased significantly in 2023, TikTok’s engagement rate comes out on top at 4.25% according to ClearVoice.
With the average consumer spending 2.26 hours a day on social media, this is the place to market one’s products with a passion in 2024, while focusing on visual appeal. One can also imagine why TikTok’s engagement rate is increasing—it is because consumers today like the short video format as a means of accessing quick information and entertainment.
Influencer-driven marketing will remain popular
On the topic of social media, influencer-driven marketing gained ground in a big way in 2023. Statista projected that the global influencer market would grow to $21.1 billion last year, with the Influencer Marketing Hub projecting the growth at a whopping increase of 29% last year!
With studies showing a strong return on investment for Influencer Marketing, experts expect this trend to stay strong in 2024 with businesses around the world engaging influencers to drive their product promotions forward amongst their followers. Within this trend, nano and micro-influencers will be the main focus as consumers are intent on following organic influencers who demonstrate authenticity and a unique voice. For marketers, this will be cost-effective and show better efficiency, overall.
YouTube for robust ROI
Good returns on investment have also been established on YouTube videos. The Social Media Examiner has noted that as much as 52% of marketers are using YouTube at present to market their products, with more learning about its benefits with the hope of deploying it as a promotional tool.
DemandSage shows that in 2023 there were 2.7 billion YouTube users—a huge market with still more growth potential that can be tapped into by marketers. Since consumers today prefer to access their education and entertainment via videos online, YouTube is one of the go-to mediums that is easily accessible.
Stride into 2024 with confidence!
So, as you can see, marketing in 2024 will largely build on the existing tools and move them forward for better success rates. AI will play a huge role in this initiative, so as a marketer, if you have been skirting around the issue of AI up to now, 2024 is the year you will have to face it head-on.
Above all, don’t be afraid to research and learn about new marketing tools and technologies that will perhaps be a gamble at first, but could also place you ahead of the pack. In all this, remember to dominate in the visual sphere.
(Anouk De Silva)