4 Marketing Trends that Will Define Your Business’ Success in 2024

As we near the end of 2023, there’s a few things that have really stood out in the marketing game.

Here are the 4 trends every business, big or small, needs to take advantage of in 2024:

Humanizing Content

Do not sleep on STORYTELLING!

Storytelling is what humanizes a brand. It creates a connection between a brand and the people they are trying to reach. It shows their customers that they are more than just a statistic that makes up the bottom line.

Creating content that resonates with everyday people opens the door for brand loyalty, trust, engagement, and memorability.

Here’s 3 types of stories your brand can tell to humanize your content.

The Origin Story – The more people know about why you started your business the more they will be able to feel your care for helping them as customers. This does not have to be a one and done post. Weave your origin story into your social media strategy all the time. Talk about how you felt when you first started, your initial struggles, what you tried but didn’t work for your customers.

The Customer Success Story – Highlight a specific customer experience. Do this every week. Show potential and past customers how you’ve solved a customer’s problems. If a brand does this, they will eventually attract new and repeat customers because it will be a no brainer to choose your brand with all the success stories you’re putting out.

The Falling Short Story – Talk about shortcomings in your business. Tell stories about a time that you let someone down in your business. Talk about how that experience made you a better business owner. Tell others how your experiences good and bad have shaped your business today.

Remember, just because you tell a story or one type of story once, does not mean you can never talk about it again.

Continue to share your stories in a variety of ways to resonate with larger audiences.

Influencer Marketing

We’ve all heard of the Instagram influencers raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars for posting one time on their feed.

You might be thinking, ‘I could never hire an influencer for my business.’ Maybe not that kind. What we’re talking about here is ‘Micro’ Influencers.

Micro influencers are becoming more popular than celebrity influencers for brands as we move into 2024. They’re more affordable than large influencers, have a more loyal following, and have a much lower up-front cost.

Here’s the 3 types of ‘micro’ influencers your business should consider in 2024:

The Referral Source – This is a relationship that may drive a lot of referrals for a low fee. An example would be house flippers partnering with ‘deal finders’ that they pay a finder’s fee to. Or home improvement contractors developing relationships with realtors so that they are referred when it comes time to get a house ready to sell.

The Social Media Savant – Nearly every community has a few social media stars. They don’t have massive followings, but they have a loyal following. They encourage their loyal audience to act or make a purchase through their personal recommendations. Find someone who has a social following in your industry (or cross industry) and reach out to talk to them about a potential partnership. Consider paying them a fee to recommend their audience to use your product/services.

The Podcaster – Like the social media influencer, often there are podcasts that are hosted in your local community that have a loyal following. Partnering with a podcast allows for you to tap into the podcast’s listeners. Not only will your brand establish authority by being a guest on a podcast but establish a relationship with the podcast and you could become a sponsor.

Unlike bigger influencers, micro influencers have much more engaged audiences.

Take advantage of someone else’s audience to spread your brand message and tap into a pool of potential customers you would not have reached otherwise.

Social DM Customer Service

Encouraging customer service through social media DMs is a trend that is growing as we move into 2024.

Here’s 3 reasons you should consider encouraging your customer support to take place in the DMs:

Personalization – DMs allow for a brand to add a human touch to their customer support, even more so than a customer support line. By responding to support requests VIA DMs brands are giving their customers direct access to the brand. This helps customers feel like their request isn’t just being lost in the mix of other support requests. Brands can tailor their support solutions to each specific situation that they receive.

Customer Retention – Personalized customer support via DMs will allow your brand to retain more customers and prevent them from slipping through your fingers. You will also create loyal customers if you are able to find a resolution for your customer. They will know that if they ever have an issue in the future, they can DM your brand and get it taken care of, that simple. You better believe they’ll tell their friends and family.

Potential Upsell Opportunities – Of course the goal of customer service in the DMs is to find solutions and prevent problems, but doesn’t your product or services do the same? Customer service via DMs is all about supporting your customer, but don’t forget to make product or service recommendations at the same time if it will help your customer. Don’t be salesy while solving a customer support problem. Just be ready to recommend more products or services after the initial inquiry has been completed.

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Short Form Video

80% of mobile internet users go online to watch short-form videos.

Short form video is not just where your market’s attention is at, it’s where every market’s attention is at. Short-form video drives discoverability for your brand. It brings in new customers and can serve as a pillar for your marketing strategy, driving new customers to your brand.

Here’s 3 tips for using short-form video for your brand:

1.?????? Educate – Like the rest of your inbound marketing strategy, short form video that answers questions and tells customers about the problems your company solves, the higher the chances are they will choose your brand over another’s. They’re sold on you before they even talk to you.

2.?????? Entertain – The other pillar to short form video success is entertainment. Either through storytelling or through timelapses of your service/product fulfillment, put out content that will captivate customers and that they find interesting or will enjoy.

3.?????? Behind the Scenes – One of the most underrated, but gaining momentum, aspect to short form video is behind the scenes content. Show your customers what a day in the office or out in the field looks like. People have their own careers; they will likely never experience yours. There is an interest in how other businesses and products are set up, created, and delivered. This gives you a chance to show your customers how much time and detail goes into your service or product.

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2024 will be a lot like 2023, just with even more opportunity.

The data speaks for itself. Apply these 4 trends to your marketing strategy as we hurdle towards 2024 and set you and your business up for success.

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P.S.

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