4 Marketing Trends Your Brand Needs to Know for 2024

Trying to keep pace with all of the transformation that's happening right now, across every area of business? You're definitely not alone. I can't think of a single founder, marketer, salesperson, or strategist who isn't trying to get their arms around the changes in their spaces--many of them exciting, but also?a bit bewildering.

The biggest change I can't go five seconds without thinking about (as a marketer and agency owner ) has to be the proliferation of AI and its potential use across every single thing we do. Not only does it promise a boon for productivity, but pretty soon, it could even make getting dressed for work easier.?

The AI explosion came about so quickly that many of the top 1,000 marketing experts surveyed for HubSpot's 2023 marketing predictions didn't anticipate just how integral it would become in such a short time.?

Though no one knows for sure yet where AI will take us, it helps to look at both the past and the forecast for the year ahead so you can be ready to change your marketing strategy with purpose, not fear, in the months ahead.

Here's what I think lies ahead for AI -- and a few other predictions for this year.

AI Tools Will Transform the Marketing Landscape

Yes, the marketing world is being disrupted by the sheer force of AI. A whopping 88 percent of marketers believe their organization must increase its use of AI to meet customer expectations and stay competitive. Add to that the research showing that AI-driven marketing will drive 45 percent of the total global economy by 2030, and it's a given that we as marketers must approach content marketing differently.?

So far, it's a good kind of different: Businesses and marketers are already getting a helping hand in creating content at scale--with human direction and editing--and soon will have access to powerful social listening tools, AI-driven automation for campaigns, and even chatbots to help with targeted messaging.?

You'll Want to Try New Voice Activations and Optimization

Voice assistants and audio devices are becoming more important than ever. I have personal assistants all around my house and use them constantly to get answers to my questions. I prefer to listen to most things these days--books, news, podcasts, even Spanish lessons. I almost always dictate my texts and sometimes even my emails. And I know I'm not the only one who's made this shift.

The next wave of voice (not here yet, but on the horizon) is the ability to use AI to replicate voice and record things (such as celebrity voices) for personalized ads played to individual listeners, for example. You've likely already come across the AI-Frank Sinatra version of a Dua Lipa hit or had SpongeBob's voice try to sell you new shoes on TikTok.?

So what's a marketer to do? As text-based search begins to take a back seat, ensure your brand is embracing and optimizing for all things audio and voice for the new wave that is certain to come: Projections see the global voice recognition market reaching $26.8 billion by 2025.

Your Old SEO Tricks Won't Be Effective (Thanks to Assisted Search)

In 2023, 88 percent of marketers said they would increase focus on their SEO strategy. What's new in 2024 will be how marketers try to win SEO. AI is already starting to be integrated into search engines like Google and Bing.?

At Masthead Media, we're looking at how to infuse more expert points of view, quotes, independent research, and data into high-priority content pieces to make them stand out and index over the machine-created content that's already cluttering the web.?

In the coming year, marketers need to learn how to work with AI to create quality content that still has that human touch at its core.

Social May Become the First Choice for Commerce?

Consumers are flocking in droves to social platforms like Instagram and TikTok for both their shopping and search experience. E-commerce giant Shopify recently launched an integration with TikTok, and many others are likely to follow suit into 2024 as social commerce proves itself lucrative for individual creators and businesses alike. But trust remains the biggest barrier for consumers when making purchasing decisions via apps like TikTok and Instagram.?

Luckily, this is something marketers can easily address in 2024: simplifying the return-and-refund process, offering transparent ratings on products and services, and communicating effectively with consumers can help build trust with prospects and create reliable, repeat customers.

Written by Amanda Pressner Kreuser.?Originally published on Inc.com on January 2, 2024.