Marketing Trends for 2024

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year and welcome back to Mastering Marketing.

As we step into the new year, it's the perfect time to explore some of the hottest marketing trends that are set to make waves in 2024. But before that let's look at some big headlines from the world of marketing.

???? In Focus: The debate over Attention Metrics in ad measurement

???? Create Together - The magic of Brand Collaborations

???? In Focus: The debate over Attention Metrics in ad measurement

Are attention indicators the future of digital advertising? In the ever-evolving landscape of digital advertising, the debate over the significance of attention metrics has emerged as a focal point. Advocates argue that attention metrics represent the next frontier of digital ad measurement, providing a more nuanced understanding of user engagement beyond traditional click-through rates, video completion rates (VCR) etc. They contend that metrics like time spent on content and interaction rates offer a more accurate reflection of ad effectiveness. However, skeptics question whether attention metrics are a meaningful indicator or merely a red herring, diverting attention from more concrete performance metrics. Is this a step backwards to the days before conversion metrics were fully developed?

As the industry grapples with this dichotomy, the role of attention metrics in shaping the future of digital advertising remains a subject of intense scrutiny and discussion, especially when we have new channels evolving in the world of digital advertising – connected TV (CTV), OTTs, retail media etc. When social media platforms are planning to introduce ad-free subscriptions, advertisers are going to invest in channels that guarantee ad viewability and engagement. With the rapid growth of virtual communities, engagement is a key metric.

Ultimately this comes down to truly understanding your goal. Are you looking to gain reach, build a community or establish your brand position? Then attention metrics are key. If you're simply looking for sales then you will want to focus on conversion metrics of course. Any company can do both in separate campaigns of course. My key take away - even if you are conversion focussed, do not abandon attention metrics - they often tell more of a story and will shape the future of community marketing.

???? Create Together - The magic of Brand Collaborations

Collaboration and partnerships have emerged as powerful strategies for brands to navigate the complex currents of consumer engagement and market dynamics. According to recent market analyses, companies that actively pursue collaboration opportunities experience a significant uptick in brand visibility and customer loyalty. In fact, a recent study revealed that businesses engaged in strategic collaborations witness an average revenue growth of 20% above their counterparts. This underscores the critical role that collaboration plays in fostering innovation and driving bottom-line results.

In her insightful article, 'Tips for Brand Collaborations in 2024 ,' featured in The Drum , Hannah Bowler delves into the tangible benefits and proven strategies that brands can employ to leverage collaboration opportunities effectively. From cross-industry partnerships to influencer collaborations, the insights shared in the article shed light on how successful brands are harnessing the power of collaboration to not only weather the challenges of the market but also to emerge as trailblazers in their respective industries. Worth a read.

???? Marketing Trends for 2024

As we step into the new year, it's the perfect time to explore some of the hottest marketing trends that are set to make waves in 2024. AI features heavily of course but there is much more! Here are my predictions for 2024 trends in marketing that you can build into your strategies.

My first 3 focus on AI:

AI - a general overview

AI technology has advanced in leaps and bounds and is used across many sectors, although it has greatly impacted the world of marketing. 69% of businesses use AI for content generation purposes, although the AI boom is not without concerns. The widespread prevalence of misinformation touted by AI is certainly problematic and requires more work to verify any claims made.?

There are also issues with the potential for data breaches caused by people sharing private data with AI generators, as well as future job losses as more tasks get automated or performed by an AI. AI-based decision-making could also cause problems through discrimination and bias against marginalised groups.?

There are consumer concerns about AI too. 75% of consumers are worried about being misinformed by AI. This wariness is not unfounded - the verisimilitude of AI-generated images and video have been leveraged for political advertising which verges on propaganda. Meta has recently taken steps to ban such content, but it's hard to see how this ban will be enforced.

Despite this, 65% of consumers say they would trust businesses that use AI and feel that the use of AI technology could improve the customer experience. 65% of consumers also say that they would use the AI tool ChatGPT instead of a search engine when searching for information.

AI has other beneficial uses too. Marketers could create highly specific and individualised customer experiences using AI. Data-driven marketing powered by artificial intelligence could help to pinpoint the exact needs of customers. This could even roll out to in-person customer experiences at shops and other retail environments, thus raising customer loyalty, although this does raise some concerns about data privacy.? AI can also be used to analyse and optimise advertising campaigns in real-time, improving the overall ROI.

AI Chatbots

AI chatbots are increasingly used by businesses to respond to customer queries instantly without the need for human intervention. They use natural language processing (NLP) to replicate the experience of talking to a person by using a conversational style of communication, which can help set customers at ease. Dominos had success with their chatbot which enables customers to order pizza without downloading an app, making a phone call or even visiting their website - they just opened the chat in Facebook Messenger.

In a time where consumers expect instant answers at any time of the day, AI chatbots can easily facilitate this. There are times when a consumer request needs a human response, but for most straightforward queries, it will be sufficient. A survey by Twilio reveals that 38% of marketers plan to use chatbots for customer care in 2024.

AI content generation

AI is already used by 61% of marketers for content generation purposes. This could be for social media captions, website content, and long-form copy like blogs and articles, as well as image creation. Github’s developer tool Copilot is an AI that offers assistance with code and uses the AI language model GPT-3, and has been reviewed favourably by developers.

AI has been a game-changer that can save a lot of time, although AI content generation is not perfect by any means. Generative AI can produce masses of content quickly, although that doesn’t mean it is good quality. AI-generated content can be unreliable, generic and may produce plagiarised content, which can harm both the brand and SEO.

30% of consumers are confident that they could identify AI-generated content, although it’s hard to say how accurate their estimations are. Even tools designed to detect AI-produced copy are not that effective. A study found that even linguistics experts were not able to reliably tell the difference between AI and human-generated content. Either way, if AI-generated content is not fact-checked by a person, consumers may spot the discrepancies and it may harm the public perception of the brand.

More focus on Data Privacy

There is more focus than ever on data privacy and protecting the rights of data subjects. This doesn't mean that less data will be collected, however, it just means that more data will be anonymised. Continue reading the article on my blog...

For The Love of Marketing - Marketing Podcast

The power of FOMO with May King Tsang ??

Welcome back to FTLM! In this episode, we're thrilled to feature the OG FOMO creator, May King Tsang . Join us as she unravels the exciting world of #FOMO —what it is and how to leverage it for your business. Tune in to gain valuable insights and discover the secrets behind creating irresistible FOMO experiences. Don't miss out on this episode packed with tips and strategies to elevate your brand presence!

Subscribe to the podcast:

Apple? |?Spotify? |?Google? |?YouTube? |?Amazon

Stay tuned for more??

Here's an interesting read from my strategic marketing agency, SK...

WHAT IS WEB 3.0 AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR MARKETING?

Web 3.0 offers a highly personalised user experience that has the potential to change the landscape of digital marketing drastically. Globalnewswire says, The Global Web 3.0 Market Size in 2022 stood at USD 2.2 Billion and is set to reach USD 81.9 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 44.5%. To stay ahead of the competition and industry changes, businesses must incorporate Web 3.0 marketing into their existing market strategy. This guide offers an in-depth explanation of Web 3.0’s evolution, impacts, and strategies.?

What is Web 3.0??

Web3 Marketing is a revolutionary development in the digital marketing space. It goes along with the transition from Web 2.0’s centralised data storage to Web 3.0’s decentralised data storage, which gives people control over their data.??

It will use technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data, decentralised ledger technology (DLT), and more to enable websites and applications to process information effectively and human-like. Some features of Web3 include:?

Ubiquity: Ubiquity is the state of being present or capable of being everywhere at once. For instance, an Instagram user may take a photo and publish it, making it omnipresent since it is accessible to everyone who has access to Instagram.?

Web3 goes one step further by providing universal access to the Internet at all times and from any location. Internet of Things (IoT) technology will eventually lead to the emergence of several new categories of smart devices so that internet-connected gadgets won’t be limited to computers and smartphones in the future as they were in Web 2.0.?

Semantic Web: The study of word relationships is known as semantics. Computers can now analyse a huge amount of Web data, including content, transactions, and relationships between people, thanks to the Semantic Web...??

Read more

Thanks for reading!

Wishing all my readers a fantastic year ahead. I hope you found this week’s newsletter insightful. If you did, I'd be really grateful if you could share it with your network and tag your friends & colleagues. Our MM community is approaching 30,000 now so if you're finding it useful, please do take a moment to share it with someone you think could benefit.

About Simon

I have been helping companies with their marketing from start-ups to global organisations for over 20 years and I’m also the author of 2 best-selling books in the field. Whether it’s growth, branding, performance, content marketing, SEO or many other areas, I have helped companies all over the world to deliver market-leading results and I'd love to help you if I can.

Simon

simonkingsnorth.com