Digital marketing trends is not a new word, neither is it your first time hearing it. The industry has even emerged to tremendous expansion since its debut which includes popular trends. The field of digital marketing has been in continuous growth since it started; the internet is filled with new tools and technology every day, and the way we search prompts changes on a regular basis.
As a result of these fast-paced behaviors, new trends arise every day and as a marketer, I tend to keep up with them and urge you to do so too.
So, here are some of the 2024 digital marketing trends you should be considering in your strategy.
Key Points
- Voice SEO is crucial as digital assistants like Siri and Alexa become more common.
- Video marketing continues to grow, with high daily watch times on platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
- Influencer marketing is powerful, especially when partnering with micro-influencers.
- Interactive content (e.g., Instagram Live) enhances real-time engagement.
- AI tools assist in various marketing tasks but require human oversight.
10 Digital Marketing Trends You Should Add to Your Strategy
The 10 digital marketing trends you should watch out for are:
- Voice SEO
- Video Marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Interactive content
- AI
- Social media as a search engine
- User-generated content marketing
- Human content and storytelling
- Augmented reality
- Personalized marketing
#1. Voice SEO
Digital assistants are still popular, and many of your customers use them to make their lives easier. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s digital assistant allow users to search the internet without having to pick up their phones. In 2021, voice searches accounted for 20% of total internet searches.
This year, consider adapting your search engine optimization (SEO) for voice searches. Think about the conversational phrases individuals would use to find you via their virtual assistant.
Using the internet, a user might type “Chinese restaurants in Chicago”; using voice search, they might say, “What’s a good Chinese restaurant in Chicago?”
#2. Video Marketing
The average person watches online videos for approximately 100 minutes every day. Watching videos is one of Facebook’s most popular activities. You can break into this industry by creating video advertisements. There are several ways to do this. You can start a YouTube or Vimeo channel and use video to educate and engage your audience.
You can also connect with your target audience by making TikTok business videos and other social media content. Share your videos using common hashtags to help users find them. If you don’t want to create video content on a regular basis, you can use over-the-top (OTT) advertising. Create 10- to 15-second ads to air over other videos.
OTT ads appear in front of other streaming videos. Use them to engage with viewers.
#3. Influencer Marketing
Partnering with an influencer in your industry can give you access to many potential customers. The industry generated more than $13 billion in 2021.
This marketing approach involves giving free products to social media personalities or paying them to promote your product. In exchange, they upload a post introducing their fans to your brand.
For example, you can collaborate with popular celebrities on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Instead of spending a lot of money on a major influencer with millions of followers, consider collaborating with a micro-influencer with 1,000 to 10,000 followers.
According to Forbes: “A micro-influencer serves more niche audiences and can be beneficial to a brand because they provide access to a small subset of a targeted demographic interested in your business.” Their followers often regard them as more trustworthy.
#4. Interactive Content
People like to interact with brands on social media and other platforms. Interactive content allows you to communicate with your followers in real-time.
Instagram Live and Facebook Live allow people to interact with you while you record a video. Use this tool to engage with your customer base. You can organize a “ask me anything” live event or a product Q&A. Promote this event for a few weeks to increase attendance. Pay attention to your streaming setup to ensure the event is a hit.
#5. AI (We have to talk about this)
Marketers have realised that ChatGPT and other AI tools aren’t the all-knowing, all-powerful entities we once thought they were. They have flaws and limitations, but we fill in the gaps. Yay for humans.
Well-known AI tools, like ChatGPT, have seen a significant fall in traffic in recent months, and this is not due to our complaints that artificial intelligence was stealing jobs. Instead, marketers have learned how to use AI to help them work more efficiently – but not by letting it do everything for them. In addition, several companies are developing their own AI and chatbots.
AI may improve marketing, allowing us to achieve more in less time. You only need to understand AI and its limitations, supply it with as much knowledge, insights, and data as possible, and please read and edit the results.
AI cannot perform human tasks in the same way that you do, but it can inform, inspire, and accelerate your digital marketing efforts, including:
- Content generation
- Sentiment analysis.
- Audience Segmentation
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Marketing Best Practices
- Customer engagement and assistance using AI chatbots.
The evolution of social media from its early days to the present cannot go unnoticed. Social media is used by 4.80 billion people worldwide, with 150 million new users joining in the last year.
Not only has the quantity of social media platforms increased over time, with the average person using 6.6 social media applications per month, but so has the way we use these platforms. The days of writing on each other’s Facebook walls are (mostly) over, and our news feeds contain more video content, influencer sponsorships, and tailored adverts than ever before.
Businesses and people have learned how to capitalise on social media, and it is working. In fact, 67% of TikTok users use the app for brand discovery and new shopping locations, while 63% of customers use social media to discover new restaurants or menu items.
Move over, Google; social media offers the content we want in the way we prefer: short, humorous videos.
This is just one example of a trend that is fully driven by the consumer rather than the company itself. Do you remember when Google tried to make voice search the next big thing? It didn’t work because that’s not how consumers like you and me operate. Videos concerning food? Now, that’s how we work.
#7. User-Generated Content Marketing
User-generated content is only going in one direction, and that is upward.
And rightfully so. With around 62% of the population using social media, there is undoubtedly ‘homemade’ content floating around that can promote your brand. And, with customers 88% more inclined to trust peers than companies (sorry guys, we’ll blame that trust-issue-inducing history of salesplaining), user-generated content, or UGC, is the best way to market – and benefit from – word of mouth.
User-generated content can look like a variety of things, including:
- Images and photographs
- Video
- Reviews
- Testimonials
- Podcasts
Why do people love user-generated content so much? AUTHENTICITY!
Real people in real life giving their honest opinions on your products. Relatability is a powerful persuasive instrument, and UGC provides content that resonates with your target audience and entices them to join in.
Your customers will trust the lack of Photoshop in the image or video, hearing the pros and cons, hearing the conversational tone that is reminiscent of your weekly group chats, and the fact that these people have no real motive to tell you anything but the truth.
Read Also: Top E-Commerce Trends Changing the Industry in 2024
So, how do you get into this content tactic? You might already be feeling the love on social media, which means you’re frequently tagged or mentioned in pictures, videos, and comments; from there, all you need is the creator’s permission to repost or use their content.
If you’re not achieving this kind of traction yet, incentivize your audience to do so. The incentive could range from a simple “We will repost” (more views, greater engagement for the creator) to a competition to win money to spend on your website, for example.
The rise of user-generated content has also encouraged more ‘behind the scenes’ or ’employee-generated’ content for businesses, which shows the people and processes that go into creating your product.
#8. Human Content and Storytelling
More than ever, your target audience – and beyond – values real, proper, and authentic human conversation.
We’ve always had a separation between B2B and B2C, but it’s all business-to-human (B2H), so make your content like that with storytelling.
We’ve always enjoyed stories as children, and while we’re not as excited about witches, wizards, and hungry caterpillars as adults, we still enjoy telling, hearing, reading, and repeating them. So, apply it to your marketing!
Create content that engages your audience and communicates with them on a human level. That does not mean abandoning SEO briefs and target keywords.
Instead, watch the tone of voice, conversational and colloquial language, simplifying complex topics and themes as if you were speaking to a friend at the bar, and draw them in with a story that leaves them itching to hear the end.
#9. Augmented Reality
AR has been increasingly popular in recent years. It is one of the most prominent trends in digital marketing, and it has also appeared there.
IKEA and other major companies are already using augmented reality. The IKEA Place app, which was developed in 2017, allows customers to virtually see how furniture would fit and appear in their homes before making a purchase. Known as “experiential marketing,” this advertising style helps companies like IKEA provide their customers with unique experiences that determine whether or not they make a purchase.
#10. Personalized Marketing
In 2024, personalized marketing has become even more vital. Businesses need to tailor their marketing messages to customers’ specific interests and needs as they become more discriminating. Personalization will improve customer interactions while increasing referrals and loyalty.
Additionally, offline experiences can benefit from personalized marketing. Imagine walking into a store where the salesman is familiar with your preferences and past purchases. They can provide specialized offers and recommendations, resulting in a smooth and unique shopping experience.
This level of customisation will build client loyalty, increase the likelihood of repeat business, and drive positive word-of-mouth referrals.
This is a specific FREE checklist that can help you keep these whole processes in check for easy assimilation:
Digital Marketing Trends.pdf
Where to Focus Your Digital Marketing Efforts?
Don’t worry; you don’t have to get into all ten of these digital marketing trends. Begin by conducting in-depth research on each and determining which ones are best for your company – choosing the tools that best suit your customers will make it easy to include them in your digital marketing strategy. Then, choose one to start with.
Once you’ve gotten familiar with one of the latest digital marketing trends, start experimenting with others and have fun expanding your business!
What Are the Top 7 Types of Digital Marketing?
Here are the seven types of digital marketing:
- Content marketing.
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Email marketing.
- Social media marketing.
- Mobile marketing.
- Pay-per-click.
- Affiliate marketing.
What Is the Next Digital Trend?
A paradigm shift in marketing has occurred as a result of the spread of AI and machine learning. Semrush Trends data indicates that 2023 traffic to domains relating to artificial intelligence (AI) surged 1,000%, highlighting the swift adoption and assimilation of AI technologies.
What Is the Next Big Thing in Digital Marketing?
Since AI technology opens up new and interesting opportunities, it is, without a doubt, the next big thing in digital marketing. However, it doesn’t end there. AI encompasses a plethora of additional strategies and best practices.
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