Top Trends in Digital Marketing and Advertising Heading into 2024
By Marketing / January 2, 2024
As we approach 2024 amid fast-paced changes in ad technology and evolving consumer behaviors, staying up-to-date with the latest trends is crucial for an effective marketing strategy. According to a report from VidenGlobe, “2024 is a time filled with opportunities and challenges like we have never seen before.” Let's look at the top trends shaping the digital marketing and advertising industry moving forward.
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence (AI) is having a pivotal moment in marketing that we hope is here to stay. AI-driven tools and technologies present opportunities for marketers and local businesses. From data analysis and predictive modeling to customer segmentation and profiling, AI empowers businesses to gain deeper insights into their audience and make data-driven decisions. Furthermore, AI can optimize content creation, delivery, and user experience, ensuring that brands provide relevant and engaging content to their target market. Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI have taken off in recent years.
They are now crucial in enhancing customer service and engagement, delivering personalized interactions, and driving customer satisfaction. Read more about AI’s role in marketing and AffinityX’s partnership with YouAI in our recent press release.
CONSUMERS CRAVE HYPER-PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES
Today’s consumers crave personalized experiences that speak directly to their needs and preferences. That's where the power of big data and analytics comes in. By harnessing the vast amount of user data, brands can unlock valuable insights through sophisticated analytics. This allows for the creation of hyper-personalized marketing strategies that deliver tailored content, relevant product recommendations, and customized advertisements designed to resonate with each consumer. As technology advances, with big data technologies and machine learning algorithms evolving, this trend of hyper-personalization will only become more refined, rendering mass marketing strategies increasingly ineffective.
BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP: OLDER AUDIENCES AND ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
Baby Boomers represent one of the largest generations in history, increasingly embracing social media and online shopping. This shift allows marketers to reach an untapped market through generational marketing, targeting age groups based on values and experiences that align with their generational cohort. Today, 87% of baby boomers use Facebook as their main social network, and 60% use blogs and digital articles as basic information media. By understanding the motivations and challenges older consumers face in adopting digital platforms, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to effectively connect with this demographic.
VIDEO’S IMPACT ON MARKETING STRATEGY
While video marketing isn’t a new or groundbreaking concept, there's no denying its incredible power, particularly with the recent surge of short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts. The captivating visual appeal and transient nature of these videos perfectly align with the attention spans of today's audiences. Brands are now capitalizing on the opportunity to leverage short-form videos for much more than just advertisements. From product launches to customer testimonials, these fleeting videos tell captivating stories, portraying brands in a truly unique and memorable light. One recent study on user-generated content (UGC) found that brands that incorporate UGC into their ads witness a 73% increase in click-through rates. Integrating video into marketing campaigns has become essential for businesses looking to capture and retain audience attention.
STREAMING CONTINUES TO GROW, WHILE MEASUREMENT DEEPENS
Linear TV viewership is continuously declining as consumers embrace the convenience and variety offered by subscription-based and free, ad-supported streaming television services. This shift is further exemplified by Amazon's introduction of ads to Prime Video and the increasing number of cost-conscious consumers opting for ad-supported streaming subscriptions. However, we're just scratching the surface of the vast potential that connected TV (CTV) ad inventory holds.
While the availability of connected and streaming TV ad inventory presents exciting opportunities, the measurement landscape in TV advertising has become increasingly complex, making it challenging for marketers to accurately evaluate the impact of their campaigns. Many major programmatic DSPs now have a variety of audience-centric measurement solutions that align with the evolving nature of TV advertising, including:
- Incremental reach: You can leverage iSpot incremental reach reporting to help better understand CTV’s reach beyond what’s possible with linear TV.
- Brand Lift: Evaluate the effectiveness of CTV campaigns in boosting essential brand metrics such as awareness, consideration, and purchase intent by using Brand Lift powered by Lucid, a Cint Group Company.
- Inferred Brand Intent: Measure viewer browsing behavior before and after being served a TV ad to infer changes in brand engagement as a result of your advertising.
- Offline measurement: Measure the impact of CTV by connecting exposures to your TV commercials to offline signals like foot traffic and sales.
COLLABORATION IS KEY
2024 is an exciting time for the digital marketing industry. It's evident that businesses and brands ready to embrace conversational AI while being mindful of personalization and the effectiveness of short-form content are poised to thrive.
AffinityX understands the importance of collaboration and client satisfaction. With our expertise in delivering creative solutions across various platforms, we can help you stay ahead of the competition and embrace the future of digital marketing and advertising. Contact us today to learn how we can be your reliable and forward-thinking partner.