Digital marketers are always moving in the fast lane.
The perpetually shifting nature of digital marketing has taught marketers and businesses the importance of flexibility and adaptability–and it’s not always that easy.
It’s because it is not just about keeping up. Your goal should be to stay ahead of the curve.
As 2024 is fast approaching, it is essential to be on the lookout for digital marketing trends that will shape next year’s marketing landscape. If you want to be at the forefront of the game, you should know the kind of field you will be playing in.
2023 is a year full of creativity, technological advancements, and innovation. But what does it look like in 2024?
Stick with us as we take you on a quick trip to the future and discover emerging digital marketing trends that will shape the digital marketing industry in 2024.
What Are The Digital Marketing Trends In 2024?
1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and is expected to dominate the world of digital marketing in 2024.
AI can impact digital marketing in several ways but can be of most help to two essential aspects: Helping businesses arrive at data-driven decisions and improving customer’s experience.
First off, how can businesses benefit from AI?
AI-powered predictive analytics offers precision in a business. It can help business owners make accurate and data-directed decisions.
AI can analyse expansive amounts of customer data. Using AI algorithms, you can identify trends and patterns that will enable you to hit the right audience, message, and time. This accuracy can result in increased conversion rates and returns on investment.
Next, how can AI help customers?
AI-powered tools like chatbots could provide consistent and instant customer support which can lead to increased consumer satisfaction. They can handle repetitive activities, FAQs, and routine queries, giving businesses more time to handle other tasks.
Aside from this, chatbots also offer personalised recommendations for customers based on their buying history and preference for a more efficient customer experience.
2. Personalised Marketing
Personalised marketing is also one of the marketing trends you should watch out for in 2024. Consumers are becoming more critical as they go through the buyer’s journey. That’s why it is essential to personalise and tailor-fit marketing messages to individuals’ needs and preferences. To do this, making use of customer data can be helpful.
How exactly can customer data help in your marketing strategy?
By using customer data, you can understand a consumer’s browsing behaviour, purchase history, and preferences. This information can help you target and create messages that echo the customers’ needs and wants.
You can gather customer data through audience segmentation, using recommendation engines, and tracking consumer behaviour.
Ultimately, the goal of personalised marketing is to connect with your target audience.
Be creative. Use customised messages through product recommendations, email campaigns, social ads, and more. Empathize with customers. Make them feel understood. All of this can improve customer experience and motivate customer loyalty.
3. Mobile-First Marketing
The number of smartphone users in Singapore reached 5.57 million in 2022 and is believed to increase to over 6.16 million by 2028.
This statistic shows how mobiles are becoming a great place to employ your marketing strategies. Mobile-first marketing is one of the latest digital marketing trends that will stay in 2024.
With this, businesses should include mobile optimisation in their priority list. Consider focusing on mobile responsiveness.
Mobile responsiveness is your website’s capability to adjust its layout and content automatically on a variety of devices–may it be smartphones, desktops, or tablets.
A mobile-first website should have a responsive web design and should be designed with the user in mind.
However, your website design is just one of the many things in mobile optimisation. For your mobile-first marketing strategy, you could also focus on implementing mobile-friendly email campaigns or mobile app development.
4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Voice Search
SEO and voice search may come in as a digital marketing duo in 2024.
How many times have you called Siri and Alexa to do a specific search for you?
Instead of typing in a search query, people are just asking questions out loud. Afterwards, relevant answers will be provided automatically by voice search assistants.
The popularity of these voice assistants is indeed changing the dynamics of the search process and SEO. The significant change in search behaviour supports why businesses need to adapt to this change.
But what can businesses do to align their SEO strategies with voice search?
Revisit your keyword strategy. When researching for keywords, try incorporating the following:
- Be more specific using long-tail keywords. These are specific queries you can enter in the search. For example, “web design cost in Singapore” or “digital marketing pricing in Singapore”.
- Take advantage of question keywords. These keywords begin with “what,” “how,” “why,” and “when”—question words. For instance, you can search for “How to design a website” or “What does an SEO agency do”
- Use conversational keywords. These keywords reflect how people speak when using voice search assistants. For example, “How do I rank first in Google”.
The key is to be voice-search-friendly. This way, you can increase your chances of appearing in voice search results.
Essentially, combining SEO and voice search marks the gradual shift to using more natural and conversational language in the future of digital marketing.
5. Social Commerce and Influencer Marketing
Social media platforms are still on their way to the top of the digital marketing limelight in 2024.
Businesses and marketers can leverage social media in two ways: using it for e-commerce purposes and building brand awareness.
Social media and e-commerce can work together, thus the term social commerce.
In social commerce, the whole purchasing experience occurs on social media platforms. Currently, social apps that have commerce features are TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
In Singapore, the social commerce industry is anticipated to grow 77.5% annually to reach US$940.9 million in 2022. The number only shows how powerful social commerce can be in boosting sales and conversions.
On the other hand, it is no secret that social media is a great tool for building brand awareness.
It can help you engage with your target audience, creating a loyal collective that follows and advocates for your brand. Of course, doing so comes with sharing quality stories, experiences, and content that showcase your brand’s personality.
You may also need to establish a strong online presence, and collaborating with influencers can help. Influencer marketing is where businesses collaborate with individuals who have a following to achieve more brand exposure.
How does it work? Companies can ask this individual to promote their product or services by publishing social media content about their product.
The thing is, influencers have already established trust within their community. So if the audience sees this individual advertising your brand, there’s this trust factor you can count on for your conversion rate.
6. Videos and Interactive Content
Video and interactive marketing are also headed to shape the future of digital marketing trends in 2024.
Video is a popular medium for audiences as it triggers engagement and emotions within the viewers. Businesses can hop on this trend by creating shareable and appealing videos. They can be any of the following:
- Video Explainers
- Short-form and long-form videos
- Interview or Q&As
- Educational and how-to videos
- Testimonial videos
- Product videos
…and the list goes on!
Moreover, people also love interactive content. The goal of interactive content is to delight customers and foster collaboration with your audience. Your brand can consider adding quizzes, surveys, polls, and interactive videos and storytelling.
Some Marketing Roadblocks In 2024
The digital marketing updates and technologies that we are about to welcome in 2024 truly sound exciting. But you may need to buckle up on this one.
Businesses and marketers should also figure out how to navigate through the possible challenges of these trends. What are the issues they may need to prepare for?
Data Privacy Concerns
With all the technological advancements to happen in the coming years, one fact should remain. It is essential to safeguard customer data–and this should be a top priority for businesses.
It is also important to uphold security and transparency in your business. Marketers and companies who use AI in processing personal data should be clear in explaining how data is being used.
There are also more rigid regulations for data privacy.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was made to protect citizen’s data. It is a regulation implemented in 2018 which requires businesses to acquire absolute content from individuals before collecting their data.
What can your business do?
Well, following GDPR calls for the need to invest in stronger data protection practices and initiate clear consent processes.
Ad-blocking Technology
Ad blockers are tools that hide or remove online ads during browsing.
In 2023, 42.7% of people are using an ad blocking software. This shows the increasing number of internet users installing ad-blockers.
It is a challenge and a necessity for businesses to find other creative and innovative ways to engage with their market.
How do we conquer ad blockers?
Try exploring influencer marketing, native advertising, or other marketing strategies that are less likely to be affected by blocking technologies.
Welcoming the Future of Digital Marketing With iFoundries
There is a bright and advanced future that lies ahead for the digital marketing field. The list making up the digital marketing trends in 2024 all supports the use of technology and getting more in touch with your audience on a more personal level.
Furthermore, with the plethora of data that AI and other strategies can generate, there is a need for businesses to leverage and effectively analyse these data in the best way they can. They can use this to make informed decisions.
While there may be challenges along the way, you can still strive to overcome them and transform them into opportunities for your brand’s growth.
Staying informed and being open to changes can help you get through the digital marketing landscape in 2024 while also allowing you to build resiliency in your brand.
A group of marketing professionals like the iFoundries team can help your business adapt and be updated with the trends of the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape. We are a trusted digital marketing agency in Singapore best known for helping brands grow with data-driven digital marketing strategies.
With only a few weeks left before 2024, are your digital marketing strategies ready? Connect with us. Let’s talk about how we can help your business grow in the years to come!
