We may just be a few months into the new year, but several trends in digital marketing have already emerged as potential game-changers. That said, many internet marketing trends fade into obscurity just as quickly as they appear, which can make it tough to cut through the noise and identify which developments are actually worth paying attention to.
There’s no need to panic, though. The following guide to the top online advertising trends will help you identify which sensations are here to stay and which tactics are fads overdue for retirement.
What’s New in Digital Marketing? AI Is Changing the Game
Before we get into the latest trends in marketing, we want to address the elephant in the room: artificial intelligence (AI). It is already proving to be a game-changer for digital marketers and brands the world over, and that’s not just coming from our team. A substantial 80% of marketers agree with us.
Marketers are using it for all sorts of exciting purposes, including data analytics, content personalization, upselling, and more. And furthermore, 58% of marketers who use generative AI to create content said it increases their performance.
By the end of 2024, the AI market is projected to be worth $298.25B. Therefore, the bottom line is that AI is an exploding phenomenon, and it is one that is fueling several of the latest trends in marketing.
The 6 Top Trends in Digital Marketing
Six current and future trends in digital marketing that you need to incorporate into your 2024 strategy include the following:
1. AI Content Creation
We’re not done mentioning the impacts of the AI boom just yet. Alongside analytics, personalization, and so on, one of the most popular and widespread uses of AI in digital marketing is content creation. Using AI to generate your assets can save you time, reduce costs, and help you pump out more great content for your audience.
That said, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the limitations of AI content creation tools. You can think of them as force multipliers, but you still have to provide the fuel. As such, it’s best to use AI to assist with concept ideation, outline generation, and creating rough drafts of your content as opposed to simply generating AI content and publishing it. Rely on your team to fine-tune your AI content and ensure that everything is fact-checked.
2. Voice Search
A staggering 62% of Americans already use voice assistants, and roughly one-third of the country’s consumers own smart speakers. In response, many marketers are optimizing their content for voice-searching functionality.
By optimizing your website for voice search, you can make it easier for consumers to find your products, initiate purchases, and interact with your brand. Remember, removing points of friction is a foundational part of boosting sales, and voice searching does exactly that!
3. Performance-Based Marketing
Practically everyone is clamping down on their spending in response to inflation. But most marketers aren’t slashing their advertising budgets. Instead, they are refocusing on channels that provide more consistent returns, such as performance-based marketing mediums.
Performance-based marketing involves paying for services once you obtain agreed-upon results, such as a generated lead or a completed transaction. There are multiple ways to add performance contingencies to your marketing mix.
One of the most common of these involves launching an affiliate program. Under an affiliate model, business partners are incentivized to promote your brand by the promise of receiving a commission for each sale attributed to them.
4. Personalization
The concept of personalization is by no means new, of course. But it is more important than ever. Offering personalized content is no longer a “nice to have” component of digital marketing. According to McKinsey & Company, 70% of customers consider personalization one of their basic expectations. As such, if you aren’t delivering personalized ads and recommendations, you are letting your audience down.
5. Social Commerce
It’s likely a fair assumption that social media marketing is already a foundational part of your brand-building strategy. After all, you’ve got to go where the customers are.
Social commerce takes that to the next level by turning platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) into sales channels. Through social commerce, you can promote and sell products directly on social platforms, thereby cutting out the middleman from the purchasing journey and accelerating the path to conversion. And it’s a process that is already showing results: According to a 2023 survey, roughly 58% of U.S. shoppers have purchased a product after seeing it on social media.
6. Video
One last major trend you need to be mindful of in 2024 is the growing reliance on video content. Brands are using videos for everything, from product explainers to awareness campaigns. Adding more videos to your marketing mix is a great way of reaching more consumers and boosting engagement.
Not sure when, where, or how to integrate more videos into your strategy? The answer, as always, comes from listening to your target audience. Consider where they are most active and start there. Most importantly, be consistent with your brand voice and delivery. You’ve cultivated a strong brand image, so stay true to it.
5 Trends in Digital Marketing That Need to Go
“Out with the old, in with the new” is a New Year’s adage that every digital marketer can get behind. Now is the perfect opportunity to ditch ineffective or outdated strategies and reallocate those funds to more impactful methods.
With that in mind, here are five digital marketing trends we think should be permanently shelved in 2024:
1. Standard Display Advertising
Traditional banner and display advertising methods are losing their luster. Users have developed so-called “banner blindness,” and the rise of ad blockers means that these ads reach smaller audiences than ever before.
In general, consumers are seeking more engaging and less intrusive forms of online interaction. As such, you’ll want to shift toward more interactive content, as well as native and sponsored ads. These channels blend more seamlessly with the user’s online experience.
2. Generic Email Blasts
Email drip campaigns provide a great return on investment and are excellent for keeping your brand top of mind among consumers.
The thing is, generic email blasts are not the same as email drip campaigns that target segmented lists of consumers. Generic campaigns are just plain annoying, and over half of U.S. consumers agree. Overloading your audience with emails won’t just lead to fatigue, it may prompt them to hit that “unsubscribe” button and part ways with your brand altogether quite quickly.
Email marketing still has an important role to play in digital marketing. You just need to be more judicious in who you message, the content you target them with, and how often you send emails. A handful of emails can go a long way in getting you noticed and building strong bonds with consumers.
3. Auto-Play Videos
The auto-play video is another trend we’d like to see fade into obscurity in 2024. Some believe that auto-play videos snag users’ attention. More often, though, they lead to annoyance, which in turn contributes to higher bounce rates.
The push for a more user-friendly internet, one that features browsers and platforms limiting their auto-play functionalities, suggests that most marketers will move away from the frankly intrusive approach. You should follow suit.
4. Keyword Stuffing for SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) remains one of the most impactful means of generating organic traffic. However, keyword stuffing, or packing a web page with keywords in an effort to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results, is on its way out. Search engines have become more sophisticated, favoring high-quality content and user experience over keyword density.
Modern SEO strategies, therefore, are more focused on topic authority, content quality, and user engagement metrics. Websites sticking to keyword stuffing risk being penalized by search engines, pushing the once-favored practice further into permanent retirement.
5. Influencer Marketing Without Authenticity
Influencer marketing has exploded over the last decade, but audiences are becoming more discerning. As such, they can easily spot inauthentic partnerships and endorsements.
You cannot just partner with influencers solely based on their follower count. Instead, you’ve got to consider their brand alignment and whether their endorsement is going to be believable to consumers. The goal is to facilitate genuine connections between your brand and consumers by borrowing the authority of influencers.
Navigating the Changing Landscape
At the end of the day, familiarizing yourself with the latest trends in digital marketing will help you keep your content and campaigns fresh, engaging, and impactful. And though you don’t need to dive headlong into every fad that shows up on your radar, remaining agile is important. Above all, listen to what consumers want and embrace the trends that most align with those preferences. When you put customers first, you can’t lose.
