We have fast approached March and things should be in full swing by now, however, we have some digital marketing trends that you should look out for if you aren’t already. This includes knowing what to watch out for in terms of emerging trends in digital marketing and gaining some insight into the tools and strategies that you should focus on to remain competitive in your niche for success in the coming year.
Understanding these trends is the first step to determining which might work best for your business and customers.
Digital Marketing – The Value of Being On-Trend
Just like an SEO campaign is not a set-and-forget strategy, neither is any other aspect of digital marketing. This is a constantly evolving field, and your approach must also evolve. From redesigning or tweaking your website periodically to updating your content, to reassessing your social media strategy to tweaking your PPC approach, and so much more: you can’t afford to ignore the power and potential of a well-considered and executed strategic digital marketing.
Consider:
- The global digital marketing and advertising market is projected to reach US$786.2 billion by 2026[1]
- 55% of all marketing is now digital[2] and more than 70% of marketing budgets overall are now dedicated to digital platforms[3]
- 63% of businesses increased their digital marketing budgets in 2023[4]
- Almost 50% of businesses recoup the best marketing ROI from organic search (i.e. SEO and content marketing)[5][6]
- PPC (pay-per-click) advertising delivers 200% ROI[7]
- Google Ads and Facebook Ads report the highest Paid Ad ROI rates[8]
- For many small businesses, email marketing delivers the highest ROI[9]
Are you poised to develop and build on your goals and achieve (or exceed!) your KPIs in 2024?
Digital Marketing Strategies to Watch For in 2024
While many tried-and-true approaches to digital marketing will remain incredibly valuable and essential for utmost success in 2024 and beyond (SEO, content marketing, PPC, etc), there are certainly some exciting emerging strategies that will become more prominent and popular. Used appropriately (i.e. implemented seamlessly by brands with which they are compatible) they could give your business a distinct competitive edge.
- Voice Search Optimisation
More digital users rely on voice commands for everything from product searches to seeking services and information. Brands that wish to remain at the top of their game must adapt and incorporate this facility. This means considering features such as natural language patterns, local search, and amending content and SEO focus keywords and phrasing to comply.
- Personalised Marketing & Personalised Content Experiences
The most successful brands are those that offer the best service. Personalisation is a huge part of this. Market research demonstrates that the vast majority of consumers are most likely to shop with brands that recognise them, remember them, and provide targeted relevant recommendations and offers.
Through leveraging data, AI, advanced analytics, and machine learning content can be personalised to an unprecedented extent. This includes everything from help desk chatbots using the user’s name to segmentation for individualised and highly relevant product suggestions, offers, and content. This translates directly to greater engagement and sales.
- Social Media Search Optimisation
The continuing importance of website and content optimisation can’t be understated – but social media content optimisation is emerging as being just as important for brands that wish to lead the market.
TikTok and Instagram are favoured over Google by 40% of Gen-Z users[10]; as such, social media marketing can’t be ignored. This includes optimising social content and considering metadata and keyword influence for social posts across all social platforms. The considered use of relevant hashtags is also important to improve social post organic ranking – especially for Instagram, X (Twitter), TikTok, and more recently, Facebook.
- Social Listening
Marketers need to not just optimise their social content, but also how they respond to and analyse social engagement. This means paying attention to which types of posts and content resonate with target audiences and prospects and responding where appropriate: Likes, Comments, Shares, Reviews, and Direct Messages. Doing so allows customers to feel both seen and heard and that they matter to the brand. The flow-on effect of this is improved consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and improved insights into social trends and what your targets want from your business.
- The Expansion of AI
Artificial Intelligence continues to evolve and expand at an alarming rate. While many have some legitimate concerns about the reach and some of the ultimate consequences of this, there are certainly benefits in the use of AI that marketers can exploit for brands to evolve as well.
ChatGPT continues to create a lot of buzz and its role, appropriateness, benefits, pitfalls, and use in marketing and content creation continues to develop and be refined.
Facebook/Meta is one platform that is quickly evolving with a blend of gaming, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) set amongst real-world social connection tech. Late in 2023, Mark Zuckerberg announced the rollout of Meta AI, an evolved chatbot for Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as beta testing of almost thirty more Artificial Intelligences. These include creative tools and cultural icon-based Intelligences with custom opinions, personalities, and interests.
- YouTube Marketing
Video is the most widely engaging form of content and YouTube is arguably the most impactful social channel across all age groups. The second largest search engine globally, it is leveraged as much for search as it is for social connection. Research[11] demonstrates that a staggering 95% of school-aged teens between 13 and 17 years use the platform – many “almost constantly” – far more than use Instagram or TikTok. YouTube Shorts, in particular, are a trend to look out for.
Other trends to look out for include User-Generated Content & Influencer Marketing and the expansion of Instagram Threads (and even the possible decline of X for marketing purposes), and more.
Want to Up Your Digital Marketing Game in 2024?
Talk to Us – Dot-to-Dot Digital can help!
We are an experienced digital marketing agency offering an array of solutions for businesses of all sizes and across all industries. We’d love to help you achieve your goals in 2024 – and beyond! Let’s work together in 2024! Chat with a strategist today to have a discussion with us about your business and goals, and to explore and discover how we can help update and improve your digital strategy
[1] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-digital-advertising-and-marketing-market-to-reach-786-2-billion-by-2026–301331318.html
[2] https://www.marketingcharts.com/advertising-trends/spending-and-spenders-224702
[3]https://www.webstrategiesinc.com/blog/how-much-budget-for-online-marketing
[4] https://localiq.com/blog/marketing-budget/
[5] https://backlinko.com/seo-stats
[6] https://databox.com/how-to-calculate-your-marketing-roi
[7] https://economicimpact.google.com/methodology/
[8] https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
[9] https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
[10] https://www.businessinsider.com/nearly-half-genz-use-tiktok-instagram-over-google-search-2022-7
[11] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/teens-and-social-media-key-findings-from-pew-research-center-surveys/
