Digital marketing trends in 2024 will see a shift towards a more human-centric approach, despite the increasing integration of artificial intelligence into digital marketing. While technology will continue to be the foundation of online promotion, it will serve as an assistant to marketers in content creation, forecasting, and enhanced personalization.
The upcoming year's trends will focus on user engagement and building customer relationships, making digital promotion more targeted and thoughtful.
Human-Centricity
The use of robots for content creation and communication with users was intended to simplify marketing tasks and improve brand positioning. However, it often has the opposite effect: people are less engaged when they realize that the text was written by artificial intelligence or the image was generated by a neural network. According to research, more than half of users react this way.
Additionally, the growing volume of information bombarding the audience with offers and news can be overwhelming. Therefore, in the coming year, brands should shift their focus from pressuring customers with constant "buy" messages to building trust through communication that evokes emotions and demonstrates values. This approach will help establish a strong connection with the audience.
AI-Enhanced Personalization:
But still Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a driving force in digital marketing. In 2024, businesses are leveraging AI algorithms for hyper-personalization. This involves tailoring content, product recommendations, and marketing messages to individual user preferences, providing a more engaging and relevant experience.
Advertising within marketplaces and applications is becoming increasingly prominent. Major retailers, marketplaces, and aggregators are positioning themselves as comprehensive advertising platforms, going beyond simply hosting product listings on their platforms.
Various advertising formats are employed, including simple banners, story publications, articles, reviews, and more. For instance, when the Lamoda website creates collections of stylish outfits, they may include a dress from a specific brand. Similarly, the Wildberries marketplace advertises certain products on the main page of the application, significantly increasing the views of product listings.
This format is expected to continue evolving because advertising within online marketplaces proves to be effective; people visiting these platforms are already in a purchasing mindset. The convenience of reaching a ready-to-buy audience on marketplaces contributes to the effectiveness and growth of this advertising trend.
Interactivity plays a key role in digital marketing, as content that users can interact with not only captures attention but also contributes to increased viewing time and guides users through the sales funnel. This approach allows brands to stand out in the sea of information and create a deeper connection with their audience.
Interactive formats, such as quizzes, surveys, and animations that respond to user actions, will remain relevant in the coming year. They not only make engagement more entertaining but also provide marketers with valuable data on the preferences and interests of their audience, enabling the creation of more personalized and effective content.
Influencer marketing is gaining momentum as a promotional strategy through bloggers and other influencers. The influencer marketing market reached $21.1 billion in 2023, a significant increase from $16.4 billion in 2022 (vc.ru).
The trend of collaborating with micro-influencers—individuals with a small but engaged audience—is expected to continue. Millennials and Generation Z users born in the 2000s and 2010s are actively entering the online space and becoming influential content creators.
Moreover, influencer advertising is becoming increasingly native, integrating seamlessly into content, often within narrative videos. For example, sneakers might be advertised in a humorous video about sports at ages 15 and 30. This type of advertising is amusing and tends to irritate followers less compared to conventional recommendations.
Video content continues to thrive, driven by the rapid consumption of content that is easily watchable on-the-go, with a smartphone in hand. All major social media platforms have introduced separate feeds dedicated to vertical videos. This format is well-suited for the mobile viewing experience and aligns with the preferences of users who often consume content on their smartphones.
The convenience of watching vertical videos on mobile devices has led to the widespread adoption of this format across various social media platforms, catering to the evolving habits of users and their preference for easily accessible and engaging video content.
In 2024, digital marketing will become more human-centric, with brands shifting their focus towards building trust and placing greater emphasis on enhancing the customer experience. Personalization will reach new levels of development, and there will be an increased focus on the security of personal information shared by customers with brands.
The foundation for digital marketing will continue to rely on AI, AR, VR technologies, neural networks, and machine learning, essential for content creation and data processing.
Influencers remain influential, with advertisers finding micro-influencers with smaller audiences increasingly appealing.
The popularity of vertical videos persists due to their ease of consumption, while longer videos will also remain popular. Brands will continue launching interactive ad campaigns to engage users and actively promote their products on marketplaces.