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2024 Marketing Trends To Watch (Part 2)

2024 Marketing Trends

By Nick Williamson

Co-founder and Head of Operations at Lynx19 propelling digital success through data driven marketing.

Following part one of our Marketing Trends to Watch Series, we will be taking a further look at other tools and trends which every switched-on business owner and marketer ought to be aware of moving forward.

Whilst you may not choose to use all the trends listed throughout our series, it is vital to know each of these trends and then build a holistic marketing strategy using those which best fit your business and brands’ needs.

Personalised Content Experiences

In the current state of digital marketing, it is essential to stay ahead of the curve if you want to captivate the ever-evolving audience. 

As we enter 2024, one recently introduced marketing technique has risen to the top, Personalised Content Experiences. Personalised Content Experiences tailor products, services and information to consumers who have even a remote interest in a given subject: 

Empowered Consumers

With an unlimited supply of information at their fingertips, consumers are more empowered than ever before. 

With direct access to your competitors, consumers expect brands to understand their unique needs and desires. Personalised content can help brands to appeal to those consumers by making the customer feel valued and understood.

This can be trickier at times to accomplish due to the more personal nature of the content, however, if the right message and tone can be reached any business will see a noticeable increase in both engagement and customer conversions. 

Cutting Through the Noise

The digital space is littered with irrelevant content vying for attention. This is how Personalised Content draws in customers, it offers relevant pieces of information or advertised relevant products/services to provide the user with precise, relevant information and support.

Driving Conversion Rates

When consumers find content which speaks directly to their needs, the conversion rate of said consumers skyrockets. 

From personalised product recommendations to an offer based on past purchases, the conversion rates can be drastically increased. When paired with other marketing techniques like Video Content, the Personalised Content Experiences can improve the marketing campaign massively. 

Personalised content experiences represent a seismic shift in how brands engage with consumers. In an age of empowered consumers, personalised content experiences are not just an option, but a necessity. 

Social Listening

One of the most noticeable trends which has risen to prominence as a game-changer is Social Listening. This is the practice of tracking and assessing social media information which is relevant to or linked to one’s brand or product in order to enhance customer outreach and product development. 

This approach to gathering and analysing online conversations has become an indispensable marketing strategy. Explore how Social Listening is a must-watch marketing technique: 

Real-Time Insights

In the digital era, consumers constantly voice their opinions and experiences on many different platforms, such as social media and blogs. Social Listening allows brands to tap into these conversations, gaining insights that can assist them in the development and implementation of marketing strategies. 

By tracking customer engagement on social media platforms, they can make informed marketing decisions based on customer sentiment. This is backed up by the Meltwater’s Survey which covered over 650 industry professionals and found that over 61% of organisations have implemented a social listening system and are monitoring for keyword mentions.

Consumer Sentiments 

Consumer sentiment can be both positive and negative, and social listening allows companies to measure the customer sentiment with little to no effort. 

This sentiment can make or break marketing campaigns, if the customer does not engage with the campaign, the company will start losing money, however if the customer has positive sentiment, they may engage positively with posts, allowing the marketing campaign to be a success. 

Audience Preference

Social Listening goes far beyond surface-level understanding. It delves into the specifics of what consumers are saying and thinking about the company. 

It allows the company to take the right steps to correct any concern the consumers may have, which can be done with an effective marketing campaign. Audience preference can also ensure that every piece of content sent out by the company is meaningful, relevant, and engaging.

Enhancing Customer Service

When it comes to having a successful marketing campaign, Customer Service must be considered. In the past few years, more consumers have been taking to social media to express their complaints and to ask questions, which, if negative, could cause irreparable damage to the company’s reputation. 

By having a team or bot to monitor these activities, they can be dealt with quickly and efficiently without too much damage to the company’s reputation, whilst also appeasing any wrongfully treated parties.

Engaging with customers or providing easily accessible customer service can prevent such incidents from even taking place. This is why when implementing a marketing campaign it is essential to have customer support on standby. 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, brands that embrace social listening gain a competitive edge by tapping into real time insights, understanding consumer sentiments, and building deeper connections. Social Listening allows brands to craft campaigns, messages, and strategies that resonate, making a lasting impact on their audience and driving business success. 

User Generated Content (UGC)

We are now in a stage of marketing that has never been seen before, where the use of User Generated Content is used to assist marketing campaigns. 

Many modern IP’s now share or use their customers’ content to promote their brand, which is a very effective tactic due to the humanization aspects, making the brand seem more relatable and friendly. 

Relatability and Humanization 

In the modern era of digital marketing, it can be hard for companies to appear human…many consumers view large companies as inhuman, thinking of them as large, heartless corporate entities, sometimes putting them off and pushing them towards smaller competitors. 

By using UGC to promote your products and services, it can show consumers that you have a team working behind the scenes, making the company more appealing, and in the process, building a loyal community.

Authentic and Unfiltered Content

Embracing UGC in your marketing campaign can give it a huge push! Creating an experience where the customer will want to create a post or review is good, as it provides both valuable feedback on how the campaign is doing, and what the customers like about the products or marketing campaign.

Proof

One thing most customers do before purchasing a product is read the reviews…or at least the average star rating. 

By getting users to post reviews on social media it can convince others to purchase the product, in a herd-mentality situation. 

Running campaigns on social media apps can also convince people to purchase products. This can be effective on many marketing campaigns, however, may be unsuccessful in smaller campaigns. 

At Lynx 19, we also understand the importance of social proof and that is why we are proud of our clean 5 star rating by over 30 companies.

By using UGC in your marketing campaign, you can massively increase reach and leads generated. Users love recognition, and once received by the brand, they will feel loyal to the company, as they feel personally thanked for their content. 

Micro/Nano Influencers

The use of micro and nano influencers in digital marketing campaigns has emerged as a powerful way to motivate audiences to purchase products or services. The use of influencers has shown how much audiences will listen to people, regardless of whether they are correct or incorrect.

Trust and Credibility

In an era where the consumer does not trust many companies, customers gravitate towards authenticity and relatability. 

Micro/Nano Influencers with small follower counts are often seen as more relatable, meaning the consumers are much more likely to purchase the product if their favourite small influencer gets the chance to promote the product. 

This is effective for many marketing campaigns as it encourages many smaller audiences to engage, rather than a single, large audience from a massive influencer. 

Engagement Overreach

The size of an influencer does not always correlate to marketing success, and in most cases, smaller influencers can be more successful than the large influencers. 

A smaller influencer with a small  audience may boast higher engagement rates than their larger counterparts, which in the long term as they grow, will mean larger engagement rates from a growing and dynamic audience. 

Cost-Effectiveness

When a brand wants to collaborate with a large influencer, it can cost large amounts of money, however, when collaborating with smaller influencers, it can cost considerably less, meaning they can hire more, smaller influencers for the same price as a single large influencer. 

Diverse Audience Reach

When working with smaller influencers, they usually have a smaller, but more niche audience, which is good as the followers often will listen to what the influencers say. 

Partnering with many smaller influencers is often better than partnering with a single large influencer, as these influencers may charge a lot of money for substandard services. 

The use of micro/nano influencers is a strategic necessity for brands looking to create meaningful connections with their audience. 

Customers value credibility and reliability above all else, and these smaller influencers provide a clear route into achieving these goals. By tapping into these influencers niche audiences, brands can create trust between the consumer, the influencer and themselves. Did you know that in the past three months alone, over 30% of gen Z-ers have purchased products based on an influencer recommendation.

Conversational Marketing (Chatbots)

The world of marketing is in a constant state of evolution, with trends and technologies changing the ways in which brands connect with their consumers. 

One trend which has stood out from the rest in recent years is the use of Conversational Marketing (Chatbots). The use of these chatbots in processes such as customer support has evolved the way in which companies communicate.

The Era of Personalisation

Personalization is no longer a bonus for modern marketing strategies, it’s simply an expectation. Most consumers who may be interested in your product expect an experience that caters to their specific needs and using AI (Artificial Intelligence) Chatbots can solve this problem. 

The use of Chatbots is seen as controversial, as it puts people out of jobs, however, they are extremely efficient and can personalise experiences to consumers easily. Adding chatbots to platforms such as a business website can indefinitely help a brands onboarding process whilst also answering questions which prospective customers may have.

Immediate Accessibility

In today’s world, consumers expect only the best and quickest response to their queries and concerns. Chatbots are available 24/7/365 and can be pre-programmed with the knowledge to answer even the most difficult of questions. 

Handling Routine Tasks

Chatbots are great at repeating tasks and remembering critical information if needed. The bots mostly specialise in answering frequently asked questions, answering order related queries, or providing information on shipping or services. 

By offloading these simple tasks to the robots, businesses can free up human resources for other more complex tasks or can re-allocate them to work on more high-value activities.

Improved User Experience

A good user experience is key to any brand’s success! Without it, the users would not return to purchase more products. 

Chatbots are effective at improving the user experience as they can guide users to solutions, which may take a human longer to do. If the bots are unable to help the users, it can then request a human to come and take over. 

It should be noted that with the progression of technology and how sophisticated AI chatbots are at this point in time, it should come as little surprise that nearly ¾ of customers prefer using chatbots for their enquiries rather than conversing with a human corporate agent to solve their queries.

Social Media Stories

In the realm of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is an essential step to engage with a modern, tech savvy, and visually oriented audience. 

A common-place marketing trend which has become set in stone following the Covid Pandemic is the use of social media stories for marketing different products and services. These stories often attract customers as it either shows the inner working of the brand or it resonates with the customer base and shows that the brand is being transparent and relatable. 

Fostering Authenticity

One of the best features of social media stories is their raw and unfiltered nature. They offer an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at a brand or the individual’s life. 

This authenticity resonates with a modern consumer as it shows how brands are transparent about their inner workings and by putting their company values on display. By showing often unseen content, the consumer will most likely come to trust the brand, as it often shows that they have nothing to hide. 

Visual Storytelling

As we saw with video content, humans are naturally drawn to video content, and stories often capitalise on this. 

With 90% of information which is transmitted to the brain being in visual format, any effective marketing strategy which truly wants to leave a lasting impression will use visual social media stories to project their message.

A combination of images or videos accompanied by text or stickers allows for powerful visual storytelling. Brands can convey their narratives more vividly through this medium, while reducing their average marketing costs. 

Ephemeral Urgency

The temporary nature of stories creates a sense of urgency. Consumers know that the content will disappear after 24 hours, which encourages them to engage promptly before it cannot be seen again. 

This urgency can be leveraged for time-sensitive promotions, such as flash sales, events or announcements. By creating a sense of urgency, it can encourage consumers to act fast, when they are more likely to purchase a product or service. 

Enhanced Engagement

Interactive features such as polls, quizzes, questions and swipe-up links turn passive viewers into active participants. Social media stories have many different uses, however, using them as interactive platforms to engage the customer base can help companies to target previously inactive members of that audience.

Social media stories are more than just a trend, they represent a large shift in the way brands interact with their consumers, and how customers communicate with, and engage with the brand. 

In 2024, the use of stories in marketing campaigns will be common-practice, as it has shown that consumers are much more likely to engage with stories. 

Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences

The world is in a state of constant evolution, driven by both consumer demand and advancements in technology. One of these emerging technologies is AR, AR can give users unique experiences in how things look in their life, without having the item. It can help consumers connect with a brand better. Companies such as amazon and apple have implemented AR into their service to show consumers what their products look like in their home, a usually unnecessary feature, however a cool one which could be the difference between someone purchasing a product and someone deciding not to. 

Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide:

AR blurs the line between the physical and digital worlds, allowing brands to create interactive experiences that seamlessly blend with real life environments. This method of bringing the product to the users home without them purchasing it is good as it allows them to view if it fits in well with the general aesthetic they have in their home, or it allows them to see if it is the correct product for the job. In marketing, this is effective as it gives more reasons to the customers to purchase products, rather than more reasons not to. Once using AR customers will also form an attachment to the product, meaning they will most likely end up purchasing it.

Enhancing User Engagement

AR experiences captivate users by providing them with interactive and entertaining content. Whether it’s virtually trying on clothes, exploring 2d product models, or playing location based AR games such as Pokemon Go, these experiences drive deeper and longer engagement and interaction with the brand. 

Immersive Storytelling

Storytelling has been a widely used marketing tool for a while now, however, when paired with AR, storytelling becomes something else. The use of AR takes storytelling to the next level by enabling brands and businesses to immerse customers in their narratives. Brands can craft compelling stories by layering digital elements onto the real world, creating memorable, shareable and relatable experiences. 

Product Visualisation

The use of AR by companies to showcase either products allows customers to visualise what owning the product would be like. For example, if a desk company added an AR feature to their site where they could show what the desk would look like in the room, a consumer would use this product, and would be more likely to purchase a product according to this report by Shopify. This particular technology is valuable for industries like furniture, fashion, cosmetics and show companies, as they can show the consumer the fit of a product, and how it could actually benefit them.

AR represents a monumental shift in the marketing industry. It offers unprecedented levels of interactivity, engagement and personalisation that usually is not seen with modern consumers. This is an extremely effective marketing tool to implement into your campaign due to its high customer engagement.

Social Media Commerce

In the last ten years, social media has become a big thing in many people’s lives. Whether it’s Facebook or TikTok, over 4.5 billion people use social media each month, or around 60% of the population of earth. However, a more recent trend is the integration of shops onto these social media platforms. These shops have since become an extremely simple way to advertise products.

The Fusion of Social and Commerce

The fusion of social media and e-commerce is no longer a novelty, and can now be considered as a valid and effective tool to use to sell products. Social Media Commerce allows creators to sell products directly to their fans , and allows businesses to use social media to sell their products, rather than using a service like shopify,

Visual Shopping and Discovery

As stated before, humans are inherently visual beings, preferring platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to text-based platforms like Reddit. Social media platforms with integrated stores often enable users to discover products while scrolling effortlessly through their feeds. The use of social media in the shop also allows the products to be shared with the audience for free, however, ads can massively help to increase reach.

Authentic Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a strategy we have already discussed, however, when paired with social media commerce, the use of influencers can make or break your brand. If the product is good, and the influencer markets it well enough, the product has an extremely high likelihood of being successful. However, if the quality or features of the product are overly exaggerated, many customers will complain, and social media has a way of making bad reviews ruin your brand. Even with its downsides, it’s a great technique to get your products in front of thousands of potential customers.

Social media commerce is the future of many successful marketing campaigns. Having evolved from the already widely used ecommerce websites, social media commerce allows creators and brands to put their products in front of the people with little investment of both time and resources. 

Social Messaging Apps

The Ubiquity of Messaging Apps

Messaging apps are by most people on a daily basis. Whether its co-workers communicating at work, or friends messaging each other, messaging is an essential part of society. Messaging apps are also an amazing marketing tool, as it allows real time support to take place, meaning the customer will not be left waiting for a response, which only agitates them. 

Direct and Personalised Communications

Messaging also allows brands to engage in one-to-ones with their clients, creating a sense of security and making the brand seem more personalised. The personal sense creates an enhanced customer experience, leading to more leads and sales. This is an effective marketing strategy as it helps customers and brands at the same time. 

Chatbots

While social messaging apps give the appearance of a human representative, bots can easily replace their human counterparts in the message support area of a company, allowing those humans to be focused on more important work. Chatbots can be programmed with many different, unique responses, ensuring that the customer does not suspect or care that they are not speaking to a person. Smart Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) can think of responses to questions rather than giving generic responses, again creating a personalised support experience. 

By leveraging the personalisation and privacy of one to one support for customers, it allows brands to build a sense of trust, and in turn, the consumer will be loyal to the brand. Messaging apps are definitely a marketing trend to watch out for.

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