It doesn't matter whether you're a marketer or an entrepreneur. To remain competitive, you need to keep up with the main trends in 2024 and predict what will become popular in the future. To stay ahead of the curve, let's focus on trends that need to be embraced.
Many people think that a trend is something new, but that's not true. A trend isn't something that suddenly becomes popular; it grows gradually. So, every trend has a long history. We just notice it when a large number of people begin using it.
Trend #1. Influencers Power
The first and most significant trend is working with influencers. It seems that working with influencers is similar to buying ads from bloggers, but it's actually not! Influencer marketing involves choosing someone to "talk about your brand really using your brand." The key is that the blogger's audience should understand that the influencer did not just promote something for money, but they really love the brand. The brand becomes a natural part of the influencer's life, making influencer marketing effective. The same applies to communities.
Trend #2. Brand Community
Another trend is to build a community around your brand. Community building is an important part of marketing, as it creates brand ambassadors who people trust because they are regular people.
To make people want to talk about your brand, you need to create a product that people love and find valuable. They should also benefit from sharing information about the product. Here, we can discuss some incentives or bonuses for those who leave reviews, share your company's contacts with their friends, or talk about you on communication platforms. The main goal is to get people to involve their contacts in this community and those contacts to involve their own, and so on. As a marketer or brand owner, your task is to bring order to this community. You need to carry out marketing activities to make your mini-ambassadors interested in it.
For example, we can see how clothing brands find influencers and stars, and these stars don't just wear these clothes to an event. They advertise these clothes and leave a link to where you can buy such an outfit.
Trend #3. Dialog Marketing
The third trend is dialog marketing. What is this about? Now, it's very important for clients to receive quick feedback: they ask a question and get an answer immediately (well, or at most 10 minutes later). It is clear that we need to take into account the specific needs of each business. If we are talking about mobile tire repairs, instant feedback is essential. If we are discussing clothing, then a 10-minute response time would be appropriate.
It's important to create customer journeys so that, whenever possible, we ask a question and provide an answer quickly. Very quickly, in fact.
The answer doesn't necessarily need to solve the problem on its own merits. However, the first response must be immediate. Hence, the person knows that their inquiry has been received, they have been seen, and their request has been acknowledged.
A life hack: it's not necessary to have a human being on the other end of the line. We can use a chatbot instead. We connect the chatbot, and the customer quickly receives a response.
We can see this in banking apps, where a bot responds instantly, even when all managers are busy or offline. In the morning, we'll get back to you. If bots were treated with great caution just a year ago, today, they are treated more simply. It's important not to pretend that real people are communicating with clients. Instead, it should be clearly indicated that a virtual assistant is interacting with the customer.
Trend #4. Social Marketing
We live in a world where we are concerned about society's problems. This is a socially accepted thing. Many brands care about the environment, use recyclable materials, do not test cosmetics on animals, and use other environmentally friendly practices.
A great example of this is Whiskas and Pedigree, two brands that have teamed up to create pet food without meat, in response to concerns about the environmental impact of livestock farming.
Trend #5. Ensuring Customer Privacy
Today's online registration process requires users to provide personal information such as email and phone numbers. People can sometimes experience problems with spam calls and unsolicited messages, which may be linked to their data being shared with third parties. This seriously affects brands' reputations, so it is essential to treat customer interactions carefully and responsibly to maintain users' trust.
Trend #6. VR in PR!
The sixth trend is virtual and augmented reality.
Virtual and augmented reality technologies are actively used in the furniture and clothing industries. These tools allow users to visualize furniture in an interior or clothing on themselves. Marketers can utilize these technologies to create a more immersive and realistic customer experience. However, finding a skilled digital specialist who can create high-quality visuals without compromising execution can be challenging.
Trend #7. AI Can Almost Everything
The seventh trend is artificial intelligence, which continues to evolve and finds applications in various aspects of marketing. For example, it can be used to create personalized newsletters, significantly increasing their open rate. AI can also make intelligent sequences that lead customers to a specific goal.
Trend #8. Sell from Your Heart
The eighth trend is sincerity. Today, people value honesty and transparency. They are tired of manipulation and want to see the real picture, including brands' mistakes and missteps. Sharing negative experiences and insights shows that your brand also faces challenges and learns from its mistakes.
Trend #9. Data-Based Marketing
Data-based marketing is the ninth trend. Making decisions based on data is essential for successful marketing. Collecting and analyzing data helps you understand if your business is on the right track and which strategies work best.
Trend #10. All-In-One Marketing Platforms
The tenth trend is using all-in-one marketing platforms. These platforms provide a comprehensive solution for businesses, allowing them to manage all aspects of their marketing efforts in one place. A good marketing strategy should take into account all of the current trends. Manual processing of such a large volume of tasks can be very time-consuming and expensive. For this reason, experienced digital marketers understand that utilizing multi-channel platforms that provide a wide range of features for modern digital marketing efforts is more effective.
For instance, platforms like Crossnetics integrate various aspects: data-driven marketing (the platform itself gathers the necessary data and metrics for bloggers and marketing campaigns and assists in formulating the right marketing strategy for brands); freelance exchange, where one can find skilled digital specialists to assist with content and advertising; and smart contracts in advertising, which help create the most personalized terms of a contract and verify their implementation.
What new trends and technologies in digital marketing do you believe to be the most promising? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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