If you searched for something along the lines of “digital marketing trends 2024”, this is the right place to be. The world of digital marketing is fast-paced and keeping up can feel unsettling and even exhausting. Certainly, hopping on the latest trends can boost your marketing strategy, (given that it is done in the right manner for your brand). However, like all things digital marketing, no trend is ideal for each business and brand. So, which trends should you get on right this moment and which trends can your business survive without? How do you start adopting these trends? Would they even be fruitful? Read on and find out!
Table of Contents
- Artificial Intelligence
- LinkedIn Marketing
- Moment Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Short-Form Video Content
- SEO
- Marketing to Gen Z
- Storytelling
- Creating Content That is Worth Sharing
- User-Generated Content
- Upcoming Trends to watch out for
- Concluding Thoughts
- Frequently Asked Questions
Top Digital Marketing Trends of 2024
1. Artificial Intelligence
This one is a no-brainer. We’ve all seen the rise in the development of AI and its rapid adoption by various industries over the past few years. Perhaps, the digital marketing industry has had the biggest change. Generative AI has made the industry more efficient by providing copywriters, designers and strategists a starting point in the form of first drafts, mockups and concepts. This frees up the creative’s time so that they can work their magic by fine-tuning and perfecting the communication.
Apart from the content production process, AI can also assist with customer interaction. Chatbots can help you interact with your customers and resolve simpler issues and questions, freeing up your executive’s time to focus on dealing with more complex issues the customers have. We’re likely to keep seeing further developments in AI.
So, if you’re still not using AI in your processes, it’s time to start.
2. LinkedIn Marketing
LinkedIn is seeing a rise in its user base as Gen Z enters the workplace and joins the platform. It is no longer just a place to upload your resume or get job referrals. It has become a platform where people love expressing themselves, sharing their opinions, anecdotes, advice, tips and much more on topics beyond workspace.
This presents a significant opportunity for your brand to establish itself on Linkedin. Building a presence on Linkedin and sharing valuable content such as how-tos, industry news and product showcases can greatly benefit your brand. However, it is crucial to ensure that the content being uploaded is still LinkedIn-appropriate.
What works on Instagram isn’t necessarily the same as what works on Facebook or LinkedIn. Each platform requires content to be tweaked and tailored accordingly.
A social media marketing company can help you figure out the tone that should be used on each platform as well as help you bring subtle nuances in your messaging appropriate for each platform.
3. Moment Marketing
Moment marketing is one of the best ways to boost your brand’s awareness and visibility. What it means is simple: Utilise the moment! Keep an eye on popular social media trends, memes, pop culture news and general news. Listen to what people are talking about. It’s very important to identify which trends go with your brand’s tone of voice.
See how brands jumped on the 2024 elections, creatively using moment marketing to remind people of the power they hold.
If your brand’s tone of voice is playful, fun and snarky, by all means, get on the trends! Put out a meme, record a reel! However, if your brand voice is that of an expert, industry leader and professional, it’s not that you can’t do moment marketing, you’ll have to be wise about your choice. Trending reel audios and meme templates won’t work here. Instead, you can share opinions, unique insights or even anecdotes on topical news.
4. Influencer Marketing
One of the first steps in designing a digital marketing strategy is to identify and define your target audience. Once that’s done, the next and trickier step is figuring out how to get your message to them. This is where influencer marketing comes in.
Whatever your target audience is, chances are, an influencer has already put in the work of building a follower base consisting of that audience. This allows you to bypass the laborious process yourself and instead get your message out by collaborating with influencers. All you have to do is reach out to them! So much easier, right?
The only catch here is identifying the right influencers who fit with your brand image. For instance, if your brand is all about sustainability, you’d want to ensure you collaborate with influencers who talk about sustainability. This can get a bit tedious.
5. Short-Form Video Content
Putting out short-form video content is important for visibility in this age of Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. You have to keep an eye on the latest trending reel templates and audio. Jumping on these trends can increase your page’s reach. However, it’s also important for your brand to create original content.
Additionally, you need to ensure all the basics are in place. Maintain good video and audio quality in your reels. People prefer reels with subtitles. Craft engaging copy and caption. All of this works together to captivate viewers and stop them from scrolling away.
Sounds like a lot? Don’t worry! Collaborating with a digital marketing company can make your tasks much easier! Their team can help your brand keep up with the latest content marketing trends and come up with fresh ideas, shooting and editing them. Your brand won’t just be making trending reels but also producing original content!
6. SEO
As the internet becomes increasingly cluttered, it’s crucial to have your brand’s website ranked on Google. SEO is becoming more important to stand out from the noise. In a world where engaging short-form video content is widespread, only one thing can make people read your blogs: killer content!
Gone are the days of copy-pasting and paraphrasing other blogs. Your blog should provide real value to the readers. Ensure that every blog post you publish has a reason to exist beyond just getting it ranked. Give your readers unique insights, captivate them with your storytelling or provide a step-by-step how-to guide.
The next step is to make sure you are targeting the right keywords. A quick tip: get rid of the popular generic keywords and opt for more specific long-tail keywords. Sometimes, a bit of trial and error is involved in finding the best keywords to drive traffic to your website.
Does this sound like a tedious process? It is but an SEO agency can gladly take care of it for you so that you can focus on your business operations!
7. Marketing to Gen Z
It’s the question everybody is asking. “How do we make content for Gen Z?” No, you can’t just pepper your sentences with words like “pizza” and “slay”. Most of the Gen Z slang is used by them ironically. So, if you don’t understand how to use the words naturally, they’re better left alone. Don’t try too hard to pander to them or else they’ll dislike it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you can’t generalise and label them as the “woke” generation. They are a large group of individuals with differing personalities, opinions and experiences.
So, what should you do? The answer is simple and something you already know: understand your audience!
Born into a digital world, their experience differs vastly from the generations that came before. To craft meaningful communication for them, you need to first understand their experience, what issues they care about, what they like and dislike, what content they consume and what they expect from brands. There is no one single answer to these because it’ll change according to your exact target audience and that’s the research you’ll have to do!
8. Storytelling
Storytelling is essential in advertising. The basics of advertising haven’t changed: storytelling drives your message. Your well-planned strategy won’t work unless good storytelling is part of every communication. Advertising is about making meaningful connections with the audience and storytelling has always been the way humans connect.
9. Creating Content That is Worth Sharing
There are many metrics to measure the virality and popularity of content, such as likes, comments, shares, saves and impressions. Even if your content doesn’t get many likes, saves or comments, having a highly shareable post increases the chances of it going viral. This is why there’s been a rise in cringe content on social platforms; while you might not like or comment on such posts, you can’t help but share them with friends, family or coworkers.
As a brand, you need to create shareable content, but for the right reasons. Content that makes people laugh feels relatable or is appreciated for its concept, story, video shoot, design or copy is more likely to go viral. You also need to consider the format. Static posts and reels have a higher chance of being shared compared to carousels and stories. Therefore, focus on creating static posts and reels with great visuals and messaging for your brand.
10. User-Generated Content
As the name suggests, this type of content is generated by consumers rather than the brands. It can include any form of content – from blog posts, videos, images, social media posts or artwork. For digital marketing, UGC is valuable for brands because it comes directly from customers, which looks raw, authentic and rustworthy. It gives an honest opinion on the impact of your brand on customers’ minds. Unlike made-up and polished marketing, UGC is relatable and lets your customers tell your story rather than your brand singing praises for yourself.
Upcoming Trends to watch out for
1. Augmented and Virtual Reality
While AR and VR are not new technologies, their widespread use is relatively recent. Although the market isn’t fully prepared yet, the momentum for mass adoption is building as big tech works to make the technology more accessible. AR and VR offer a new medium of communication, enabling innovative and creative ways to interact with each other. It’s exciting to anticipate the opportunities they will unlock!
2. Developments in Artificial Intelligence
It’d be a safe bet to expect developments in AI to continue. We can expect generative AI to keep making the content production process smoother. Meanwhile, AI could also become helpful in consumer interaction. It can help you pick the right keywords and it can help target your consumers more accurately. We can expect all of the stuff that it does now to become more efficient and effective in the future!
Concluding Thoughts
Keeping up with digital marketing trends is not easy, especially when the end goal is to not just jump on trends but to get value back from them for your brand. You need to make sure it’s the right action for your brand and then go through the process of making content!
Sounds like a lot of work? A digital marketing agency like ours can help you out! We have various teams specialising in content, design, and strategy that ensure every piece of communication that is being put out from your end is perfect! Drop us a message at hello@florafountain.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Vasim Samadji is a partner at Flora Fountain, where he leads the Business and Marketing Strategy divisions. He is a seasoned professional with an MBA in marketing and over a decade of experience working with multiple MNCs. Vasim is a firm believer in the power of creation and he is...
