Trends to Look Out for in 2024
With the year winding to its final months, it is a great time to set our sights on trends that are gathering steam for 2024. With the development and further maturation of novel technologies and marketing strategies, it is very clear that there are some concepts that would become more relevant moving forward.
TikTok
Tiktok is still lagging behind Facebook in terms of monthly active users but its post-2020 numbers suggest that its pandemic user acquisition bump is here to stay. Demographically, the platform continues to maintain a strong hold among the 18-24 age group and has shown its ability to offer advanced advertising options. With innovations such as a robust CRM program and shoppertainment, Tiktok will surely become more top-of-mind both for marketers and brands alike.
Short-term video content that is compatible with Tiktok, Youtube Shorts, Instagram Reels and similar formats would also become more relevant. Brands, content creators and marketers would have to deal with increased competition for eyeballs and thumb-stopping content as a new generation of creators push the boundaries of entertainment, information and influencer culture in a few seconds.
Hyper-personalization is the process of using AI and real-time data to display highly curated products and content to shoppers and viewers. With content and products online being dime a dozen, the brand that can crack the code when it comes to matching the right product with the right customer stands to gain a lot of advantages. One company that is leading the charge on this front is Starbucks. Through their app, they are able to tailor-fit offers to users via historical data, activity and past purchases.
The top dogs for this movement include tech giants such as Amazon and Spotify who have made understanding their customers’ preferences a central tenet to their content and product matching algorithms.
User-Generated Content and the Need for Authenticity
According to several studies including one by Ernst & Young, authenticity is the main value upheld by Gen Z. This is somewhat of a departure from the more rigid and curated approach preferred by older demographics. Now more than ever, it is important to inspire content that comes across as approachable, sincere and relatable. As big influencers (those with millions of followers) mature as fully-fledged media companies that lose part of their warmth and appeal, micro influencers (and methods to find them via social listening) will become a more integral part of doing digital marketing.
Enhanced Community Building
Social media has proven to be a great message amplification tool but brands that can harness engagement into stronger brand connections and loyalty will have the upper hand in coming years. Not only does it help brands bring their consumers outside of the big social media networks, they can also tailor fit the customer experience unencumbered by the limitations of unowned channels.
Communities could be built in various ways but it often is done through engaging the consumer base through a combination of messaging, CRM, gathering of feedback and a combination of well-designed online and offline programs.
Sustainability and Ethical Marketing
With markets choosing to be more socially aware on pressing issues across a multitude of concerns, it is important for brands to be cognizant of the way their brand and marketing plans fit in the larger conversations in society. Brands that align their messaging with sustainable causes and established social movements stand to gain traction but may also face some fringe resistance from some sectors.
We at Xiklab Digital would be thrilled to take on the challenge of helping your brand and business navigate these trends. Please go to our contact form to set up a meeting with our team of digital consultants.