I’ve watched a lot of trends come and go in my 30+ years as a marketer, but 2024 is shaping up to be one of the fastest-moving years I’ve seen. Reminds me of 1998.
Whether you’re a marketer or business owner, you need to be prepared. Here are the four areas that will have an impact this year:
1: Social media and Google are fighting for search supremacy.
Many Google users complain that search results aren’t answering their questions anymore.
Social media platforms are becoming the answer provider of choice for younger users. Gen Z has embraced Instagram and TikTok for search. Older generations are catching on too; many users prefer Reddit or Quora answers that come from an actual person over Google.
Google is fighting to maintain search dominance right now. To combat users turning to social media for answers, Google is becoming a machine that spits out answers to your questions rather than displaying a list of links where you can find the answers yourself. The search giant is prioritizing non-URL results — maps, snippets, images and more — to a degree that would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago. Local search and voice search are on the rise too, narrowing visibility. The SEO strategy of pursuing the top of the SERP is rapidly losing relevance for marketers.
Social media now holds the nuanced, unique and personal answers that users want. That’s a trend we expect to continue. Audiences trust people more than brands. Consider shifting resources into building your social media presence instead of SEO rank.
2: Artificial Intelligence is commoditizing creative production — but adding value to insight and unique voices.
The marketing business model is changing again.
Agencies, CMOs and companies are all expected to invest heavily in AI technology in 2024. These investments will restore the value of creative problem solving, but at the cost of creative production revenue.
We’re at the start of a major shift in the marketing business model. This is at least the third change in the last 75 years.
- Mad Men era: Companies paid for access to media outlets and creative services.
- DotCom era: Companies paid for creative labor and technology management.
- AI era: Companies will pay for unique, creative work that stands out in the sea of sameness.
Machine learning makes the “labor” of creative production easy and cheap. The flip side of that change is that creative thought, originality and insight are once again extremely valuable.
AI can do the grunt work. But it doesn’t have real creativity, good taste or the ability to understand and unpack an idea from multiple angles. This year, smart content marketers will move away from “more is better,” “skyscraper,” and “informational” models aimed at SEO to focus on the original and inspired. The transition will be rough, but the end result will be worth it.
3: Short-form video is becoming everyone’s favorite content format.
We’re not saying the blog is dead, or that there’s no place for podcasts or long video essays on YouTube (if anything, the trend there is LONGER, not shorter).
But for day to day marketing content, short-form video is only growing in dominance. Instagram and TikTok are the obvious flagships here, but other platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube all support short-form video as well. 96% of marketers consider video an important part of their strategy. Almost all short-form videos are watched for over 40% of their runtime, and half reach a CTR of at least 5-8%. Those numbers have been on an upward trend for years; we expect them to accelerate.
Podcasting is still popular for audio content, but many now include an option to watch as video to tap into these video trends.
Short-form video will continue to grow this year.
4: Right message, right channel, right time matters more than ever.
Don’t fall victim to “shiny object syndrome.”
It can be easy to get caught up in the latest platform or channel. Remember: just because a channel is new or popular doesn’t mean it’s best for your business. Experiment, by all means. But understand your audience.
Good marketers use the channels that have the best chance to reach their target audience with an appealing message. And sure, platforms that are popular at the moment might have some advantages. But you have to be trend-conscious, not trendy.
There are a few less “sexy” digital channels we expect to get more attention than they did in 2023 — and they’re particularly important for business owners who aren’t full-time marketers.
- Permission-based email and SMS. Both of these are great ways to keep an audience engaged. And with permission, the audience has already said they’re interested in the message. That matters. Expect permission marketing to grow as governments continue to enact new privacy and data laws.
- Google My Business. Most businesses know they should claim their listing, but they don’t take advantage of the full suite of tools. Reply to reviews, add extra information, keep it up to date. From mobile search to voice, any business where geography matters will benefit from building out this listing.
- Industry directories. Most industries have insider forums, directories or groups — local, national and international. The people that engage here are already pre-qualified to be part of your audience.
Don’t chase trends. Ask two questions: where is your audience, and what do they want from you? That ALWAYS matters.
That’s our forecast for 2024. Want to stay informed? We’ll keep you in the know. Sign up for the Dispatch today.
Best Regards,
Ed Bardwell
President
Rainmaker Digital Services