6 Things to Consider with Digital Marketing in 2024

I don’t think a year in the last decade has promised to disrupt digital marketing as much as this one. The rate of change and availability of new tools and automation are changing the game. Here are my top 6 things to consider when embarking on your strategy for 2024:

Mobile & Social – Join the Conversation Where Your Audience Exists

A staggering 85% of global mobile users regularly use social media platforms. As marketers, we know that engaging with our customers where they choose to be is the key to effectively reaching them. It should go without saying that responsive design and optimisation for mobile have been a priority for a few years. Content has become increasingly accessible and appealing across devices, with platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Discord, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok offering vast engagement opportunities. Brands willing to invest the time, energy, and strategy can engage authentically and consistently with their audiences, leveraging these platforms and their users to foster genuine connections.

E-Commerce: The Digital Marketplace

Almost everyone buys regularly from e-commerce websites. However, having your own e-commerce website is no longer enough. Amazon, social commerce, and things like Google shopping should be a big part of your strategy (depending on your target market).

Ensuring your website has unique copy, very high-quality imagery, and clearly displayed customer-centric terms of service (things like free shipping, returns, etc.) are non-negotiable—alongside a good choice of products, great user interface design, and usability.

Dynamic Content: Be Different

High-quality images, infographics, videos, and podcasts are all excellent mediums for engaging with your audience. People have so much choice nowadays, so think about how you will make your brand stand out.

I’ve mentioned it a few times, but authenticity will win in 2024. Many people are taking shortcuts, utilising new technology to create content, images, and video at scale. Whilst leveraging technology is a no-brainer, relying on it to be the finished article is a recipe for disaster.

Authentic Cross-Channel Marketing

Consumers average nearly 7 hours online daily, making cross-channel marketing a critical element of any effective strategy in 2024. In my experience, a consistent, omnichannel strategy integrating search, social, email, and more proves to be most effective. Consistency in branding, messaging, and customer insight across channels allows you to utilise one piece of content in multiple ways whilst engaging with different audiences on different platforms in a consistent manner. With our own business, we incorporate traditional channels like radio, newspapers, and magazines into most of our successful campaigns.

Email Marketing: Cheap, Targeted communication with a high ROI

Email marketing’s demise has been predicted for years. However, with advanced segmentation, AI, and automation combined with informative, engaging content, email marketing provides a surprisingly large number of conversions.

Incorporating strategic thought and split testing headlines helps understand what messaging and cadence work. Think about sending out your email marketing to coincide with when your audience gets their paycheck from work (people always spend more after payday) and reward your loyal customers with the best offers.

AI, Automation, and Machine Learning

Finally, the big one.

AI, Chatbots, and other elements of machine learning are changing the game like never before. With a conservative prediction of 40% of businesses adopting an AI strategy in 2024, I believe it is a case of adapt or die.

Our business has invested a huge sum in understanding and adopting AI. The one caveat, however, is that it is not yet a panacea. To get the best from AI, you need a considerable amount of human input – after all, that’s where the magic comes from!

It would be remiss of me not to mention the demise of third-party cookies, although it did not make my top 6 (because you should be over it already!). By now, all businesses should have a strategy to collect, store, and analyse first-party data. Many are going one step further and using predictive analytics and Mixed Media Modelling (MMM) to inform their marketing budgets and decisions.

Whatever you choose to do with your digital marketing in 2024, it is likely to be a big evolution from last year. As the saying goes, evolve or die!