Top Marketing Trend Predictions for 2024 – CMSWire

The Gist

• AI integration. Current market trends indicate artificial intelligence will persist in disrupting industries and reshaping marketing strategies.
• Social influence. The role of social media creators is intensifying, demanding authenticity over traditional influencer partnerships.
• Privacy emphasis. The growing importance of consumer data privacy stresses the need for transparency and regulatory compliance.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated on May 17, 2024 to include new data and information. The original content was authored by Scott Clark.

The marketing landscape is not a static thing — it constantly changes and evolves, adapting to meet customers’ expectations and demands. It shifts with changes in the economy, new strides in technology and viral movements taking over the internet. So what marketing industry trends are top of mind for 2024?

Top Trends in Marketing in 2024

From the growing influence of social media creators to the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence technologies like

Such shoppable ad formats and social commerce provide a more integrated experience between discovery, inspiration and transaction. Additionally, retailers already possess rich transactional and behavioral data. As third-party data disappears, retail media enables brands to tap into these insights for more relevant targeting and to build lasting customer relationships through a trusted channel.

Trend #5: Disruption Through AI Technologies Continues 

It’s impossible to talk about new marketing trends without recognizing the pervasive influence of AI. In 2024, AI is primed to revolutionize content marketing by augmenting personalization and performance. The use of AI in general is becoming so transformative that according to a Gartner report, it is poised to be recognized as a primary economic indicator of national power. 

This year, marketers will home in on their ability to more effectively leverage generative AI. Benjamin related that since ChatGPT entered the mainstream, agencies are working around the clock to identify procedures and policies, and determine the most practical solutions to leverage AI to maintain creativity and improve marketing outcomes.

“Developing customized prompts and learning to automate manual tasks is likely going to be the focus of many marketers since this is likely to yield the highest return in terms of effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing efforts.” She explained that using prompts to deliver code that can enable connectivity of disparate tools, improve tracking capabilities, and improve automation is probably one of the most underused opportunities for generative AI.

AI also has huge potential to enhance and improve personalization in many ways, such as by creating customized experiences, product recommendations and individualized creatives for advertising.

Sidra Berman, CMO at parcelLab, said hyper-personalization will drive marketing in 2024 as today’s consumers expect tailor-made experiences that are dynamic and engaging. “AI technologies will allow marketers to optimize customer experiences at record speeds, offering more ways to delight customers based on specific requests. Marketers need to use customer data to deploy successful multi-tier marketing campaigns that are specific to each customer segment and personalized at every digital touchpoint.” Berman explained that customizable touchpoints that incorporate on-brand messaging will result in higher conversion rates and increase average net promoter scores (NPS).

Traditionally, the ability to target specific consumer segments has been far more advanced than the capacity to create corresponding creative versions of ads. This disparity often leads to a mismatch between highly targeted audiences and the generalized creative content they receive, limiting the overall effectiveness of the campaigns. However, with AI-driven constant versioning, marketers will be able to create and deliver a multitude of creative versions tailored to thousands of finely-tuned consumer segments. 

This means that each segment will not only be targeted with precision but will also receive content that resonates specifically with their preferences and behaviors. As a result, the performance of marketing campaigns is expected to reach new heights, offering a significantly improved consumer experience. This shift will not only enhance engagement rates but also drive higher conversion rates, as consumers are more likely to respond positively to content that feels personally relevant and tailored to their unique needs and interests.

Bill Stratton, global industry GTM lead, media, entertainment and advertising at Snowflake, emphasized that in the realm of advertising, we are witnessing a groundbreaking advancement in the form of hyper-personalization made possible by AI. “Currently, targeting data for campaigns, where thousands of fine-tuned segments can be derived from consumer behavior, has far outnumbered the creative versions of a campaign which limits ad effectiveness. This constant versioning via AI is set to unlock a new level of performance and consumer experience. For example — AI can help reach consumers in a buying cycle by targeting and messaging to the individual every step of the way.” 

Stratton suggested that what sets this approach apart is AI’s ability to discern someone’s distinct messaging sensitivities, or even identify which imagery resonates with that person the most at unique times. “As consumers, this breakthrough empowers us further with relevancy in our lives and will build a deeper connection between us and a brand in the process.”

Related Article: Generative AI in Marketing: Unlocking the Next Generation of Use Cases

Trend #6: Social Media Marketing Becomes More Important

You can’t ignore social media when it comes to current trends in marketing. In 2022, more than 4.59 billion people used social media worldwide, with Facebook leading the pack as the most popular social network platform, according to Statista. By 2027, that number is projected to increase to almost 6 billion.

Social media has become an integral part of people’s everyday lives. In fact, the average internet users spends 143 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps alone. And many people, especially those in Generation Z, use social apps such as TikTok to look up product reviews and endorsements, find local businesses and restaurants and even look for jobs.

Brian Bennett, president and founder at STIR Advertising & Integrated Messaging, said that social media has evolved into much more than a series of websites we use to communicate with friends. “Brands of all shapes and sizes are turning to social as a primary means to ecommerce, giving their customers a direct avenue to make purchases — without navigating away from the app. In other words, the platforms themselves include built-in browsers that act as virtual storefronts.”

Trend #7: Social Commerce Expands in Significance

Social commerce is poised to become a major force in both inbound and outbound marketing for online retailers. Social shopping, a blend of ecommerce and social media, allows customers to discover, engage with and purchase products directly through social media platforms. This method of shopping is transforming the traditional retail journey by providing user-generated social proof and enabling more personal interactions between brands and customers. 

The integration of social commerce into daily life is not only changing the way people shop, but also how businesses approach marketing. By offering a dynamic, engaging experience, social shopping replaces more tedious and time-consuming transactions.

Michael Nemeroff, co-founder and CEO at Rush Order Tees, told CMSWire that he foresees social commerce becoming a major element in inbound and outbound marketing for online retailers. “As an ecommerce owner myself, I’ve worked with my team to create a more consistent presence on platforms like Instagram. Reels and short-form videos in Stories are pillars now for nurturing an audience.” 

Nemeroff suggested that social commerce will be the next big approach, and while it does require more effort from marketing teams to show up online, it solves two issues at once: growing our relationship with our followers and customers by engaging with them online and boosting our sales through social media selling.

“Networks such as Facebook and Instagram are quickly becoming sites for sales, and most of the success is coming from the fact that business owners have been nurturing their communities through these platforms,” said Nemeroff, who added that selling and relationship building go hand in hand. 

Related Article: Did TikTok Just Change the Ecommerce Game?

2024 Is a Year of Adjustments in Marketing

As financial concerns grow and consumers’ wallets get tightened, marketers will have to adjust their methodology and focus to adapt to these new and upcoming marketing trends in 2024.

Social media, influencers and content creators will continue to play a large role in how consumers shop and what they buy. Local marketing will become even more important, and customer retention, rather than conversion, will take the lead. Emerging AI technologies such as ChatGPT will become more useful to marketers, and although it may seem counterintuitive, instead of pulling back, brands will make greater investments in marketing with a focus on measurable results and ROI.

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