DIGIT Insights on Digital Marketing Trends DIGIT – an Erasmus+ project (focused on providing relevant skills, knowledge, competencies, and tools to drive an inclusive digital transformation of the internationalization process to people who promote the internationalization of EU SMEs in the agri-food industry) shares its insights in Digital Marketing Trends. 1- Artificial Intelligence Although artificial intelligence is still in the early stages of development, there were many useful examples of AI-based marketing initiatives in 2022: E.g. DALL-E: an artificial intelligence tool, able to generate images based on text requests. Digital marketers could use it to create illustrations for blog articles and landing pages, instead of using stock photos. E.g. ChatGPT: an advanced text-based solution that can create different written content. From creating jokes to writing scenarios for short films, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can enhance your digital marketing strategy. E.g. Jasper: a tool that uses artificial intelligence for copywriting. It can successfully accelerate content marketing efforts. It can help with social media posts or landing page copywriting. Source: https://brand24.com/blog/digital-marketing-trends/ Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2- Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing used to be very simple. You found a profile with lots of followers, paid them to promote your product and waited for the results. Today, social media users are well aware of influencer marketing and no longer trust everything they see in their feeds. To be a great influencer, you need to know how to generate engagement and have a lot of specialised knowledge. To advertise your brand, you need to choose influencers carefully (credibility, values, etc.). 3 – Personalised Marketing Due to the constant exposure of consumers to advertising, it is no longer sufficient to show your product or service to a large audience and wait for the results. You have to address the problems of your potential customers and offer them solutions. Social listening is a great way to enter the discussion right away. Find people talking about your brand, product or niche market and listen to what problems they have. Social selling and conversational marketing can work wonders and, if done well, have a strong potential to go viral. Although Facebook is losing popularity, there are still many active groups where users exchange information. It is an opportunity for the brand to connect with your customers and shorten the distance. To boost your digital marketing efforts, LinkedIn groups can also be used. Personalised messages can also be sent using the email marketing strategy. This way of communicating is still popular in 2024 and you can use email marketing to create a marketing funnel. Make sure to properly segment users before launching email campaigns. 4- Short Videos TikTok videos have undoubtedly dominated as the most popular type of content on social media over the past year. It has been so successful that many other major social media platforms have copied the style. In recent years we have seen the rise of Instagram Reels (later copied by Facebook), YouTube Shorts and even Twitter tried its luck with Fleets (removed in 2021). Our attention span is shrinking. Challenge for marketers: Use the first few seconds of the video to capture the user’s attention and try to save the brand in their memory. Social media feeds are optimised for mobile devices: wait to be considered when developing your digital marketing strategy for 2024. 5 – Social Media Marketing Multichannel Although Facebook has not yet closed its doors, if you really want to be a good social media marketer, you have to look after many different channels. The platform that has been receiving the most attention lately is TikTok. It has gained a lot of popularity in recent years and now brands see great potential in marketing on TikTok. This shows that we have to be prepared for any new platform that may appear on the market. Young people (Gen Z and the next generation) are particularly likely to switch to the new thing and not look back. Watch the growth of BeReal and be alert to any serious alternative to Twitter appearing on the market. At the moment, Mastodon looks like a potential Twitter competitor. 6 – LinkedIn LinkedIn’s audience is growing year by year and in 2024 many potential customers can be found there. LinkedIn Premium is one of the most expensive social media subscription plans, yet 39% of all LinkedIn users choose to pay for it. When preparing a marketing strategy for 2024, LinkedIn cannot be ignored. It is still relevant and a perfect place to start social selling. 7 – SEO Google’s latest updates show us that we are approaching the end of an era as far as keyword SEO is concerned. The artificial intelligence algorithms of search engines are getting smarter and smarter and are now able to clearly understand whether the landing page or article was made by a real human being who really wants to help the reader or whether it is an old-fashioned SEO job that simply paraphrased other content and added more keywords. Keywords are still important, and one must still care about SEO, but one must change one’s perspective. Google and the other search engines promote sites that comprehensively answer users’ queries, not those with the most backlinks and the exact keyword in the meta title. 8 – Customer Experience As we are moving more and more into the digital world, customer experience has become an even more important part of business strategy. Today, it is possible to find reviews and opinions on almost anything within seconds. If the customer experience is negative, word will quickly spread, customers will quickly start to avoid their products and look for alternatives. The digital marketing strategy must focus on providing customers with the best experience. The web page must be user-friendly and fast. Do not hide essential information from users. Work on a clear site structure. Use chatbots or other solutions to facilitate contact with customers. Improving the customer experience will definitely be a big trend in digital marketing in 2024. 9 – Ethics in Digital Marketing In 2024, there is no place for unethical marketing strategies. Conscious choices are trending. Potential and existing customers are now much more motivated by ethics and morality than in the past. Consumers know about global warming and the impact of unethical capitalism on it: sustainability is a trending topic. That is why it is necessary to be honest in communication. Users will appreciate honesty and remember good advice. More and more companies are pursuing CRM (Cause-Related Marketing). They use their social media channels and other marketing materials to promote philanthropy and similar behaviour. Indeed, corporate donations are often only made for tax deduction purposes but, at the same time, they are really helping the planet. An ethical digital marketing strategy must be maintained. Otherwise, even the most loyal customers will turn away. 10 – Inclusive Marketing With increasing awareness, there is a greater focus on inclusive marketing. Long gone are the days when brands did not care about minorities in their marketing messages. This trend in digital marketing is strongly linked to points 3, 8 and 9. When creating marketing messages, think about inclusivity. (E.g. an online company should make sure the website is suitable for people with visual impairments. A physical shop should adapt the space for people with disabilities). ___________ DIGIT Erasmus+ project number 2021-1-DE02-KA220-VET-000034657. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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