One thing we can all agree on is that the digital marketing world is ever-evolving. New changes, updates, and upgrades hit the market, requiring businesses to adapt to succeed.
The latest advancement that is taking digital marketing by storm is Artificial Intelligence or AI. Whether it is creating a custom business logo or brand using AI tools or writing sales pitches for clients, businesses are adopting AI faster than ever before.
The shift towards AI is so significant that a Forbes study predicts the AI market size to cross $405 billion by 2027. Moreover, another study reveals that over 77% of global businesses either use AI or are exploring its uses.
So, how are businesses leaning towards AI? If you are wondering the same thing, this blog is for you. Today, we will explore the latest and greatest digital marketing trends beyond AI.
Introduction
AI or Artificial Intelligence is much bigger than you can imagine. Even now, we haven’t reached the depths of its capabilities. Still, it is making a lot of impact in digital marketing in more ways than one.
For starters, AI helps take care of tedious or repetitive tasks and allows people to focus on more attention-demanding work. However, that was the start of it. Today, businesses are using AI to build strategies, manage product timelines, create logos or brands, write content, create a sales funnel, and handle customers as service agents.
Still, AI technology is constantly improving, and every year, we see new trends and techniques that allow businesses to dominate the market. It is the same for 2024.
In this blog, we have put together five of the hottest trends in digital marketing beyond AI. We will explain everything about them and how you can adopt these techniques to gain a competitive edge for your business, product, or service.
First, let’s look at the ever-changing digital marketing world.
The Ever-Changing Nature of Digital Marketing
The only thing you can be sure of 100% in digital marketing is that it is constantly changing and evolving for the better. For businesses, the fast-paced environment may be challenging to adapt, but all the hard work and effort are worth the rewards.
Digital marketing first emerged in the 1990s with the spread of the Internet and web development. It was a much different version of digital marketing than what we have now. Technological advancements, customer preferences, and the development of new platforms and tools are all reasons for this dynamic change.
Moving forward, it will continue to enhance, improve, and evolve, and no one knows the end of it. For now, we are focusing on the current year's trends in digital marketing.
Source: Shutterstock
Hottest Trends in Digital Marketing Beyond AI
In order for businesses to seize advantage and win the competition, they must stay ahead of everyone in terms of knowledge and research. Here, it means keeping an eye on the latest trends and updates.
Let’s look at the hottest trends in the digital market beyond AI.
1. Personalization and Customer Experience
If you did not know already, customers prefer a more personalized experience tailored to their needs. As a result, a customer-centric approach is becoming essential for better and faster engagement.
In this, AI helps read through heaps of data from customers’ behaviour, usage, and feedback. It analyzes the results and helps pinpoint areas for improvement. After that, businesses can tailor their content according to their target audience preferences. It helps build stronger and more authentic connections with the customers.
Some examples of personalized content include:
- Customized emails with names or exclusive offers.
- Recommendations for different products or services based on past activity and interest.
- Dynamic website content that changes according to the customer’s behaviour.
2. Video Marketing and Live Streaming
Whether short or long-form, videos have become highly credible sources of marketing. According to a stat, video ads have a click-through rate or CTR of 1.84%, which is the highest among digital ad formats.
At first, there was only YouTube, where businesses and sellers would create a channel and upload videos of their products or services. Now, we have tons of options. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and the evergreen YouTube.
Businesses shoot different types of videos, including promotional, marketing, explainer, product, DIY, interviews, etc. According to the topic’s need, they make it either short form or long form. For customers, as compared to an article or blog, videos are easier to intake, understand, and decide from. On the other hand, businesses can use their skills and expertise to create engaging videos and increase chances of engagement and growth.
Talking about Live Streaming, it is another form of video marketing but live. Companies showcase their products or services through a live feed on social media, talk about their benefits, and market them. Moreover, they can engage with their audience in real-time, answer their questions, host events, and strengthen relationships.
3. Voice Search Optimization
Voice-activated technology has significantly helped improve convenience and comfort for users. What started as a simple voice assistant in iOS and Android phones has now gained huge popularity.
In today’s world, almost everyone has a smartphone. And people find it easier to just speak out loud to the device and get desired results in an instant. Also, it is not just limited to phones now. Several other devices, like a home pod, watch, computer, and browser, all have a voice assistance feature that lets users search for content using their voice. All of this is thanks to the advancements in AI technology, and this trend does not look like it will stop any time soon.
Businesses are optimizing their brands, products, and services for voice search results. However, to appear on the user’s voice search results, strong brand authority and voice search optimization are necessary. The best way to optimize your business for voice search is by conducting a voice search optimization audit first. After that, update the Google My Business profile, add scheme markup, and test the content with the Google Natural Language API.
It is not a guarantee that your brand will appear on Google’s first search result position. That depends on the quality of your content and the authority of the brand. However, with consistent and dedicated efforts, success will become inevitable.
Source: Shutterstock
4. Social Commerce and Shoppable Posts
Shoppable posts or content are a major part of social commerce. They are basically clickable posts that allow users to head directly into the brand store or the relevant product. Since the use of social media is at an all-time high, brands are shifting their focus from selling entirely through websites to approaching social media platforms. Plus, integrating that shoppable content on websites, partner sites, and even emails.
People nowadays prefer social commerce over traditional digital marketing via websites. It helps them get honest reviews, options from different brands, manuals, instructions, and extensive community support.
Nowadays, shoppable content has expanded way past static images or news feed. Today, businesses use influencers to promote their product, share how-to videos, and showcase the products in action. It is highly effective in gaining attention and ultimately increasing sales.
Some of the best platforms for shoppable content are TikTok, X (previously Twitter), Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Live Stream on any platform.
5. Sustainable and Ethical Marketing
Sustainable marketing refers to the use and promotion of green or eco-friendly products. It includes the complete developmental life cycle of the product, from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing, packing, wastage, and distribution.
Ethical marketing, on the other hand, is promoting and selling products or services in honest, transparent, and responsible ways. It includes everything from employees’ treatment to promotional terms, stakeholder’s share, and profitability.
Together, they make a sustainable and ethical marketing trend that is highly in focus, and for good reasons. For starters, using this form of marketing helps businesses meet customers’ expectations who want to make responsible choices.
Moreover, it helps build trust and credibility among the audience, who then move forward to become loyal customers. Finally, it helps work against pressing global issues like climate change, social inequality, and environmental disasters.
In order to practice sustainable and ethical marketing, it is essential to first define the brand values. After that, the focus should be on maintaining transparent and open communication. Next, properly educate consumers regarding products and help them make a confident decision.
Furthermore, partnerships should be built with like-minded people and businesses, and the impact and growth of the vision should always be measured. Finally, share success stories to inspire and motivate others to follow sustainable and ethical marketing.
Key Takeaways
Artificial Intelligence has made its way into almost everything and is serving as an excellent helping hand. From the first stage of building a business to the last brick, AI can help even a layman to start an online business.
Seems too good to be true? Well, these are the most technologically advanced times. From business name generators, AI logo maker design, and drag-and-drop website development to results monitoring and analytics, there is an AI for everything.
Adjust your business plan according to these trends to get more engagements and better results. Who knows? Tomorrow, there might be five more new ones revolutionizing the market.
To learn more about the latest digital marketing news, check out our blog. To book an appointment, call 866-208-3095 or contact us here.
