With technology constantly evolving and consumer behaviours shifting, keeping up with the latest trends in marketing can be a challenge, but it's crucial to be informed about new developments if you want to stay relevant, create quality content, and achieve success for your business.

So, let's dive into the top marketing trends that all business leaders should keep an eye on in 2024.

Personalisation and customer experience

The future is hyper personalised, and consumers today are increasingly engaging with brands that deliver tailored services, offers and communications. They want to have their preferences identified and experiences customised.

Whereas traditional marketing approaches often involve creating generic content and hoping it resonates with a broad audience, with hyper-personalisation, marketers are shifting their focus to individual customer needs, preferences, and behaviours.

This involves utilising advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to leverage customer data on the most granular level, to gain insights that empower marketing teams to create highly targeted and personalised campaigns.

According to research, 90 per cent of people find marketing personalisation somewhat or very appealing. 80 per cent are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that offers personalised experiences, and 72 per cent say they only engage with personalised messaging.

Furthermore, personalisation in marketing has been shown to improve Return on Investment [ROI] for businesses across various industries, with a study from Evergage indicating 88 per cent of marketers have seen measurable improvements due to personalisation, and more than half reporting a lift greater than 10 per cent.

Clearly, there are many rewards for businesses to reap from personalisation. Getting a personalisation programme up and running is no simple task, but machine learning algorithms can support, automate, and accelerate the process.

Social commerce and shoppable content

The emergence of TikTok Shop, Instagram Shop, Pinterest Shop, and Facebook Marketplace, all indicate that social commerce is rapidly scaling, with the latest figures suggesting it will hit $80 billion in 2025.

Combining social media and e-commerce has provided shoppers with a way to purchase directly though social media, with the entire shopping experience, from product discovery and research, right through to check out, all taking place in-app. This enables users to engage with a product through social media content and make a purchase without ever leaving the app.

In 2024, this will no longer only be a trend for big names. More small and independent retail businesses will start to harness Instagram Storefronts, shoppable posts and more to boost sales and increase their profit margins.

The video marketing evolution

With the ubiquity of smart phones and high-speed internet making creating and consuming short videos easier than ever, short-form video content is having a disruptive impact on digital marketing. This trend can also be attributed to the growth of social media platforms and the decreasing attention span of consumers.

In 2020, the short-form video platform TikTok popularised short, engaging video content that quickly captures the audience’s attention, and the platform rose to become one of the biggest players in the social media space, with its U.S. users alone soaring to over 91 million months into the pandemic.

Fast forward a few years and, according to data published in TikTok’s self-service advertising tools, brands could reach 1.218 billion users aged 18 and above on TikTok as of October 2023.

To capitalise on this, many other giant social media platforms such as Twitter [X] and Instagram have followed suit to accommodate the demand for interactive short videos by adding their own TikTok-esque features.

Taking advantage of short-form videos for content marketing can help brands widen their audience and engage better with those who are already following them on social media, resulting in more impressions, higher engagement and more customers.

Influencer marketing 2.0

We are on the cusp of Influencer Marketing 2.0 and, this year, influencer marketing initiatives will mostly be driven by micro and nano-influencers.

These smaller content producers often have devoted, highly engaged fan bases, and companies are realising how valuable they are due to their genuineness and capacity to establish a personal connection with their followers.

In fact, a report by ExpertVoice suggests micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more weekly conversations about recommendations compared to the average consumer. This indicates that campaigns with micro-influencers can lead to a higher ROI for brands.

While the era of super-celebrity influencers might not be finished, these more modest and approachable voices will be at the forefront of influencer marketing in 2024 and beyond.

Authenticity and openness will continue to be essential as the influencer marketing sector develops, and more astute audiences search for real, relatable material from their favourite influencers.

Influencers and companies also need to make sure they comply with the ever-evolving regulations and disclosure obligations.

Sustainable and purpose-driven marketing

Consumers are becoming more socially and environmentally conscious and are increasingly seeking out brands that align with their values and beliefs. As a result, there has been a growing trend in sustainable and purpose-driven marketing, where businesses are incorporating social and environmental causes into their marketing strategies.

Sustainable marketing focuses on creating environmentally and socially responsible marketing initiatives. This can include reducing waste, conserving resources, and promoting environmentally friendly products and services.

By incorporating sustainable marketing into their overall marketing strategy, businesses can appeal to customers who prioritise sustainability and help reduce their environmental impact.

Purpose-driven marketing, on the other hand, is about creating a deeper connection with customers by communicating a brand's values and mission, and demonstrating how the brand is making a positive impact in the world. When done effectively, this can help build brand loyalty and trust, and even drive sales.

Data privacy and security

Privacy and data protection have become crucial concerns for consumers. Therefore, for brands, it’s essential to recognise the importance of protecting customer data and using it in an ethical and transparent way.

With the increasing use of data analytics, AI, and other technologies, marketers have access to a wealth of customer data. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and marketers must use this data in a way that respects their customers’ privacy and builds trust.

Data privacy can no longer be an afterthought - it needs to be woven into the very fabric of every marketing strategy from day one.

Brands must review how they collect, store, use and share customer data and ensure their privacy policies are transparent, as well as provide easy ways for people to access and control their data.

Data privacy is simply the cost of doing digital business today, and failure to comply with regulations could cost a whole lot more than just a fine.

In today's dynamic marketing world, staying ahead means being adaptable and innovative. Trends come and go, and brands need to embrace change to stay relevant.

While it's not about jumping on every bandwagon, being informed and flexible in marketing strategies is key to outpacing competitors and meeting customers' expectations effectively.

Rob Hughes is founder and managing director of Reech