Marketing Leaders Weigh In on Top Trends Shaping the Digital Space

Our team's research reveals that in 2024, 53% of corporate executives intend to increase their spending on digital marketing.

So where should your money and attention be directed to achieve the greatest outcomes?

nutech360 leaders provided their insights on the key trends for each digital channel in 2024 to help you get the most out of your digital investment.

Discover what they disclosed and how to position yourself for success in the upcoming year by continuing to read!

1. Optimize for AI-powered SERP landscape

Artificial intelligence (AI) will undoubtedly have an impact on a wide range of aspects of digital marketing by 2024.

The goal of AI-powered search is to improve searchers' comprehension and sense-making of online content with the launch of Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE).

AI-powered snapshots, such as the one below, provide searchers with brief summaries and act as starting points for further information exploration.

Jordan advises companies to get ready for an increase in zero-click searches, in which query answers appear right at the top of search results, as SGE changes the landscape of search.

Businesses hoping to be the source of AI-powered results will need to concentrate on correct structured data markup and highlighted snippet optimization.

2. Provide a unique angle for addressing search queries

The emergence of AI content has made it imperative to produce informative material with a distinctive viewpoint or method of answering search queries.

Utilize the experience of your staff to showcase the "human side" of your company by:

• demonstrating subject-matter competence
• releasing original study
• combining data to create useful insights
• Adding artistic graphics to content
• Also plus

This not only raises the visibility and effectiveness of your content online but also enhances the user experience for everyone who visits your website.

Additionally, to maintain SEO information current and relevant, we advise routinely refreshing it every 12 to 18 months or sooner.

3. Lean into MOFU content to expand search territory

This year, established, high-trust websites still favor top-of-funnel, definition-intent inquiries (such as "What is SEO").

Jordan suggests modifying your content strategy to incorporate more middle-of-funnel (MOFU) content to increase your search engine ranking.

MOFU content consists of articles such as:

• Articles that compare
• Product evaluations
• Case Reports
• Webinars Interviews with customers

In 2024, increasing your MOFU content will help you stay consistent in search results and establish connections with people who are actively assessing what services or products to provide.

4. Elevate campaign performance with automation and machine learning

In 2024, artificial intelligence will have a lot to offer your paid advertisements, including better targeting, cost savings, and more.

5. Use first-party data for ad targeting

You've probably heard the talk about first-party data by now.

Google intends to go one step further in early 2024 and disable third-party cookies for one percent of Chrome users.

Since Google is gradually eliminating third-party cookies, you should use first-party data—information you acquire from clients, users of your app, and website visitors—for ad targeting.

Using first-party data and machine learning together, you can target the most valued prospects while also understanding how customers interact with your company.

Visit Google's article on leveraging first-party data to fuel your advertising to find out more.

6. Experiment with Microsoft Ads

Rebekah believes that more marketers will look to Microsoft this year to reach new consumers, particularly with Microsoft's AI technologies.

"Historically, Microsoft advertising has been best for B2B users," the speaker revealed. Recently, B2C interest has increased due to Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

Microsoft Ads might be an excellent choice for obtaining clicks at a reduced cost, especially as Google becomes more competitive.

7. Leverage videos and user-generated content (UGC) across social platforms

This year, user-generated content (UGC), or video content, will remain powerful on social media platforms.

Hunter stated, "We anticipate increased presence in the TikTok and Instagram advertising space, where videos will lean more authentic/UGC-style to blend into a user's follower feed more and grab their attention."

Increasing the amount of native-looking content (UGC) on your social media pages might improve brand engagement because people are becoming more adept at identifying advertising in their feeds.

8. Use social shopping to power up e-commerce revenue

2024 will see a continued rise in social commerce, particularly as platforms like TikTok become more prevalent in the retail industry.

"We're seeing growth in social touchpoints during the last 25% of the user journey and growth in last-click purchases directly on Meta's platforms," Hunter said.

Customers are starting to trust social media purchases more now that they are no longer viewed as "new."

9. Create brand partnerships with content creators

It appears that content providers are gaining more traction than influencers.

In a sense, creators are micro-influencers.

Brands won't probably gain much traction from users uploading videos to their own personal profiles, claims Hunter. In some respects, though, an even greater victory will come from their ability to profit from the creator content in the brands' earned and sponsored media.

10. Showcase E-E-A-T

In 2024, brands hoping to get noticed in search engine results pages should emphasize first-hand experience with content themes.

According to Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, the search engine employs E-E-A-T to determine if search ranking systems yield useful, pertinent results.

E-E-A-T represents:

• expertise
• Proficiency
• Being authoritative
• dependableness

This year, make your E-E-A-T better by including the author's credentials, integrating expert evaluations, including case studies and testimonials, and updating content with pertinent data.

11. Share a unique angle or insights to stand out in SERPs

Think about approaching your material from a different perspective if you want to differentiate yourself from generic, AI-generated content.

In addition to engaging readers and enhancing brand authority, businesses that produce insightful content will notice an increase in search engine ranking.

12. Scale up your strategy with diverse types of content

We're going to witness significant growth in textual, graphic, and video content because AI is making it easier than ever to scale content creation.

Experiment with different kinds of content for your business and use AI to augment (not completely replace) your content research and planning.

"There will probably be significant variations in website performances as we discover how AI-generated content functions in search engine results pages over time," Megan said.

13. Dial-up UX design

In 2024 and beyond, it will be crucial to take advantage of every chance to develop a unique user experience (UX), not just for your homepage.

It's simple to overlook optimizing error messages and thank-you pages, but this year more than ever, your entire website has to enhance and support UX.

Developing your design strategy with user experience (UX) in mind is crucial to encouraging both new and returning visitors to proceed on their journeys, particularly considering that 98% of site visitors do not convert on their first visit.

14. Use design + content to enhance personalization

In addition, you can provide visitors personalized content according to their location, requirements, interests, and other factors by combining design and content.

To increase engagement and conversions, you may do this more rapidly by getting the correct information to the right individuals.

15. Showcase brand personality in site design

This year, don't be afraid to use design to highlight the individuality of your brand.

According to Jaci, there will be a resurgence of personality on websites as a reaction to the "blending" phenomena, which has seen designs becoming increasingly alike over time.

Including your distinctive mark in the layout of your website will make you stand out, promote brand recognition, and produce an exceptional user experience.

16. Use AI to free up time for creative thinking

Adding AI to your design process is a terrific approach to increase productivity and free up time for thoughtful, creative thought.

AI design tools such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and others allow you to:

• Condense user research
• Encourage imaginative investigation
• Make wireframes more streamlined and storyboards
• Implement design suggestions and criticism promptly.
• Also plus

We advise utilizing AI to supplement and improve your human-powered design process, just like you would with other tactics.

17. Use AI and subscriber data to create highly-personalized emails

The days of calling emails "personalized" and including the names of subscribers are long gone.

Using subscriber data with AI can help you develop hyper-personalized emails that stand out in inboxes and cut through the noise.

You may leverage first-party subscriber data to segment your email list by using it to deliver a wealth of useful information, such as past purchases and website activities.

Not only can AI be used to interpret subscriber data, but ChatGPT and other similar tools may be used to create customized content for your campaigns.

18. Leverage automation to create strategic touchpoints

You may stay in touch with contacts at every stage of the sales process by using automated email sequences.

The best part is that your automated campaigns will continue to drive engagement and conversions even when you're not online once you've put them up.

Use these as examples of automated email sequences this year:

• Greetings and emails for onboarding
• email cart abandonment
• emails on birthdays and anniversaries
• Notifications of purchases and emails about related products
• Requests for comments and surveys

Including automated drips in your email marketing is a simple approach to staying in contact with subscribers and promoting leads.

19. Make your emails interactive experiences

Emily suggests transforming your email marketing into interactive experiences because emails are becoming more dynamic and engaging.

Utilize engaging emails by:

• Including films and GIFs in your multimedia
• distributing surveys, polls, and quizzes
• Adding competitions and prizes to gamify material

Including interactive elements in your emails is a terrific approach to increasing clicks, conversions, and subscriber engagement.

20. Customize shopping experiences with chatbots

More than ever, consumers enjoy personalized shopping experiences, and chatbots offer a quick and easy means to craft tailored experiences that encourage purchases.

Using personalized chatbots, you can:

• Make client service simpler
• Give important details regarding the product's specifications.
• Reply to FAQs with ease
• assist with tracking orders and returns
• Also plus

21. Create an omnichannel paid strategy

The days of running paid advertisements on just one platform are long gone.

To reach online shoppers across the various platforms they interact with regularly, an omnichannel paid strategy must be developed.

Using performance max campaigns, you can increase your Google and Bing search engine traffic. Additionally, social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer seamless shopping experiences, saving users from ever leaving the apps to make purchases.

By developing an omnichannel sponsored strategy that includes advertisements on sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Microsoft Shopping Network, and Google Shopping Network, your brand can reach consumers on any online channel it uses.

22. Use technical SEO to prioritize indexing and ranking opportunities

Krystal asserts that a strict devotion to technical SEO makes the difference between an excellent and outstanding e-commerce approach.

Some things to think about are:

• When a product is out of stock, are you maximizing the user experience by diverting to an old page or taking advantage of the opportunity to grow your email list?
• Do you put a high priority on your brand's reputation by soliciting reviews and using schema markup to include them in your website?
• Do you include information in your FAQs about your items' exchange and return policies?

Each of these strategies should be given top priority for good indexing and ranking chances since they all have a place in your e-commerce marketing plan.

23. Integrate sales and marketing data

You can generate better leads, close leads more quickly, and identify the most effective channels for your omnichannel marketing campaigns by syncing your sales and marketing data.

Lately, platforms such as Facebook and Google Ads have made it possible to provide them offline conversion data, which is usually sales data that is documented in your CRM. Furthermore, first-party data from your CRM and other marketing tracking platforms is crucial given Google's third-party phase-out.

Integrating marketing and sales data enables you to:

• Ad networks should be trained on the best leads for your company.
• Remarket programmatically to users who are presently in your pipeline.
• Provide lucid reports on the marketing's ROI and profitability.
• Also plus

24. Use reporting tools to unify data across platforms

Data tracking and attribution can be impacted by attribution models, data collection techniques, cookie settings, and other factors. For this reason, it's critical to look at your data from several angles.

For instance, a person can see your Facebook advertisement multiple times. After that, they search on Google, click on your advertisement, and complete the form on your website.

In this case, the form submission will be recorded as a conversion from Google in your Google AdWords account. Google's tracking is unaware that the user has viewed your Facebook advertisement.

Does that imply the ineffectiveness of your Facebook ad? No,

Because of this, it's critical to use reporting tools from several platforms, such as Google, Facebook's conversion API, and our own MarketingCloudFX suite, which may assist in bringing your data together from different technologies.

25. Understand cookie consent banners

This year, the usage of cookie consent popups and banners will continue, as it has already begun.

To find out what amount of danger your business is in for your industry and the places you serve, Nolan advises first speaking with an attorney. Next, you must decide what kind of consent banner to provide.

It's crucial to speak with the appropriate individuals and conduct thorough research beforehand to avoid "breaking" your monitoring and reporting because consent banners have a direct impact on the data you can track from your marketing activities.

26. Explore emerging ad tech opportunities

In the ad tech industry, new vendors and service providers are always popping up, particularly in the connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) advertising spaces.

In addition to providing you with sophisticated targeting options to reach the right person at the right time, CTV advertisements open the door to advertising on some of the largest streaming services, including NBC Today and A&E.

Important data points like impressions, watching percentages, and more will also be available to you.

Dan adds, "Amazon will soon have ad spots on Prime too," which makes it a wise move to make this year.

27. Lean into personalized ABM campaigns

Account-based marketing, or ABM, will be more widely available in 2024. But it also means that there is an increase in inbox flooding.

Individualization is no longer a polite word. For businesses to stand out and get attention, it is imperative.

According to Dan, "To the nth degree, personalization will be necessary to stand out and get your targets to convert."

28. Invest in a mature tech stack

Although the tactics above and trends seem fantastic, they won't work without a carefully considered infrastructure.

Because of this, more sophisticated tech stacks will be required by 2024.

According to Dan, "I'm seeing a lot of previously one-feature products adopting more features to accommodate new capabilities across the techy marketer's toolbox."

• Concerned about your digital marketing plan for 2024?

It might be difficult to focus your strategy on getting the greatest results when there are so many digital marketing trends to stay up with.

We would love to talk if you need assistance with business marketing in 2024! To communicate with our team, simply fill out our free proposal form or give us a call at 888-256-9448!