In 2020, we saw dramatic changes in digital marketing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it looks like 2024 will also bring a lot of change. There is no better way to be one step ahead of your competitors than if you keep up with the trends and turn them into your own digital marketing strategy.
It’s essential to make sure your business never uses an outdated or ineffective method to reach your audience. This article provides some predictions for the world of digital marketing in 2024.
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The impact of voice search on digital marketing
Voice Search is a useful feature that allows users to make hands-free calls to find answers to their questions or schedule events. This is perfect for people who are on the go all the time, as you can perform a voice search in just a few seconds almost anywhere.
The development of products such as Alexa and Google Home has triggered a boom in the use of voice search. These devices rely almost exclusively on voice requests to provide customer service. About half of the world’s population currently uses some form of voice search. In 2021, only an increase in numbers is expected, so it’s essential to make sure your business is ready.
There is a big difference between optimizing text search and optimizing voice search. This means you need to follow a strategy for overall search engine optimization and voice queries. Voice search is generally more eloquent than text search.
One of the best ways to ensure that your business is optimized for voice search is an updated Google My Business (GMB) profile. When users use the Google voice search feature, only companies with an active GMB presence are included in the results.
It is important for GMB to have a fully prepared profile. That includes working hours, customer ratings and an accurate address. You want to ensure that your customers are looking for the right keywords for your business and have all the information they need.
More efficient marketing automation
Expect more companies to use more software and have a solid strategy to automate their marketing efforts.
Robust marketing automation improves the management of your leads. You can gather and train them to use a quality experience that will turn them into popular customers. It also helps to provide a better user experience, messaging and more accurate communication with customers.
This innovation in digital marketing will strengthen your business and brand. It will allow your customers to improve your existing customer experience to ensure brand loyalty and sales.
Ad blockers
Thanks to social media advertising, many businesses have been able to go overnight. With targeted and optimized ads, you can increase brand awareness and improve results incredibly effectively. There’s just one catch: a lot of people don’t like the ads in their feed, so they install ad blockers.
Ads can be overwhelming for some people. After all, not everyone wants to be bombarded with new ads every time they open their phones. Ads can also slow down some pages’ loading speed. This is another reason why users have chosen to log out.
Ad blockers have been around for years. These blockers filter out any paid or unpaid ads and prevent viewers from seeing them in full. As these blockers become more readily available, more and more users have intervened. According to EMarketer, a quarter of all internet users used some form of ad-blocking in 2019. That number will increase to 27 percent in 2024.
If you have a PPC or display network campaign and the users you want to target have ad-blocking installed on the device, your ads will not appear. It doesn’t matter what add-ons you try, how many different ad formats you use, what quality your ads are, etc.. This can cause serious inconvenience to digital media retailers.
The best way to adapt to the increasing use of ad blockers is to be aware of your target audience. If you find that your target audience is using ad blockers extensively, PPC and display network campaigns may not be the most effective route for your business. Removing search advertising probably doesn’t make sense. However, it makes sense to explore other marketing channels, such as email marketing, and consider the benefits that can result in your business.
Use video advertising
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which previously focused on photos, have now turned into feeds filled with videos. Advertisers have found that videos promote more business to their clients more effectively. One-third of customers buy a product after watching a video ad. It shows how videos can influence customer decisions.
Sending a message with a photo or text can be difficult. However, the video provides a visual and audio story for more emotional communication with the viewer.
Slowly add videos to multiple social channels. Give them a few days and see how these videos work. If you notice a growing interest or impression, include video marketing 2023 as part of your marketing plans.
The use of mobile search
In 2017, mobile network traffic accounted for about half of all network traffic worldwide. To take advantage of this massive traffic, Hubspot reports that almost 25% of companies invest in mobile phone optimization.
Mobile phone optimization is an important investment signal for Google and other search engines. Google first moved to the mobile index in July 2019 and urged retailers to improve their mobile search experience. To increase your chances of getting top-level conversion pages, you need to make sure you have a mobile-friendly website. If necessary, re-create the website. Track what needs to change on your website with Google’s optimized mobile testing tool, which shows the layout of each page of your website on the mobile screen.
Add a chatbot to your website
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded in recent years. Artificial intelligence helps to eliminate duplicates of marketing processes and allows teams to focus on more important tasks. Revealing the many benefits of artificial intelligence, 2024 will be the year that many companies will start using it for marketing.
Artificial intelligence is expected to be a rapidly growing part of automated talking robots. Customers have to wait by the phone to get an answer to a question that has proven to be sometimes frustrating. While some companies still rely entirely on traditional customer service methods, such as phone calls or email, many companies have switched to chatbots.
The new artificial intelligence is smart enough to decipher the answers to questions that are not yet programmed into their system. Technology comes to a point where it can truly surpass people.
Chat robots with artificial intelligence are available around the clock – this does not apply to one person. In addition, chatbots are a much better choice financially. While subscriptions can be daunting, they do not need the salary or benefits that people are looking for. This means they will be more profitable in the long run.
With chatbots that are expected to handle 75-90% of all applications by 2022, it is essential that your business stays up to date. Chat robots are becoming the new standard for customer service, and the last thing you want is for your business to lag behind.
Final thoughts
In general, each year always presents new trends and sales strategies in the market. Consumer tastes change every day, which means that even the best marketing techniques are continually evolving.
The key to success is information and flexibility in marketing strategy. Given the frequency of business changes, your marketing plan should never be in focus. Don’t be afraid to move on to a new trend – you never know which strategy is perfect for your business.