Entrepreneur and investor Volker Hartzsch has built, scaled and sold 19 companies over the course of 22 years and has significant sales and marketing experience. From voice search and SEO to AI and automation, this article will provide an overview of some of the biggest digital marketing trends of 2024.
Voice Search
Continuing its upward trajectory thanks to the continued popularity of voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri, voice search is a trend no business can afford to ignore in 2024. Today, businesses are coming under increasing pressure to overhaul their SEO strategies to cater for voice-based search queries.
This essentially means focussing on natural language processing and long-tail keywords to ensure that content is voice search friendly. Voice search is revolutionising the way that consumers interact with search engines, eliminating the need to type in queries by enabling internet users to simply ask their question out loud, with the voice assistant returning the most relevant answer.
To capitalise on this drastic shift in consumer behaviour, forward-looking businesses are optimising their content for voice search, incorporating conversational language and answering common queries to boost their rankings in voice search results.
Influencer Marketing
In recent years, influencer marketing has grown to become one of the most effective means of increasing brand exposure. While the emphasis was traditionally on big names with multimillion follower audiences, today’s market-savvy businesses are increasingly leveraging the power of micro-influencers to get their products and brands seen by potential new customers.
Although micro-influencers typically have a much smaller audience, their power lies in their ability to target a particular niche, engaging with followers and gaining trust – building a relationship over time that can be very beneficial from a marketing perspective.
It is important for businesses to find the right influencer to promote their brand, creating authentic, long-term relationships. Rather than being all about promotion, influencer marketing is about collaboration and co-creation. It is crucial for businesses to conduct adequate due diligence in selecting the right influencers to collaborate with, ensuring the partnership is a good fit for both parties.
AI and Automation
AI is becoming more sophisticated by the day. It is increasingly being integrated into digital marketing tools, enabling businesses large and small to analyse vast swathes of data and gain potentially game-changing insights into customer preferences and behaviour. Armed with this information, businesses can improve their personalisation and targeting efforts, crafting more effective marketing campaigns. In addition, AI can also be leveraged to automate repetitive tasks, saving time, resources and manpower.
