2024 Digital Trends: Shaping the Future of Business and Marketing
Mike Saunders
CEO, Entrepreneur, International Conference Speaker and Author - Making Digital Human Again
As 2023 draws to a close and we prepare to enter 2024, the digital landscape continues evolving at an unprecedented pace. In particular, the marketing and sales industries are experiencing innovations and challenges that will change how we go to market in the future.
The “Insight 2024: The State of Digital” report by Digitlab provides a comprehensive overview of the key trends shaping the future of businesses and marketing strategies. I wanted to take a moment to start unpacking some of the bigger themes and insights it raises:
Hybrid Business Structures Emerge
One of the standout findings is the rise of hybrid business models. These hybrid structures respond to evolving consumer demands beyond the traditional B2B and B2C frameworks. They offer a more flexible and dynamic approach, allowing businesses to adapt quickly to market changes and customer needs.
More importantly, it highlights that describing your business marketing practices as merely B2B or B2C is not enough to describe the complex nature of how organisations meet market demands today.
Internal Expertise Over Customer Input
The marketing realm has long been perceived as a field where intuition and gut feelings are pivotal. Marketers are often celebrated for their creativity, instinct, and ability to ‘read the room’.
However, as the digital age ushers in an era of data-led strategies, tension emerges between intuitive decision-making approaches and the burgeoning reliance on data analytics.
Companies now emphasise internal expertise and budget considerations over customer feedback when setting digital strategies. This shift raises questions about the balance between business-driven strategies and customer-centric approaches. How will this impact customer satisfaction and loyalty in the long run?
Mid-Sized Companies Lead in Data Proficiency:
Mid-sized businesses, particularly those in the R50m–R99.9m bracket, are making notable advancements in data use. Their proficiency in data analytics puts them in a solid position to compete with larger enterprises. This trend underscores the importance of data-driven decision-making in gaining a competitive edge.
The data proficiency of mid-sized businesses should be a concern for larger enterprises.
The Evolving Role of AI in Marketing: Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be a double-edged sword in marketing. While it offers significant advantages in automating and enhancing various processes, commoditisation in content marketing, SEO, and data analytics creates risks around job security, creative relevance and high volumes of mundane content, especially as we see marketers planning their skills development around roles that will most likely see AI commoditising these skill sets.
The challenge for marketers will be to leverage AI innovatively while maintaining a human touch.
Martech Adoption: A Diverse Landscape
The report highlights variations in technology adoption between mid-sized and larger companies. Mid-sized companies find analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) software more significant, whereas larger companies excel in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) adoption. This difference points to varying strategic priorities based on company size and resources.
Businesses are not actively adopting Martech as an internal toolset. External reliance on service providers and little adoption of technologies in business to accelerate marketing activities will hamper an organisation’s agility, speed to market and ability to scale.
Watch the launch of the #Insight2024 Report
Consumer Trends Favor Messaging and User-Friendly Interfaces
Consumers have a marked preference for messaging platforms, user-friendly interfaces, and features extending business reach, such as WhatsApp. This shift indicates the growing importance of personalisation and convenience in customer interactions.
Navigating the Tensions in Digital Marketing Trends
In a post-COVID era, the marketing innovation curve, once relatively stable, is now experiencing significant shifts. Integrating technology and the human touch in marketing underscores the immense opportunities for personalisation and effectiveness. However, there are ethical concerns that arise with these advancements.
The crux to success in 2024 is finding the right balance in digital marketing strategies, evolving the usual marketing structures and navigating the complexities and tensions that modern marketers face in an increasingly digital world.
The crux to success in 2024 is finding the right balance in digital marketing strategies, evolving the usual marketing structures and navigating the complexities and tensions that modern marketers face in an increasingly digital world. https://t.co/kyBCOsOkWi
