Six digital and marketing trends for 2024

Trend 1: Brands, Business & XP, Design Earn the trust of your customers

That people distrust public institutions is a known fact. However, in 2024, also brands and businesses must re-earn the trust of their customers. To achieve this, organisations must deliver on their sustainable brand positioning, be transparent, and approach their customers on a hyper-personal level.

Only organisations that clearly state their values and authenticity can build a strong connection with their target audience and turn their customers into passionate ambassadors. This is good for your brand identity, customer loyalty, and revenue. We are here to guide you on this journey.

Societal themes: Build a sustainable and transparent brand

Position your brand only on societal themes that truly align with your company's vision and values. Don't jump on the next hot topic or trend but rather carefully select the themes that will help you create a long-term love brand.

Contribute to the circular economy. Examine your products, packaging, and operational processes through an environmentally-friendly lens and find ways to make them more sustainable. Discover through data, content, and marketing actions what consumers want and reduce the chance of environmentally harmful returns.
Increase awareness. Integrate your societal vision and initiatives into your online marketing strategies and campaigns. Engage not only your consumers but also your employees and partners in your sustainability efforts. Make it easy for them to make positive choices throughout the entire purchasing process through informative content and tools.
Be transparent about privacy and AI. Withholding essential information leads to a loss of relevance. Therefore, ensure that you continue to earn the trust of your consumers by doing what you say and saying what you do. Handle customer data and privacy with transparency and care. Take measures for responsible use of GenAI, both within and outside the organization, to prevent reputation risks and brand damage.

E-inclusion: tailor your online presence to real people

In Belgium, there is a significant gap between those who are digitally skilled and those who lag behind. In fact, 4 out of 10 Belgians are digitally vulnerable. If you want to bridge that gap, make sure your brand, products, and services don't exclude anyone digitally. Design for real people and always consider the least tech-savvy digital user. Small improvements in your digital presence often have a far-reaching impact, says David de Block, Public Service Director at iO.

Discover how to achieve e-inclusion step by step.

Customer experience: get close to your customers

In the coming years, proactively meeting the needs of your customers will become increasingly important. Make sure you understand their desires and buying behavior, and translate their needs and preferences into personalized content and campaigns. By doing so, you not only gain a competitive advantage but also earn the trust and loyalty of your customers.

Design services and products that solve their challenges and problems, making their lives easier. Approach them only with personalized information that they genuinely want to receive at the time that suits them. Also, ensure a frictionless and personalized customer experience online. Shift your focus from what you want to tell them to what your target audience wants to hear.

This way, you achieve digital transformation without alienating your customers. On the contrary, you build a hyper-personal relationship with them. According to Steven Van Belleghem, Partner and Strategic Advisor at iO, that is the recipe for long-term success.
Customer privacy and trust are paramount. Paradoxically, artificial intelligence (AI) can help with personalization. When developed correctly, AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of customer data. With the results, you can create hyper-personalized consumer experiences, such as personalized content recommendations or dynamic pricing strategies. Your customer satisfaction and conversion rates will benefit immediately.
But how can you maintain authenticity and personalized communication with your target audience in a digital world? In our iO podcast 'Blending with Brian,' our M&A Director Brian Hirman engages in conversations with top business leaders from various sectors. Together, they provide answers on how to navigate the challenges in marketing, technology, and digitalization without compromising your brand values or driving away customers.

Trend 2: Marketing programs and campaigns, Explore new channels, search and advertising models

The rise of programmatic advertising

Programmatic advertising platforms automate the ad purchasing process. They automatically generate content targeted at specific user groups, such as ads on Spotify that are customized based on the listening habits of a target audience. This increases engagement and reduces costs per acquisition. Programmatic advertising also offers flexibility and scalability, allowing brands to advertise locally or globally. Data, technology, and strategy in one digital marketing package? We love it. And we're happy to help you put it together, from A to Z.

Peer-to-peer communities

Fake news, toxic user groups, or bots ... consumers have increasingly less trust in content on social media platforms. This will have an impact on your marketing strategy in 2024. Broadcast channels like Instagram and WhatsApp will play an increasingly significant role. You can quickly and flexibly share exclusive bite-sized content and insights from your company, engage your followers with your brand, and build a community in real-time. Additionally, you can consider starting with influencers and user-generated content (UGC) - provided it aligns with your brand strategy. Consumers prefer to discover products and brands through recognizable UGC and influencers. The preference is for micro and nano-influencers who focus on their niche audience. Authenticity and relevance within an engaged target audience are more important in 2024 than the number of followers.

New search models

Consumer search behavior is constantly changing. Today, more and more people use AI, social media, and community channels as sources of information. They also increasingly rely on digital assistants like Siri and Alexa. To increase visibility and conversion, it is important to optimize your content - through keywords - for this new search behavior.

TikTok is a good example. A large number of Gen Z women prefer TikTok over Google because they prefer to discover answers to their questions in videos and identify with the content creators on this platform.
AI-driven search engines will play an increasingly important role in 2024. Google is working on its Search Generative Experience: this technology adapts everything to the search intent of users and generates answers in text, image, video, or a combination thereof. Therefore, optimize your content not only for SEO but also contextually. Only websites that generate answers that cater to the search intent will rank higher.
Mobile and voice-activated search also have a prominent place in the digital marketing strategy of 2024. Thanks to the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, voice search is gaining ground quickly. Use long-tail keywords, conversational phrases, and structured data to optimize your content for search queries. And then start with voice-activated advertising.

"AI-driven search is changing the way SEO professionals optimize websites. In 2024, companies need to pay more attention to high-quality, contextual, and distinctive web content."

Peter Franck, Head of Online Media Services

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Trend 3: Digital platforms, Lightweight and more scalable architectures

When it comes to online marketing, digital architecture is key. In recent years, the trend geared towards ecosystems with integrated microservices, with the latter gaining more autonomy in the coming years. By optimizing communication protocols and fine-tuning implementation strategies, applications become more resilient and scalable.

But software development is shifting in other ways as well. Serverless architecture is becoming increasingly popular, and this is good news: developers no longer have to worry about server management, applications can scale better, and costs are saved.

Another trend is edge computing, where applications process data closer to the source. This allows for even faster response times, which is especially beneficial for IoT and critical systems. It is also important to integrate security measures at every stage of the design process. This starts with identifying potential threats and ends with implementing encryption standards.

In addition, AI will play a more prominent role as an assistant in platform design in the future. AI algorithms can contribute to cognitive architecture design, and AI-driven decisions can play a role in security - from identifying potential threats to implementing encryption standards.

Finally, low-code/no-code platforms will revolutionize software development. With these platforms, you can quickly build applications and collaborate with business stakeholders, even with limited programming skills.

Trend 4: Cloud, data & integration, Personalization, respect for privacy

Customers expect brands to proactively meet their needs, so it's important to gather as much information about your target audience as possible. Companies that understand and translate customer behavior and preferences into personalized campaigns gain a competitive advantage and earn customer trust. Privacy and trust are paramount in this regard.

How do you collect and interpret data now that third-party data is no longer available? How do you navigate a cookieless marketing environment? With the right first-party data strategy and smart campaigns, you can gather accurate and reliable data directly from your customers. Make this a priority in 2024. This way, you can create hyper-personalized campaigns, improve the customer experience, and comply with privacy regulations.

However, all of this means that organizations need to shift their focus from paid to owned media. We are happy to help you establish an owned media strategy and build your first-party data to give you an advantage in the cookieless era.

On 29th February 2024, we are organizing an exclusive event on cookieless marketing strategy at iO Campus Antwerp. Register here for 'Mastering the Shift: Cookieless Strategies Unveiled in 2024'.

Trend 5: Content & creative, differentiate yourself with quality content

Top-notch content will be your most important ally in 2024: it helps build your brand experience, reach target audiences, and prove your relevance. Keep these engaging trends in mind for your content marketing this year.

Omnichannel becomes the norm: as more platforms become relevant in content marketing, you need to optimize your content for each platform where your audience is present. A strategic, integrated approach to content marketing is becoming increasingly important. Separate content initiatives are giving way to cohesive, cross-functional strategies that align with broader business objectives.
Consumers are becoming more selective about the content they consume, so delivering creative and personalized quality content is now truly essential. It also enhances engagement, especially when you enrich your customer journey with modern technologies such as AI-driven data analysis, interactivity tools, and virtual reality. In short, this type of content helps build your brand experience and increases customer trust.
Whoever has created content with a GenAI model last year, may have noticed the results were subpar. The fact is, though, that artificial intelligence continues to evolve. Before long, it can help you generate interactive content, for example, to engage and captivate your audience - it provides the necessary stopping power that interrupts scrolling. It also helps consumers remember brands they have interacted with before.
Short videos and social reels remain incredibly popular: with these short and creative videos, you can attract more viewers easily. Especially YouTube shorts should not be missing from your marketing mix: they are the campaign channel of 2024. The challenge now is to capture the attention of viewers with short attention spans and provide them with the right mix of infotainment, bringing them closer to your brand. Our creative strategists, copywriters, and videographers are here to help you with that.
Furthermore, both video podcasts and livestreaming are growing trends: they are ideal for communicating with your customers personally and interactively, and enhancing your credibility. Google is moving its podcast platform to YouTube Music this year - not a surprise, as the latter became the most visited podcast channel last year. According to IAB research, podcast advertising revenues will grow by a staggering 43% in 2024. Need help setting up your podcast? Our teams will guide you from choosing a host to strategy and from concept to recording. The global livestreaming market grew by an impressive 20.6% last year, a trend that will continue in the coming period. By engaging in real-time interactions, you can directly involve your audience in your message. Promoting your products and services? Building credibility and gaining the trust of your audience can be achieved through reviews and testimonials in your livestreams.

Trend 6: Transformation & consulting, AI, virtual reality, and innovation

In 2024, digital transformation becomes even more important and takes on an extra dimension. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), it is crucial for organizations to properly organize their AI data and establish a clear and transparent policy for its accurate, secure, and ethical use. Investing in analytics to predict future trends and respond to them is important. A Chief AI Officer (CAIO) can monitor this and ensure that the use of AI aligns with business objectives.

In addition, AR/VR technologies are gaining importance in sectors such as retail, education, and the gaming industry, as they provide more immersive experiences and customer engagement.

Of course, digital transformation is about more than just technology: it impacts all aspects of business operations. To successfully transform, companies also need to pay attention to their personnel, operational processes, infrastructure, and customer relationships. However, not all companies are successful in this regard: globally, only 30% of companies succeed in implementing their digital transformation successfully.

And what about innovation? Simply perfecting your existing business model is not enough; you must especially respond intelligently to a dynamic market where rules constantly change. Promoting innovation within your organization remains essential. This allows you to tap into new markets, reach new target audiences, and develop new propositions. However, ensure that these innovations actually lead to improvement. Feel free to ask our experts to support you as a sounding board and hands-on support team. We are ready to take the next steps in your transformation together.