Earlier this year, HubSpot's State of Marketing & Trends Report for 2024 went live, forming a list of key marketing recommendations to answer questions like:
- What are the trends and tactics marketers are investing in?
- What are the challenges they face?
- Where do they see 2024 going? What are their plans and expectations?
Let’s dive into our summary of that report!
1. Develop short-form videos
HubSpot's survey included more than 1,400 global B2B and B2C marketers, and more than half said they plan to invest the most in short-form video in 2024. In addition, it offers the highest ROI of any content format.
Short-form video is also incredibly effective with consumers. Although I personally haven't bought anything on social media yet (I'm afraid of scams), 56% of consumer peers have purchased something after seeing an advertisement on TikTok.
Why do consumers engage with short-form content more than long-form content? The right short-form content provides fast-paced web users with most of the information they need in a concise manner. Additionally, short-form videos often force marketers to highlight the most important facts that will make viewers want to learn more if they don't provide all the information they need to convert.
Get inspired for your short-form content strategy by reading up on the latest trends and tips from experts in the video space.
2. Make it easy for people to purchase from you online
Social selling is a hot topic at the HubSpot Blog section, but for good reason - it's the next frontier in consumer outreach. In HubSpot's Consumer Trends Survey, we can see an increase in the number of people looking for products on social media each time.
17% of social media users have bought a product in-app in the past three months, and those same users also buy products on social media.
Marketers do it because consumers love it, and it pays off. Almost half of the marketers responding to our survey said they would increase their investments in social media shopping tools this year.
Our top recommendation in 2024 is to build a social selling strategy that makes it easy for people to buy from you on social media if it makes sense for what you sell. (SaaS businesses should stay away from TikTok shops).
You won't succeed without building trust, whether you're new to selling on social or improving your strategy.
3. Work with micro-influencers
Nearly 90% of influencer marketers say influencer marketing was effective for their company in 2023. It will only grow throughout 2024 since half of those using it plan to increase their investments.
Over the past few years, marketers have found the most success with micro-influencers with 10,000 - 100,000 followers.
From a marketer's perspective, this makes sense. Aside from being more affordable, these influencers have the most tightly-knit and engaged communities. Therefore, micro-influencers can offer more persuasive and effective endorsements for products and brands.
As a consumer myself, I also understand this. It is much easier for me to trust and relate to smaller influencers and creators than those with millions of followers.
While people may claim they make their own product decisions, influencer marketing works - one in four consumers bought a product based on the recommendation of an influencer last year.
Do you want to leverage influencer marketing, but don't know where to begin? Take a look at this handy checklist.
4. Use AI and marketing automation tools more effectively
I know you've read this sentence a million times, but I'm saying it again - AI and automation were everywhere last year. Although I did get a bit of AI fatigue, the fact remains that they're useful tools, no longer high-priced, inaccessible technologies for big corporations.
62% of marketers say AI and automation are important to their marketing, and they can help with almost anything, from running complex predictive analytics reports to personalizing marketing emails to streamlining basic tasks so marketers can focus on more complicated strategies or tactics.
The use of artificial intelligence will be a marketing theme throughout 2024, and I recommend giving it a shot if you haven't already, given all the various use cases:
- Your content marketing assistant can be AI - Marketing content generated by generative AI tools can be compelling, on-brand, and high-performing. Gen AI assists 81% of marketers effectively in their roles.
- AI can help you make better use of your data - Utilize an AI tool to quickly analyze campaign performance and identify trends. AI is used by 6 out of 10 AI and automation users to analyze data.
- AI gives you more time to be creative - Because of other duties required on a day-to-day basis, marketing is a creative role, but sometimes we don't have much time to be creative. By incorporating AI tools into their processes, marketers can save and gain 2.5 hours per day on average.
5. Instead of focusing on ROI, use audio to engage your audience
In recent years, audio-first platforms like Clubhouse have emerged, and apps like Spotify have added more live audio capabilities. We saw how viral audio content can be, even when branded.
In 2024, it's still worth paying attention to. In the past week, 75% of Americans ages 12+ listened to online audio.
Podcasts and other audio content aren't among the most leveraged trends, nor are they the highest ROI, but investments will continue to grow:
- Among those who already use podcasts and other audio content, 39% plan to invest more in this medium in 2024
- 42% of those leveraging audio chat rooms plan to invest the same amount in 2022.
- Podcasts or other audio content are the top media formats marketers plan to leverage for the first time in 2024.
When it doesn't offer the highest return on investment, why is this marketing format so popular?
According to Caroline Forsey, Blend's Marketing Manager, it's true that you can't directly attribute leads or revenue to podcasts, but that's not their purpose. As a long-term brand-building channel, podcasts can increase affinity and connection for your brand like no other...Podcasting is the perfect way to create authentic and engaging content.”
Authenticity is what makes podcasts stand out to me as a consumer. Despite the fact that hosts conduct research, plan episodes, and write out talking points, I don't get that kind of natural, free-flowing conversation anywhere else.
In addition, podcasts can help your business establish itself as a thought leader and trusted voice. It's not a true "behind-the-scenes" look, but hearing someone speak gives your business a human voice, which helps you connect with your customers.
6. Take an omnichannel approach
Facebook (57%) and Instagram (55%) are the most popular platforms used by marketers. Both have the highest return on investment.
How do you decide between those two platforms when there are so many? Here are two guiding questions to consider:
Where do your audiences spend their time? You'll post into a void if you target a channel your audience doesn't use. You can find out where your target audience groups are by looking at our Consumer Trends Report.
What is the size of your team? In order to maximize your impact and ROI, you should choose fewer platforms to maximize your impact and ROI.
7. Align your sales and marketing teams
In organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams, profit growth is 27% faster and retention is 36% higher.
A lack of communication and a need to clarify overall goals and strategy make aligning with sales one of the top challenges marketers face.
According to Monica Elgemark, Chief Marketing Officer at Oneflow, in order to overcome the challenges of sales and marketing alignment, “It's imperative to define clear goals and objectives that both sales and marketing teams can rally behind. Clear goals and objectives that differentiate between awareness and revenue should be considered for both sales and marketing to understand the values different campaigns bring. It is a mutual dependency between these areas that needs respect.”
8. Spend your marketing budget wisely
Due to the pandemic's impact on the economic landscape, the majority of marketers maintained their budgets between 2022 and 2023.
Businesses with high-priced products, for instance, saw a lack of sales floor performance as decision-makers spent more cautiously. As consumers and prospects remained inside, online marketing provided excellent traffic and conversion opportunities.
While marketers say their budgets will remain the same this year, they expect budgets and ROI to be scrutinized somewhat more than in the past, likely due to economic events over the past few years. In order to maximize efficiency, business leaders place more emphasis on how and why money is spent.
For more insights and recommendations on consumer behaviour, continue visiting our Knowledge Center - We regularly upload content that can help you improve your strategies when it comes to marketing, selling and delighting your customers.