Depending on the context, the word “trend” i🎉sn’t always a good thing. Trends can be fleeting or insignificant, like topics on Twitter or the latest ꩲin fast fashion. 

But if I’ve learned anything in my time in marketing, it’s that many of𒀰 the things once tou🦋ted as “trendy” soon become staples of our strategy the next. 

Many thought blogging was a trend. Others said the same about social media, email marketing — you name it. Look at the power these each now hold in our marketing strategies. You can be sure many are eating their words.

So, don’t let the snappy headline fool you.

The points I’veꦗ outlined below may seem like trendy outliers as we eไnter 2024, but tomorrow they could be the crutch of your marketing strategy. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. AI will (continue to) be everywhere

With the launch of Chat-GPT in November of 2022, AI was thrust into the spotlight. In the 12 months since, we've seen everything from legit, impressive AI tools to silly AI marketing gimmicks (likꦯe A🃏I-created soda flavors).

Many new AI tools are incredibly powerful, offering to help teams save hours on som⭕e tasks. Others are not quite ready for prime time, bringing more frustration than solution. 

In 2024, expect to see thousands of AI tools battle for market dominance. Many that came out in 2023 will not be around for long. The tools that will win are the ones t𒆙hat integrate smoothly . We've already seen Google Suite, Canva, Adobe, Zoom, and pretty much every other major player release AI capabilities. 

You can expect some smaller tools to get acquired by the ༒big boys — and we will all see AI get significantly more powerful in the year ahead🌸. 

There’s no question that A♛I will fundamentally change many aspects of the work we do. If that makes you feel uncomfortable, you’re not alone. Public opinion is deeply divided, wit💮h more and more professionals .  

Wh𝕴i🧸le governments have held hearings around regulating AI, action is slow. 

If you and your company are looking for common-sense AI policy to implement, check out this post from our own Marcus Sheridan: The AI💦 Best Practice Guidelines Your Company Needs.

2. Generative search and evolving SEO 

AI is having two profound effects on trad💮itional searc🎶h.

First off, tools like ChatGPT and Jasper make it easi🎉er than ever to create content, which means that we’re flooding an already saturated space with more and more written content, much of which is almost ident꧟ical to everything else out there.

While this is new, the idea of co🍸nten꧃t saturation is not. 

The other big change is new, and AI-powered generative search is upending search as we kn♈ow it.

Generative search is different from 💝a traditional search engine. Rather than returning link🐓s to ads and pages, it generates an answer to your question, summarizing based on the data it can access and has been trained on.

In the coming year, expect generative search to play a bigger and bigger role in how customers self-educate a🎉nd find♛ their way to your business. 

But there are some big unknowns.

1. We don't know much about how ChatGPT or Google's Generative Search Experience evaluates and serves up sources. Early testing gives us some idea, but there's still a lot we don't know. 
2. We have some indication of how these tools will sell ad space in gerative search results, but details are sparse at this point. Each year, it seems Google search results have added more and more ads — and those ads have been harder to distinguish. You can expect generative search to do the same. After all, , and these companies have invested billions of dollars they need to make back. 
3. How people will use generative search. After OpenAI burst on the scene, it started to see . Is the lustre wearing off, or is the market just stabilizing? 

Still, companies are betting big �🍃�on AI's power to transform search, so SEO experts should keep a close eye.

At the same time, ongoing antitrust trial in 💜the U.S. could have far-reaching imp♔acts on . 

3. The (new) power of social media

I know, I know😼. It's 2024. We can hardly call social media a new trend. 

But in the wake of the first two items ꦅon our list, social media will take on new meaning for brands. 🍸;

AI-generated writing, AI-powered c🐈hatbots, and AI video all present great opportunities — but they run the risk of alienating audiences with deriജvative, sterile, inauthentic content.

✃Consumers will look more and more toward social media for genuine content promising real 💛human connection. 

"As search changes," says Marcus Sheridan, "I expect social media to play an e💞ven bigg🎶er role in the way we discover products and services."

He continues: "The companies that have a social media presence that’s authentic and approachable will be༺ the ones to win. And they’ll be very creative in the ways they meet, engage with, and deli🐬ght their audiences."

Back in 2022, Google made waves when it shared that (aged 18-2𒁏4 years old) use TikTok or Instagram instead of Google Maps or Google Search — and this was before generative sear♏ch launched. 

Look 𝐆for continued evolution of how consumers come to find and trust brands in 2024.  

4. Interactive/personalized buying experiences

Incresingl🦩y, customers expect businesses to provide them wit♏h a personalized experience. 

This does not mean your buyers want to spend more time talking to your sales team. Quite the opposite, in fact. According to Gartner, "."

To serve your modern buyer, you website should provide an experience that's interactive and customizable so that customers only connect with your sales team when they want to.

You may want to include calculators, quizzes, or what we call168极速赛车官网: self-service tools, w💞hich help guide website v❀isitors to the most relevant information for their needs. 

🔎 Related: 9 Self-S𝄹ervice Tools to Inspire 🧸Your Business Website

Users get a much more personalized experience and value unique to them. With new AI chatbots and other tools, this type of experience is eas⛎ier than ever to deliver.

For example, check out Wix's website builder:

This tool walks the user through the steps of building a website on its platform in a few simple steps, showing them how it works and getting 🔜them invested in the process. 

But it's not just the big❀ boys who can make this work.

to teach you ho🔥w spray-foam installﷺation can bring down your energy costs.

Because they're located in Michigan, their s♊elf-selection tool start by asking for your Zip code.

Even if you're outside their service area, you can still🥀 use the tool t♔o get an idea for your project. 

As you go on, you see c🎃lean illustrations and simple questions about the building you're insulating. 

When you get to the end, you get a quote that's suited to your unꦏique needs. 

A that interactiv♊e content not only better educates pros🀅pective buyers, but also drives twice the conversions and social shares. 

💛Tools such as, , and have dozens of templates to help you start building interactive content that can be customized to your brand. 

Depending on which tool you use (or how it’s built), the information gathe🦋red through your interactive content can also be saved in your contact database to be used for marketing and sales later on. 

5. Current events and advocacy

From health concerns to social and political unrest, there’s no ignoring the many♏ issues facing the average consumer today — and your content marketﷺing shouldn’t, either.  

Ignoring what’s going on in your messaging or content can come off as insensitive and out of touch with 🐓your audience’s 𝓰greater needs. 

Plus, s🦂ay they must be able to trust brands to do what's right, which includes taking actiꦫon on social and global issues. 

Althou🅠gh you may not want to go in for the hard stance, don't go silent, either. 

Pay attention to current events and how your product, service, or brand fits into them. Create content around how your offering can help or how it may have to adapt.&nbs💙p;

Think about what your buyers care about, and perhaps co🐷nsider partnering with a related charity or nonprofit.

If certain social discussions are top-of-mind for your audience and suited to your brand, you may also want ⛦to𒈔 weave those into your strategy. 

For instance, if you sell a product exclusively for women, don’t ignore developments or concerns around women’s rights. Thi๊s could make your brand look disingenuous👍. 

The point is: Be human. Don’t lose sight of your co༒nsumer’s🐻 deeper concerns.  

6. Helpfulness and education

Throu🐻ghout its core updates in 2023, Google has kept urgin🅰g creators (once again) to focus on people-first content.

And this is nothing new. 

The search giant has always maintained its primary goal is to deliver the best answers to users in the quickest a꧑nd easiest way — and its move into generative search doubles down on previous updates like featured snippets and "helpful content" algorithm updates. 

This is another reminder to marketers that both consumers and search engines are putting more emphasis on the helpfulness of content. 

Modern buyers don’t want to be sold to; they want to work with brands who are trustworthy and don't go for the hard pitch.&nb�ಌ�sp;

They want to research their own purchases, gather as much information as possible, and make the best buying decision for🤪 themselves when they are good and ready. 

The best way to make sure you are top-of-mind when that time comes is by 168极速赛车官网:educating them. 

In the past, Google has suggested:

"People-first content creators focus first on creating satisfying content, while also utilizing SEO best practices to bring searchers additional value. Answering yes to the questions below means you're probably ওon the right track with a people-first appro🌳ach:

• Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?
• Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
• Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they've had a satisfying experience?”

To get even more granular, create content that thoroughly and honestly answers questions your buyers are asking an🌄d searching in Google. 

This can span a wide range, but a good place to start is with what168极速赛车官网: we call The Big 5:

1. Costs: How much your solution costs (and what makes that number go up or down.)
2. Problems: The negatives about, or issues with, your solution (that buyers tend to ask about).
3. Comparisons: How your product or solution compares to similar products or solutions.
4. Reviews: Honest and unbiased opinions and observations about your product, solution, etc.
5. Best: What the best available solution available is.

In our experience, these are the topic areas every buyer considers when making any purchase and natur♐ally lend themselves to the short-form video and interactive m💫ediums we’ve already discussed. 

Starting with them, hand-in-hand with some of the other trཧends, lays a strong foundation for being seen as a trusted resource and teacher in your space by buyers and as a helpful resource by Google.

7. The continued prevalence of short-form video

In 2023, 90% of global advertisers . And that’s likely to continue. Short-form video is everywꦆhere. It’s⛎ on Instagram and TikTok, of course, but short-form video is also on LinkedIn — and it’s heavily promoted on YouTube.

Short-form videos may be as long as a minute, or even 90 seconds, but are usually 30 seconds or less. Some are as short as 10 seconds. Th💛ese videos are vertically-oriented (think: shot on a phone) and🉐 often play on a loop (or auto-play into the next one, suiting short audience attention spans).

Platforms will keep prioritizing these kinds of videos, which boost their reach and suit their mobile-first audience. (On YouTube, more than .)

HubSpot found most marketers reported . 

Expect this trend to continue. 

Embracing trends, seeing what's possible 

The digital marketing world is always changing. There’s no predicting which trends will be here to stay and which bubbles will burst, but now is the time to start experimenting. 

Take the seven trends mentioned above and slowly incorporate elements of them in🌳to your content marketing strategy. 

Track their performance and, after a few months, you’ll have solid data to help you determine which to ditch aꦏnd which may deliver the benefits and results you’re looking for.