5 marketing strategies highlighted by experts as trends for 2024

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Hybridity and integration are almost omnipresent terms in contemporary marketing. And this is reaffirmed in the main trends in the sector for 2024.

Communication with consumers connects different channels and formats, the human-machine partnership is increasingly intertwined, and the physical and virtual environments solidify their symbiosis.

Considering this context, we bring you five insights that should be on the radar of marketing leaders in the coming year. This selection was made based on the Marketing Insights 2024 report , produced by GoAd Media.

Every year, the study highlights areas, movements and trends that should shape the marketing agenda and its professionals. The content is built from interviews with leaders of brands, research institutes and agencies, as well as curation at global festivals of innovation, creativity, business, retail and entertainment.

Our focus is specifically on trends related to growth and customer experience. Check it out:

1. Marketing automation
This movement was already underway and should accelerate next year. According to the

report, this is one of the priorities of marketing leaders for 2024. And artificial intelligence (AI) is a key technology in this sense.

Data from Accenture, cited in the study, reveals that 80% of CMOs intend to increase investment in AI in the next year.

The most common use of this technology, which evolves and becomes more sophisticated every year, is the application of AI in data analysis. As this process matures, it becomes more influential in decision-making and also in contextualizing the experiences offered to customers.

In addition, we are experiencing the popularization of generative AI, and this naturally also impacts marketing. According to the study, in 2024 we will see more practical uses of this technology.

This includes personalizing marketing with generative AI, for the production of texts and images, and models that support the automation of recurring productions, such as predicting the sales performance of a given product.

2. “OPT-IN” Experiences
One of the most discussed topics in recent times is the end of the cookie era and how brands will adapt to the new rules on the collection and use of personal data.

Companies that are more advanced in digital transformation have been working on this for some time and testing new ways to offer personalized experiences, without disrespecting customer privacy and security.

Structuring proprietary data repositories is an important step in this direction.

According to the report, to create and maintain their own databases, many brands work with promotions or campaigns designed to help capture duly authorized primary data.

More control over what you receive, and how
The emphasis on relevance in communication is another crucial point in the cookieless era. People now have more control over what they want to receive, and how. This is what one of the executives interviewed for the study calls “opt-in marketing”.

The consumer needs to see relevance in the brand's communication to accept this contact and join this conversation.

For companies, this means they need to improve their knowledge of their customers. They need to open up new possibilities to get closer to people and try to understand them, in order to deliver what they want. Otherwise, the “opt-out” option will win.

This point is directly related to marketing automation. When used well, new tools and technologies can help deliver personalization at scale, in line with the General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD).

3. Messaging on the rise
In certain markets, such as Brazil, the rise of messaging is expected to influence marketing investments next year.

The report highlights the diversification of services offered by companies through turkey mobile phone numbers database messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, in line with the frequent use of these apps in certain countries.

Once again, artificial intelligence is an essential technology in this process , and is present in one of the examples cited in the study. This is a pilot project that Magazine Luiza (Magalu) has been testing, in which the e-commerce catalog is integrated with WhatsApp.

You can search for prices, add items to your shopping cart, ask questions and request details about the desired item, among other actions. However, the transaction is completed on the company's website.

With initiatives like this, the brand updates the marketing mantra of being where the customer is. The challenge here is to explore the potential of this tool without adopting an invasive stance.

4. Physical stores in the spotlight
Often, and this is very true for the contemporary world, evolution does not imply replacing one thing with another, but efficiently integrating what already existed and what is coming.

This is the logic behind why physical stores are a competitive differentiator in an increasingly digital society. E-commerce is evolving and expanding, but physical spaces remain present and important for the relationship between brands and consumers.

What is happening, and is a trend for 2024, is the redesign of physical stores, with a focus on coexistence and experience. People want to visit stores in person , but these environments need to offer more than just products.

One example highlighted in the Marketing Insights 2024 study is a pilot project by Carrefour. The chain transformed some supermarkets into more architecturally pleasing spaces, with indirect lighting and specialized curation in sectors with high-value and growth categories, in addition to creating gastronomic spaces in the stores.

Another factor that drives physical stores is convenience. That is why many of them seek to diversify the products and services they offer. This is the case of the Pague Menos pharmacy chain.

According to the company, around 40% of the organization's revenue comes from medicines. The rest comes from other products sold in the chain's stores. In other words, people come in not only to buy medicine, but also to meet other daily needs.

Professionalization of service
In the case of brands that sell their products through partner companies, professionalizing customer service is a growing trend.

The Marketing Insights 2024 study uses the case of Akzo Nobel, owner of the Coral paint brand, as an example.

The company is dedicated to refining the experience at the point of sale, investing in educational visual communication that helps different consumer profiles understand the specificities of its range of products.

5. Regional understanding
When it comes to seeking relevance, a buzzword in the cookieless scenario, brands need to be extremely attentive to regional beliefs, customs and consumption habits. Only then will they be able to strengthen their relationship with consumers and get it right when it comes to personalizing services and experiences.

This is reflected in the marketing budget for 2024, which incorporates projects that promote cultural connections with people. The practice of regionalizing communication is not new, but it has been gaining much more intensity and nuance.

It is a movement that can be related to the culture of communities, something that is very characteristic of the spirit of our time.

Taking this into consideration, brands need to know the niches they want to interact with well, in order to truly understand, respect and meet their needs, preferences and demands. Only then will they be able to make a difference in people's lives.

Conclusion
What these trends point to, in short, is an ever-increasing synergy between physical and digital, accelerating the hybridism already underway.

They also reinforce the urgent need for brands to professionalize themselves, in order to explore the full potential that technology, particularly artificial intelligence, can offer.

Personalization benefits greatly from this, in various formats and media. However, we cannot lose sight of the necessary precautions regarding privacy, as well as monitoring and combating misinformation and prejudice in the new phygital ecosystem.