15 Digital Marketing Trends Worth Your Attention in 2024

By Intelligent Relations Team

September 25, 2023

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As a brand, you may face several challenges navigating rapid technological advancements. 

You may also find yourself struggling to keep up with shifting consumer behaviors. 

On top of that, you’re facing intense competition. 

Keeping an ear to the ground for the latest digital marketing trends of 2024 is one way to overcome these challenges. 

To help you gain an advantage, we have chosen the leading trends in digital marketing. 

By embracing these trends, you can achieve your digital marketing goals and fine-tune your efforts. These trends will keep you at the forefront of digital marketing. 

They will also empower you to create more impactful, efficient, and customer-centric campaigns.

Below, you’ll find 15 key digital marketing trends worth your attention. These can help you resonate with your target audience and maintain a consistent online presence. 

15 Digital Marketing Trends 2024

• Public Relations
• Thought Leadership
• Podcast Appearances
• Artificial Intelligence
• Virtual and Augmented Reality
• Voice Search & Voice SEO
• Personalization 
• Influencer Marketing 
• Transparency and Authenticity
• The Rise of Short-Form Video 
• Multi-Channel Social Media Marketing
• Interactive Content 
• Authenticity 
• User-Generated Content 
• Social Commerce 

1. PR

Public Relations (PR) is one of our top digital marketing trends because it aims to build and maintain a positive image for your brand, while enhancing all of your digital marketing efforts. Its goal is to establish trust, credibility, and positive public sentiment.

It involves managing relationships with various stakeholders. That includes the media, customers, and the general public. 

Some PR strategies include: 

• Issuing Press Releases: These are announcements that communicate news about your brand to the media and public.
• Social Media Management: This includes strategic planning and execution of online presence across various social media platforms.
• Event Planning: This involves coordinating and organizing events. These events align with your brand’s objectives and leave a lasting impression on attendees.
• Crisis Communication: This involves swift and strategic communication efforts aimed at managing and mitigating the impact of a crisis. Crisis communication focuses on maintaining trust, transparency, and reputation.
• PR Pitches: These are compelling messages aimed at persuading media outlets to cover a particular story, event, or product.

Here’s why PR is one of the most important digital marketing trends for 2024: 

• Trust and Credibility: PR uses a variety of content types and strategies to build trust and credibility. These include media placements, press releases, and thought leadership articles. 
• Brand Visibility: Digital PR leverages various online channels to maximize brand visibility. You can increase your brand visibility by getting media coverage and using social media platforms. This improves brand recognition and recall among potential customers.
• SEO Benefits: PR and SEO go hand in hand in digital marketing. Online media coverage and quality backlinks can enhance your website’s SEO. Search engines value authoritative and reputable sources. PR-generated media mentions can improve your website’s ranking.

Pro Tip: You only get one shot at making an impression. Always have a plan in place before creating PR content. This should include a clear objective, a developed message, and an understanding of your target audience. It should also factor in PR costs and timelines, as well as crisis communications.

Want to know how to create an effective PR plan in 2024? See our guide: How to Write an Effective PR Plan [Tips + Examples]

2. Thought Leadership

In 2024, both consumers and search engines are looking for expertise, authenticity, authority, and transparency from brands. Thought leadership helps you establish all four. That’s why we’ve made it one of the top digital marketing trends for 2024.

Thought leadership establishes your authority in a specific industry or niche. 

A thought leader provides in-depth expertise on certain topics. This can attract a more engaged and loyal online audience seeking information on those topics. Authentic thought leadership also helps you be transparent about your values and initiatives regarding your business activities.

What does thought leadership look like? 

• Earned or owned byline articles.
• LinkedIn posts and long-form content.
• Podcast appearances and media interviews.
• Original research or insights from data published as a report.
• Participation at events as a panelist or keynote speaker.

What should thought leadership content accomplish?

• Analyze industry challenges.
• Offer innovative solutions.
• Provide a fresh perspective on existing issues. 
• Craft well-reasoned arguments and back them up with credible sources and examples.

Here’s why it remains one of the most important digital marketing trends: 

• Enhanced Brand Visibility and Authority: Thought leadership positions you as an expert in your field. This recognition increases brand visibility in search engine results. It also boosts credibility. 
• Content Marketing Fuel: Thought leadership often involves producing valuable and insightful content. This content serves as a powerful resource for content marketing. As a result, it can attract organic traffic and social media shares. This can boost your website’s SEO and digital presence.
• Audience Engagement and Trust: Thought leadership content engages users by addressing their pain points. It also provides solutions and offers valuable insights. This engagement fosters trust and loyalty. It encourages users to return for more information. Plus, it can potentially convert users into customers or brand advocates. 

Pro Tip: Identify an industry niche where you feel most comfortable as an expert. Think about what sort of topics you could speak to while providing unique insights. Once you’ve identified your niche, pay attention to developing trends to keep the conversation relevant and fresh.

Not sure how to create a great thought leadership strategy for your brand? We’ve got you covered: Thought Leadership Strategy: 14 Steps to Balancing Authority and Authenticity (+ Examples)

3. Podcast Appearances

Being on podcasts allows you to reach a highly engaged and niche audience through audio content. Podcasts appearances also provide opportunities for cross-promotion, partnerships, and advertisements. It’s also not a bad way to build backlinks to your content or website.

Here’s what makes it one of the top digital marketing trends of 2024:

• Audience Engagement and Loyalty: Podcasts allow for a more personal connection with your audience. Your appearances can foster audience loyalty as listeners return for regular updates. This can help you build a community around your brand.
• Content Repurposing and SEO: Podcasts can translate into written content. You can use them for blog posts, articles, or social media posts. Repurposing your content improves your website’s SEO. You can also get backlinks by appearing on podcasts.
• Brand Authority and Thought Leadership: Hosting a podcast on relevant topics showcases your expertise and establishes you as a thought leader. This can attract new customers, partners, and media attention. Additionally, it can enhance your brand’s reputation and influence within your niche.

Want to know how to pitch a podcast as part of your digital marketing or PR campaigns? Check out our article: How to Pitch a Podcast in 2024 [+Real Examples]

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Why is AI one of the top digital marketing trends for 2024? 

AI can analyze consumer behavior, predict trends, and segment audiences. 

Plus, it can help you create personalized content and recommendations. This enhances efficiency and helps marketers make data-driven decisions.

The key benefits of using AI in your marketing mix include: 

• Enhanced Personalization: AI leverages vast customer data for highly personalized marketing. It tailors content to individual preferences. This drives increased engagement and conversions.
• Improved Efficiency and Automation: AI automates marketing tasks and frees up time for other efforts. For example, you can use it to automate email campaigns, social media posts, and ad targeting.
• Predictive Analytics and Data Insights: AI includes data analysis capabilities and predictive analytics. This enables you to anticipate trends, customer behavior, and market shifts. Plus, it helps you make informed decisions and real-time adjustments to your marketing.

Pro Tip: AI’s natural language processing algorithms can assist in crafting compelling pitches. However, it’s not 100% foolproof. It can inject false information or use language that’s repetitive and complex. You need to do some editing to get the pitch just right.

5. Virtual and Augmented Reality

Together, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have become recognized as one of the top emerging digital marketing trends. 

VR allows you to create experiences that transport users to virtual environments. This can be particularly effective for showcasing products and services. Customers can interact with products in a three-dimensional virtual space. This allows them to have an immersive experience with your brand.

AR allows consumers to use devices to superimpose digital images into the real world. This is particularly useful for visualizing products before purchasing them. For example, customers can try on virtual clothing or place virtual furniture in their homes.

The key benefits of VR and AR include:

• Enhanced Engagement and Interactivity: VR and AR enhance consumer engagement through interactive advertisements and virtual experiences. This fosters deeper brand connections and improves product understanding.
• Personalized and Targeted Experiences: VR and AR enable highly personalized marketing. It tailors content to individual preferences and behaviors and enhances relevance.
• Data Collection and Insights: VR and AR platforms offer valuable consumer behavior insights. They inform marketing strategies and optimize virtual experiences to align with user preferences. This data aids in more effective future ad targeting.

6. Voice Search & Voice SEO

Voice search is one of the growing digital marketing trends for 2024. It optimizes online content to match conversational and natural language queries. Marketers must adapt their SEO strategies to accommodate voice search.

Voice SEO focuses on optimizing content for voice search. It involves targeting long-tail keywords and answering user queries directly. It also ensures that content is easily understood in a spoken language.

The key benefits of voice search and voice-SEO include:

• Increased Accessibility: Voice search makes digital content more accessible to users with disabilities. It also helps those who prefer a hands-free experience. This broadens your audience reach.
• Improved User Experience: Voice search delivers faster results and requires less user effort. This enhances the user experience.
• Improved Visibility in Voice Searches: Optimizing for voice search enhances your brand’s visibility in search results. This increases the likelihood of being recommended by voice assistants.

Want to know how to blend PR and SEO for enhanced results for both? Check out our article: PR SEO: Synergy for Success [Tips, Tactics, and Best Practices]

7. Personalization

What makes personalization one of the most important digital marketing trends? 

It involves tailoring your marketing efforts to meet specific consumer needs and preferences. It uses data to deliver customized content, product recommendations, and offers. This enhances user experiences and boosts engagement and conversion rates.

The key benefits of personalization include:

• Enhanced Engagement: Personalized content and recommendations resonate better with users. This leads to increased engagement and longer user sessions.
• Higher Conversion Rates: Personalization increases the likelihood of users converting into customers. It presents them with products or services that align with their preferences and needs.
• Improved Customer Loyalty: Personalized interactions foster a sense of brand loyalty as users feel understood and valued. This leads to repeat business and referrals.

8. Influencer Marketing

If you’re looking for new digital marketing trends for social media, look no further than influencer marketing. It leverages individuals with a significant social media following. 

You can partner with influencers to promote your products or services to a wider audience. It’s effective because it builds trust and credibility among the influencer’s followers.

The key benefits of influencer marketing include:

• Built-in Trust: Influencers often have established trust with their followers. This makes it easier for you to gain credibility through that association.
• Extended Reach: Partnering with influencers allows you to tap into the influencer’s existing audience. This expands your reach to a larger group of potential customers.
• Authentic Content: Influencers create content that feels more genuine and relatable. This can help you convey your message in an authentic way.

9. Transparency and Authenticity

Transparency and authenticity are essential for digital marketing. 

They involve being open, honest, and genuine in brand communication. You should share your values, practices, and behind-the-scenes stories. This helps you build trust with your audience. 

Plus, it means staying true to your brand’s identity and values in all marketing efforts.

The key benefits of transparency and authenticity as one of our digital marketing trends include:

• Trust Building: Transparency and authenticity in marketing build trust with consumers. This makes them more likely to choose and stick with your brand.
• Long-term Relationships: Authenticity fosters long-lasting customer relationships. This leads to repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.
• Mitigation of Negative Feedback: Being transparent about issues or mistakes can help you address and resolve customer concerns. This reduces the impact of negative feedback.

10. The Rise of Short-Form Video

Short-form video content has gained popularity on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. This makes it one of the latest digital marketing trends worth adopting. 

You can create engaging and concise videos to capture users’ attention in a short amount of time. These videos often use storytelling, humor, and creativity to connect with viewers.

The key benefits of short-form videos include:

• Engagement: Short-form videos capture and hold viewer attention more effectively than longer content. This results in higher engagement rates.
• Accessibility: Short-form video content is easily consumable on mobile devices. This makes it more accessible to a wide audience.

Viral Potential: Creative and entertaining short-form videos have the potential to go viral. This significantly increases brand visibility and reach.

11. Multi-channel Social Media Marketing

It’s not new that marketers use multiple social media platforms. It’s obvious that you need to reach your audience where they are, and that you’ll reach a broader audience by engaging across various channels.

But multi-channel social media is one of the top digital marketing trends for 2024 because it’s worth re-examining the strategy.

That’s because each platform requires a tailored approach to differing user demographics and behaviors.

It’s crucial to understand the unique characteristics and preferences of each platform. And social media platforms are updating and changing their algorithms all the time.

You’ll need to tailor your content to suit the strengths of each. For example, you can create visually appealing posts for Instagram or engage in real-time conversation on X. 

The key benefits of multi-channel social media marketing include:

• Diverse Audience Reach: Different platforms attract various demographics. Using multiple social media platforms allows you to reach a more diverse audience. 
• Increased Brand Exposure: Expanding across multiple channels increases your brand’s online presence. This helps boost visibility and recognition.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: You can adapt strategies to fit each platform’s unique features and user behaviors.

Want to know how to blend PR and social media for enhanced results for both? Then you’ll want to check out our article. Learn more here: Social Media PR – 6 Easy Ways to Connect with Your Target Audience

12. Interactive Content

Interactive content is one of the leading digital marketing trends for a reason. It captures consumers’ attention and encourages them to engage with it actively. Examples include polls, quizzes, interactive videos, and augmented reality experiences.

The key benefits of interactive content include:

• Higher Engagement: Interactive content encourages user participation. This results in longer dwell times and increased engagement.
• Data Collection: Interactive content can collect valuable user data and insights. This can help you refine your digital marketing strategies and content.
• Memorable Experiences: Users tend to remember interactive content experiences more than passive content. This often leads to increased brand recall.

Here’s how to implement this digital marketing trend into your strategy:

Before including interactive content, you’ll need to define your goals. Do you want to engage your audience or collect data? 

You can include interactive content on your website by adding forms, multiple-choice options, or single-choice options. 

You can also create polls on social media platforms to instantly engage your audience. You can find poll features on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Instagram.

13. Authenticity

Authenticity has always been the cornerstone of marketing. So, why is it one of the top digital marketing trends now? 

As the Internet becomes flooded with misinformation and scams, authenticity is more important than ever. How can you achieve it?

It involves being genuine and transparent. It means conveying your brand’s true identity and values, so it resonates better with consumers. 

The key benefits of authentic digital marketing include:

• Trust and Credibility: Authentic marketing builds trust and credibility with consumers. This makes them more likely to choose your brand over competitors.
• Brand Loyalty: Authenticity fosters brand loyalty. This encourages customers to stick with your brand and become advocates.

Positive Reputation: Authentic brands tend to have a positive reputation. This can lead to increased brand awareness and preference.

14. User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) encourages consumers to create content related to your brand. UGC can be shared on social media, websites, or in marketing campaigns. Consumers often trust peer-generated content more than brand-generated content.

The key benefits of using USG include: 

• Authenticity and Trust: User-generated content is seen as more authentic and trustworthy. It comes from consumers rather than your brand itself.
• Engagement and Community Building: Encouraging user-generated content fosters a sense of community around your brand. Plus, it encourages more user engagement.

Cost-effective Content Creation: User-generated content is one of the most cost-effective digital marketing trends. It’s an easy way to generate content and marketing material without extra cost.

15. Social Commerce

Social commerce integrates shopping features directly into social media platforms. Users can discover, research, and purchase products without leaving a platform. Brands can leverage social commerce to streamline the buying process and increase sales.

The key benefits of social commerce include:

• Streamlined Purchasing: Social commerce allows users to discover and purchase products directly within their favorite social media platforms. This reduces friction in the buying process.
• Enhanced Product Discovery: Shoppable posts and tags make it easier for users to discover new products and brands.
• Social Proof: Seeing others engage with and purchase products within a social context can provide social proof. Plus, it can encourage more users to make purchases.

Key Takeaways on Digital Marketing Trends for 2024

Staying current on emerging digital marketing trends is essential to remain competitive and relevant. It allows you to capitalize on new opportunities and reach your target audience effectively. Plus, you can adapt your strategies to evolving consumer behaviors and preferences.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with new digital marketing trends, strategies, and technologies. Test different approaches to see what works best for your specific audience and industry. Be agile and willing to adapt your strategies based on performance data and emerging trends.

Be sure to stay attuned to consumer behavior and preferences. As consumer habits change, adjust your marketing strategies accordingly. For example, if you notice a significant shift toward mobile shopping, optimize your content and advertising for mobile devices.

That’s how you can stay on top of digital marketing trends in 2024.

Want to better understand some of these trends, or see how they can apply to your business? Let us help! Simply book a free consultation with us to get expert insight into digital marketing trends for 2024.