As the 2020s continue, marketers have access to a growing toolkit of strategies, always recalibrating to stay ahead. So, what could marketing planning in 2024 look like when you have your pick of go-to tactics and technologies?
Let’s take an in-depth look at strategies that will drive success in the coming year—from social media to content—and the roles Creators play in shaping brand narratives.
Hot Marketing Trends for 2024
Your brand has its choice of digital tactics throughout the new year. You can probably guess what some of these include, but consider why they’re the cream of the crop and the potential these trends represent.
Social Media
Audiences spend untold amounts of time on social platforms, and these platforms continue to be cost-effective, quick, and easy spaces to foster real-time engagement. Instagram and TikTok reign supreme for Gen Zers, but you can’t ignore the value of the original social trailblazer, Facebook. A Taradel study found that 68 percent of small businesses prefer Facebook, while larger or growing brands are more engaged in other networks.
Want to get the best bang for your buck but maintain more control behind the scenes? Email marketing enables the most personalization to best reach your audience—including opportunities to A/B test subject lines, content, and CTAs. And with the right platform, it’s simple to automate both your campaigns and analytics.
Paid Search
“Pay to play” is still valuable in 2024 and is set to change significantly with the rise of new technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to inform strategies to improve targeting and conversion, while voice and visual search continue to grow as people ask digital assistants for information.
Content
Content isn’t just about blogging anymore. The floodgates have broken open to include everything from videos and podcasts to e-books and user-generated content. It all packs a punch for brand awareness and SEO, but it still needs to be of high quality to elevate your authority and engagement.
Partnerships
Want to ensure top-quality marketing and ROI? Partner with agencies or Creators. The right partner(s) provide a keen eye to monitor your competitors’ marketing, such as their social media engagement and content marketing efforts. Not only this, but competitive research will push the envelope to anticipate competitor moves and identify gaps in the market that your brand can fill.
LTK’s Creator Marketing Outlook for 2024
As more brands adopt Creator marketing, it’s impacting entire digital strategies, especially for a few key sectors. LTK’s Next Wave of Creator Marketing study, in partnership with Northwestern University’s Retail Analytics Council, reveals how Creator marketing is making waves.
Creator Marketing Budgets Are Growing Faster Than Digital
While tried-and-true digital marketing remains effective, approximately 80 percent of brands increased their Creator budgets in 2023, illustrating how valuable it’s become—and that’s not changing anytime soon. Ninety-two percent of brands say Creator marketing will play a role in their 2024 strategy, ranking at No. 1 for marketing investment growth compared to digital:
- +16 percent compared to paid search
- +2 percent compared to paid social
- +20 percent compared to digital display
Creator marketing is so powerful that CMOs are using earned media value (EMV) to pull funds from digital, email, and social media marketing.
CPG, Fashion, and Beauty Brands Lead the Way
Creator marketing investment varies from industry to industry, but direct-to-consumer sectors are at the top of the list of those going all-in. It shows in the percentage of brands that increased investment in 2023:
- 89 percent of CPG brands
- 87 percent of fashion brands
- 82 percent of health and beauty brands
These same industries—with CPG leading the way—plan to increase investment in 2024, with 65 percent budgeting between $5 to $20 million on Creator marketing.
Solving Full-Funnel Challenges
Looking for the most positive business impact? Creator marketing transforms the entire funnel, from consideration and lead generation to retention. It’s a juggernaut for awareness and perception, and today’s brands get it:
- 61 percent of companies prioritize growth
- 85 percent of brands want to create awareness
- 51 percent of fashion brands and 45 percent of beauty brands say Creators improved their brand perception
It’s not a far leap from attracting to maximizing customer value, either. About 55 percent of companies prioritize loyalty as a top goal, and Creator marketing boosts both sales and customer loyalty by increasing repeat purchases and/or basket size.
Creators Drive Brand Innovation with Technology
Brands are relying on technology more than ever. A substantial 84 percent currently invest in AI to sell their products online, with an uptick to 90 percent planning to go this route in 2024. At the same time, live streaming is becoming another key to successful Creator programs, with 92 percent of brands planning to incorporate live streaming within the next year.
But it doesn’t stop there. As the original go-to for Creator marketing, social media is absolutely booming, and 78 percent of brands are not only using it for organic posts but also boosted social media ads across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Leveraging Creator Marketing in 2024
Nervous about beginning your Creator marketing journey? Don’t be! The possibilities exceed the risks as new ways to leverage influencers open up for 2024 and beyond.
AI
If you try to ignore AI, you’ll get left behind. Emerging tools and capabilities represent a shift in marketing and customer relationships. AI chatbots—like the fictional celebrity personas Meta has been experimenting with—or digital characters provide a new way to converse with audiences. Not for you? ChatGPT-enhanced messaging is one alternative that makes it easy to begin authentic conversations.
Employee Influencers
Your own team pours their “blood, sweat, and tears“ into your brand day in and day out, and that time and creativity lend credibility. Leveraging this intimate relationship with your offerings is a valuable tool headed into 2024, when your own employees can stand out as advocates or ambassadors. Take the pulse of your organization and see who might be game to use their own social media accounts to showcase items, answer questions, and elevate your brand reputation.
Social Media ROI
Keep pushing forward on social media this year. Facebook continues to surprise many with its ability to drive high influencer marketing ROI, while Instagram remains the platform of choice. But don’t forget about the LTK app. As a social media hero, the LTK app drives approximately $4 billion in annual retail sales.
Long-Term Partnerships
One-off Creator campaigns are so yesterday. Brands and Creators alike are looking to collaborate on long-term partnerships instead of short-term campaigns. The trend is continuing in the year ahead as a way to save time and money while building trust with audiences.
Affiliate Marketing
Looking for cost-effective lead generation? There’s a reason affiliate marketing is poised to reach $36.9 billion by 2030. From email marketing to content, leverage affiliate marketing for minimal investment—and achieve maximum ROI. For our part, LTK landing pages drive brand awareness and provide social proof, too.
Paid Ads from Influencer Content
Any content expert will tell you that a significant part of its value is in repurposing content. The same is true of Creator content, too. As your content repository grows in 2024, leverage the most valuable pieces and transform them into paid ads to gain even more conversions and engagement. LTK Boost allows brands to push the content from their LTK Creator campaigns as paid ads to target audiences across social media, going so far as to leverage geotargeting capabilities.
Elevated Marketing Planning in the New Year and Beyond
In 2024, your brand can’t do social media without paid search or creative content without email. It all goes together to form a seamless, all-encompassing strategy. And why go it alone, without Creator partners to take your efforts to new heights?
At LTK, we prove the power of Creator marketing every day, and our curated list of Creators helps your brand leverage the latest technologies and tactics to elevate your marketing efforts. Get in touch today to begin your Creator marketing journey with LTK and take your 2024 marketing planning to 11.
