The advertising landscape has witnessed a shift from the traditional modes to a digital space, with a focus on websites and social media. Brands are incorporating Search Engine Optimization in their day-to-day content to expand reach and increase their visibility, and launching user-friendly mobile apps for hassle-free transactions. 

The Digital Advertising Market might reach a whopping $602.25 Billion worldwide in 2024

Formats like social media marketing video ads, Search Engine Marketing, and personalized marketing are gaining popularity for their proven record in boosting engagement, visibility, and website traffic. With AI being the latest innovation in the digital universe, more brands are likely to optimize the technology, but where did it all begin? Join Apostrophy on this journey to take a look at the evolution of digital advertising and get familiar with some of the hottest trends to help your business thrive in 2024 – 

A Peek into the Past – Major Trends that Altered the Landscape

The rise of the Internet led to the advent of digital marketing in the 1990s – right when the Indian market space was opening up to the world. Soon, search engines, early forms of SEO, and social media platforms like MySpace, Orkut, and the most popular of them all – Facebook emerged – marking a landmark shift in the digital space. The evolution of digital advertising brought in some game-changers that optimized the space to make the most out of marketing –

The Search Engines & the Emergence of SEO

As the popularity of search engines like Yahoo and Google soared, the internet became a more accessible space that brands could leverage to maximize their reach and engage with people in a more personalized way.

This was quickly followed by Search Engine Optimization – a tool that has remained a crucial component of digital marketing even today. The emergence of SEO revolutionized the landscape and started a new era of digital marketing altogether.

Social Media Taking Over

Social Media platforms like MySpace and Facebook managed to further change the face of digital marketing. These spaces quickly became popular among people and brands were fast to realize the inseparable role they were going to play in reaching more people and making digital marketing an interactive experience. 

Mobile Apps

The switch from web to mobile apps enabled a more intimate user experience. Not only did they make brands more accessible but also facilitated seamless transactions, and provided highly personalized experiences, contributing effectively to business growth.

Short-form Video Advertising

TikTok and other similar social media platforms popularized a new form of content in the last decade – short-form videos. These catered to the reduced attention spans of the mostly young users and the content resonated with them. Short-form videos have since then been an effective way of addressing the dynamic preferences of people and adapting to the newest trends. While these changed the digital marketing space significantly, new trends keep emerging, and the best a brand can do is update and adapt.

Trends to look out for in 2024

Not sure how to kickstart your digital marketing? Apostrophy brings you some of the hottest trends you can hop on this year – 

• Spotlights on Reels and YouTube shorts ( video for marketing)

With a new trend taking over each day on social media, our attention spans are drastically reducing, and our need for dynamism is increasing. Short-form video content is perfect to address the constantly changing preferences in the digital space. They can address the pain points, promote products, and jump on to the newest hashtag – all at the same time.

These short-form videos are the new starts of social media marketing and coupled with influencer collaboration, they can reach the right audience and help connect with them, increasing visibility and fostering brand loyalty.

• The Power of Social Media Marketing

About 61.4% of people around the world are active social media users

The popularity of social media has grown exponentially over the past decade, with brands focusing on optimizing the platforms to generate more revenue as well as to maximize their reach.

It is the perfect place to gauge people’s preferences and connect with the target consumers through content that they resonate with.

Influencer marketing through different social media platforms also enables a brand to enhance reliability and authenticity. Apart from popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn is a networking site used by about 1 billion professionals globally. With the growing number of users, it is just the right channel to connect with professionals and promote B2B marketing.

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile and running relevant ad campaigns can boost engagement and hence your business’s growth. Carving the right path and building social media strategies that are best suited for your brand is the way forward. 

• Email Marketing

Personalizing content makes your digital marketing much more effective. Segmenting consumers based on their location, preferences, purchasing patterns, and other criteria and sending out targeted emails based on these parameters boosts engagement and in the long run, contributes to a positive ROI. analyzing data based on email metrics, feedback, and polls to personalize emails adds to customer retention improving the brand’s credibility.

• Acknowledge Diversity

The world is rightfully moving away from majoritarian normativity. Ensuring equal access for your consumers across spectrums of race, gender, and ability is an ethical consideration brands must acknowledge in 2024. Introducing voice search options and image alt texts are just a few things businesses should consider to enhance user experience and make their websites more accessible, catering to the varying needs of their consumers.

• AR/VR

Enabling consumers to view products in real-life spaces encourages a more interactive experience adding to the UX. It takes a step beyond ordinary purchasing practices and opens a world of interactive shopping that allows brands to connect with their consumers and better promote their products. Optimizing AR can help gauge people’s preferences and buying patterns and further the developments in AR-infused digital marketing.

• Don’t Forget SEO

Search Engine Optimization increases your content’s visibility brings in more traffic, generates more leads, and pushes your website to prominence on Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Accurate keyword research and incorporation help reach the target audience both via the website and on social media through SEO-enabled captions, subtitles, and relevant hashtags. 

The next time you’re planning your digital advertising route, keep in mind the latest trends and get ahead of the curve.