Digital marketing in 2024 will be more competitive than ever. In an era where every individual has a smartphone and an opinion, your business can’t rely on old techniques and hope for the best.
However, before you can dissect the digital marketing trends in 2024, you must have a firm understanding of the language that industry experts use. In this article, we define 10 key digital marketing terms that are vital for the coming year.
Additionally, we’ll explain why they’re important and provide you with the benefits of understanding and implementing them. That way, you and your marketing team won’t feel like you’re left out of the conversation.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Terms You Must Know Before 2024
- Account-Based Marketing
- Agile Marketing
- Marketing Attribution
- Employment Marketing
- Identity Resolution Marketing
- Mobile Wallet Marketing
- Push/Pull Marketing
- Revenue Operations (RevOps)
- Social Proof
- Top Of Funnel Marketing
1. Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
Imagine if you could personalize your marketing to each client. This is unrealistic for most B2C and DTC brands, which is why they market to an Ideal Customer Profile instead.
However, this isn’t the case for B2B brands, whose clients are businesses rather than individual consumers. This makes Account-Based Marketing (ABM) a viable — and profitable — strategy for companies that serve other companies.
What is Account-Based Marketing?
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategy that prioritizes creating personalized experiences for your highest-value accounts.
Why is it Important to Understand ABM in 2024?
Account-Based Marketing is important because an increasing number of clients prefer custom experiences over transactional relationships.
In fact, according to Salesforce, over 70% of B2B buyers feel that sales interactions are too transactional, and more than 55% expect personalized offers.
By tailoring your messaging to each high-value account, your marketing will feel more meaningful to that specific client.
What are the Benefits of Account-Based Marketing?
- Maximizes the relevance of your messaging.
- Coordinates your sales and marketing strategies.
- Accelerates your sales cycle.
- Standardizes the client’s experience.
- Optimizes your resources.
- Promotes engagement.
- Facilitates meaningful relationships.
- Empowers data-driven decision-making.
- Enables automation.
- Results in measurable return on investment.
2. Agile Marketing
Did you like AMC’s Mad Men? Wasn’t it exciting to tune in each week to see how Don Draper turned his introspection into the perfect marketing campaign?
Well bad news: nobody has time for that. Historically, marketing has been a slow process in the pursuit of perfection.
Today, marketing must be rapid, iterative, and flexible to serve client needs and appeal to fickle consumers.
What is Agile Marketing?
Agile Marketing is a dynamic and iterative approach to marketing that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer-centricity.
Drawing inspiration from Agile software development methodologies, this strategy adheres to the 5 principles of The Agile Marketing Manifesto:
- [Focus] on customer value and business outcomes over activity and outputs.
- [Deliver] value early and often over waiting for perfection.
- [Learn] through experiments and data over opinions and conventions.
- [Utilize] cross-functional collaboration over silos and hierarchies.
- [Respond] to change over following a static plan.
By doing so, it seeks to adapt marketing strategies in real-time based on data-driven insights and changing market dynamics.
Why is it Important to Understand Agile Marketing in 2024?
It’s important to understand Agile Marketing in 2024 because the industry is more accelerated and competitive than ever before.
There’s been an explosion of data, channels, and consumer touchpoints. As such, your marketers require a methodology for responding to market shifts and consumer preferences swiftly.
Agile Marketing provides a structured framework that empowers your team to pivot quickly. This ensures that their efforts remain aligned with the rapidly changing needs of their target audience.
What are the Benefits of Agile Marketing?
- Rapid adaptation.
- Improves collaboration.
- Enhances customer-centricity.
- Optimizes resource allocation.
- Increases transparency and accountability.
- Higher ROI and marketing effectiveness.
- Continuous learning and improvement.
- Risk mitigation.
- Increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Adaptability to industry disruptions.
Even better, according to McKinsey, Agile Marketing can:
- Boost your revenue by up to 40%.
- Reduce the time between ideation & delivery to as little as 2 weeks.
3. Marketing Attribution
Why did each of your customers choose you? How did they find you, and what motivated them to make a purchasing decision when they did?
The answers to these questions are vital for calculating the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
Otherwise, what are you spending your money on?
What is Marketing Attribution?
Marketing Attribution is the process of identifying and evaluating the touchpoints and interactions that lead to a desired conversion.
It involves assigning appropriate credit to each marketing channel or activity that contributed to the conversion.
Doing so empowers your marketers to make informed decisions about resource allocation and campaign optimization.
Why is Marketing Attribution Important in 2024?
Marketing Attribution is important because of the variety and complexity of the marketing channels, platforms, and touchpoints available to you.
It’s paramount that you assess the contribution that each of these elements make to your conversions.
Marketing Attribution provides the necessary foundation for dissecting and analyzing your customer journey. In turn, your marketers are equipped to allocate budgets effectively and fine-tune strategies for optimal results.
What are the Benefits of Marketing Attribution?
- Data-informed decision making.
- Optimizes budget allocation.
- Improves campaign effectiveness.
- Enhances customer experience.
- Identification of high-value touchpoints.
- Improves ROI measurement.
- Alignment of marketing strategies with customer behavior.
- Reduction of marketing waste.
- Enhances cross-channel optimization.
- Demonstrates marketing impact.
4. Employment Marketing
We discussed the value of a marketing team that prioritizes collaboration over hierarchies and siloes, above. However, to ensure a collaborative environment, you must find the most compatible individuals for your team.
Just as your sales team requires you to attract the ideal consumer, your HR team requires you to attract the ideal candidate.
So, why not employ your marketing best practices to accomplish your recruitment goals?
What is Employment Marketing?
Employment Marketing, also known as Recruitment Marketing, is the strategic application of digital marketing tactics to attract and engage potential candidates.
It involves the use of various channels to create a compelling employer brand and establish a strong presence online. Appropriate channels may include social media, content marketing, employer branding, and targeted advertising.
By leveraging these techniques, you’re empowered to reach out to top talent, and cultivate a pool of qualified candidates, proactively.
Why is Employment Marketing Important in 2024?
It’s important to understand Employment Marketing because, as the job market continues to evolve, competition for top talent remains fierce.
The demand for skilled professionals across various industries is projected to increase. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be roughly 1.5 million new jobs in professional & business services by 2031!
This approach enables you to create a positive and impactful experience for your recruiters and target applicants. In turn, you gain a competitive edge in attracting and retaining the best candidates.
What are the Benefits of Employment Marketing?
- Enhances employer branding.
- Targeted candidate engagement.
- Increases candidate quality.
- Reduces time-to-hire.
- Cost-effective recruitment.
- Improves candidate experience.
- Data-driven decision making.
- Long-term talent pipelining.
- Alignment with evolving candidate preferences.
- Competitive advantage in talent acquisition.
5. Identity Resolution Marketing
How can you offer a personalized customer experience if you don’t know who the person is?
What is Identity Resolution Marketing?
Identity Resolution Marketing involves collating and analyzing data from various touchpoints to create a unified profile of an individual customer or prospect.
It enables your marketers to connect interactions across different devices, channels, and platforms to form a single, comprehensive identity.
Why is Identity Resolution Marketing Important in 2024?
Identity Resolution Marketing is vital because privacy regulations are increasingly stringent and third-party cookies are being phased out.
Today, the need for precise and ethical customer data handling is crucial. Identity Resolution enables your marketers to maintain personalized and relevant customer experiences without infringing on privacy rights.
Furthermore, in an era of omnichannel marketing, Identity Resolution ensures that a customer’s journey is seamless and cohesive. This level of continuity enhances customer satisfaction, facilitates conversion, and maximizes brand loyalty.
What are the Benefits of Identity Resolution Marketing?
- Enhances customer understanding.
- Accurate attribution modeling.
- Improves customer engagement.
- Compliance and privacy adherence.
- Optimizes marketing budget allocation.
- Reduction in wasted ad spend.
- Increases cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
- Customer retention and loyalty.
- Competitive advantage.
- Future-proof marketing strategies.
6. Mobile Wallet Marketing
What if you could advertise directly inside your ideal consumer’s wallet?
What if, every time they opened it up, they’d see targeted, relevant marketing messages right next to the picture of their spouse and children?
With the rising popularity of “The Pays” (Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay), that possibility is a reality (well, except for the part about the family pictures).
What is Mobile Wallet Marketing?
Mobile Wallet Marketing is a strategy that leverages these applications to engage with customers, deliver personalized content, and facilitate transactions.
It involves integrating brand messaging and promotions within mobile wallet platforms.
This enables you to interact with consumers directly through a channel they use frequently for payment and organizational purposes.
Why is Mobile Wallet Marketing Important in 2024?
Mobile Wallet Marketing is important because mobile devices continue to dominate consumer behavior.
According to Forbes, over 50% of consumers prefer digital wallets to traditional payment options.
This presents a unique opportunity for you to tap into a platform that is both ubiquitous and widely accepted.
What are the Benefits of Mobile Wallet Marketing?
- Convenience and accessibility.
- Personalized offers and content.
- Enhances customer experience.
- Real-time updates and notifications.
- Reduces cart abandonment.
- Improves loyalty programs.
- Cost-effectiveness.
- Environmental sustainability.
- Data-driven insights.
- Competitive advantage.
7. Push/Pull Marketing
As a fictional soccer coach once said, “All people are different people.”
Therefore, you can’t expect every marketing campaign to work for every consumer.
Some prospects need to be pulled in, while others need information pushed onto them. Does your marketing team account for both?
What is Push Marketing?
Push Marketing is characterized by promotional activities that distribute your messaging, products, or services to a broad audience.
This approach involves initiating contact with potential customers through various channels. In fact, it’s often associated with more traditional marketing methods like advertising, direct mail, and cold calling.
With this strategy, the aim is to “push” your offerings onto potential customers to create brand awareness and drive immediate action.
What is Pull Marketing?
Often referred to as Inbound Marketing, Pull Marketing is a strategy in which you create valuable content and experiences to attract prospects to your brand.
It revolves around building brand awareness and establishing a strong online presence.
This prompts consumers to seek out your products or services on their own accord.
Why are Push & Pull Marketing Important in 2024?
Push Marketing and Pull Marketing are important as consumer behavior becomes increasingly multifaceted. Some individuals prefer discovering products and services organically, while others respond better to more direct forms of advertising.
Being proficient in both strategies enables you to cater to a diverse audience, maximizing your reach and impact. Pull Marketing focuses on attracting motivated and engaged prospects.
Meanwhile, Push Marketing serves as a catalyst for immediate action. Their complementary roles make them a powerful duo for driving conversions and sales.
What are the Benefits of Push Marketing?
- Immediate visibility and impact.
- Control over messaging and placement.
- Aids in brand awareness.
- Direct response and action-oriented.
- Facilitates product launches.
What are the Benefits of Pull Marketing?
- Targeted engagement.
- Establishes authority and credibility.
- Long-term relationship building.
- Cost-effective over the long run.
- Improves search engine visibility.
8. Revenue Operations (RevOps)
From the perspective of your customer, there’s little difference between sales, marketing, and customer service.
In fact, in both praise and criticism, they’d likely refer to each of these departments as [Your Brand Name].
It makes sense to differentiate between responsibilities from an organizational standpoint. But when it comes to generating income, everyone should be playing for Team RevOps.
What are Revenue Operations?
Revenue Operations, or RevOps, is a holistic approach to aligning sales, marketing, and customer success operations within your organization.
It involves removing silos between these departments and creating a unified framework to drive revenue growth.
RevOps leverages data, technology, and processes to optimize the entire revenue lifecycle, from lead generation to customer retention.
Why is it Important to Understand RevOps in 2024?
RevOps is important because it empowers your business to make data-driven decisions, optimize resource allocation, and enhance the customer experience.
Unifying your Revenue Operations ensures that all revenue-related functions work in harmony.
In turn, this maximizes your potential for growth and profitability.
What are the Benefits of Revenue Operations?
- Enhances alignment and collaboration.
- Optimizes customer journey.
- Improves forecasting and predictability.
- Efficient resource allocation.
- Enhances scalability.
- Data-driven decision making.
- Reduces churn and increased retention.
- Maximizes technology investments.
- Adaptability to market changes.
- Competitive advantage.
9. Social Proof
If there are several products or services to choose from, how do you narrow your options? Phone a friend or read a review?
Either way, that’s Social Proof, the social and psychological phenomenon in which individuals mimic the actions and choices of a larger group.
Also known as informational social influence, this behavior is particularly helpful whenever we face uncertainty — like when we’re shopping.
What is Social Proof in Marketing?
In marketing, Social Proof is validation from other consumers that a product or service is valuable and the brand is credible.
It manifests as user-generated content, positive feedback, testimonials, reviews, social media engagement, and influencer endorsements.
Why is it Important to Understand Social Proof in 2024?
Social Proof is vital because trust remains the linchpin of successful online interactions. In fact, around 70% of online consumers read up to 6 reviews before making a purchase (Statista)!
By showcasing real-life experiences and endorsements, Social Proof instills confidence in potential customers, motivating conversion.
Furthermore, in an oversaturated market, consumers are inundated with choices. Utilizing this phenomenon in your marketing offers a clear differentiator by presenting authentic evidence of your brand’s worthiness.
What are the Benefits of Social Proof?
- Enhances credibility.
- Increases conversion rates.
- Expands reach.
- Customer engagement and retention.
- Increases brand visibility.
- Improves SEO and search rankings.
- Boosts confidence in decision-making.
- Enhances product development.
- Humanizes your brand.
- Facilitates consumer advocacy.
10. Top Of Funnel Marketing
Too many business owners and marketing teams hyperfixate on The Bottom of the Funnel: conversions.
But you don’t pour oil into an inverted funnel, do you? Of course not, because it makes a mess and wastes your resources.
Similarly, you must be thoughtful in how (and where) you place the Top of a Sales Funnel. Otherwise, you’ll dilute your ROI by attracting unqualified leads that tie up sales personnel and increase your Cost-Per-Acquisition.
What is Top Funnel Marketing?
Also known as Top Of Funnel, TOFU, or Upper Funnel Marketing, this strategy prioritizes attracting a broad audience by creating brand awareness.
The primary goal is to facilitate interest among prospects who might be unfamiliar with your products or services.
As the initial stage of your overall marketing plan, TOFU Marketing lays the foundation for establishing connections and nurturing leads.
Why is Top Of Funnel Marketing Important in 2024?
Top of Funnel Marketing is important because it sets the tone for your customer journey. Effective TOFU strategies enable better control over first impressions, which empowers you to build trust and credibility with your prospects.
Furthermore, there’s an abundance of information available to consumers today. This makes it challenging to capture and hold their attention.
Your marketers must implement strategies that cut through the noise and resonate with your target audience. By doing so, your Upper Funnel Marketing ensures that you drive more qualified leads into the sales pipeline from the beginning.
What are the Benefits of Top Of Funnel Marketing?
- Increases brand awareness.
- Wider audience reach.
- Lead generation.
- Establishes credibility and trust.
- Filters and qualifies leads.
- Sets the stage for personalization.
- Educates potential customers.
- Fosters long-term relationships.
- Improves conversion rates down the funnel.
- Measurable ROI.
Conclusion: Speak to the Digital Marketing Trends of 2024
Several predicted digital marketing trends relate to the terms we’ve provided here, including:
- The demand for personalized content experiences.
- The value of customer feedback.
- The importance of privacy-centric marketing.
By understanding and implementing these concepts, you communicate to your target audience that you provide the quality of service that they require.
Of course, there’s a difference between knowing the language, and knowing how to execute the concept. If you’d prefer to collaborate with experts in digital marketing for small businesses, then book a meeting with Hyport Digital today.