Once again it’s the time of year where we look back at the marketing trends that emerged in 2023 and look ahead to the new and exciting innovations that we can expect to see in 2024. If you missed last year’s edition, be sure to read it here to see how close our predictions were!

AI Marketing: Work Smarter, Not Harder

AI Marketing saw significant growth in 2023, most notably in the form of chatbots, targeted advertising, and content generation.

We mentioned ChatGPT last year in the ‘Automotive Marketing Trends for 2023’ blog, and we weren’t wrong about it being easily detected. Since then many different AIs with the sole purpose of being used to detect AI-written content have emerged, such as Originality.ai, Sapling, and Copyleaks to name a few.

Looking ahead into 2024, AI Marketing will continue evolving and becoming even more advanced. AI’s role in content creation will surely expand, generating personalized and engaging content based on audience preferences and behaviours. AI could also become more emotionally intelligent, becoming better at comprehending a human’s emotions and responding accordingly with the content delivered.

Overall AI Marketing is set to completely revolutionise the consumer experience, making every interaction they have with a business highly personalised and tailored to their specific needs.

Short Form Video Dominance Continues

TikTok’s rapid growth has been very impressive, positioning it among the fastest-growing entertainment apps of all time, and it shows no signs of slowing down. So there’s no surprise here, short form video content is still the most popular way for a user to consume content. The competition is fierce however, with both YouTube and Instagram having ramped up their emphasis on Shorts and Reels to try and match the monumental growth seen with TikTok.

If you are wondering how short-form video content can be utilised within the automotive industry, look no further than Fernando Alonso’s TikTok. His analytics are impressive to say the least, he has 1.6 million followers and his reach is 152.5%! Alonso’s success on TikTok is a result of his understanding and willingness to hop on Gen Z trends.

Looking ahead to 2024, it is obvious that short-form video content is the future of entertainment. The question is, who will come out on top…

Influencer Marketing Is Here To Stay

Influencer Marketing is an effective strategy, proven to have the highest ROI, that is becoming more widely adopted. Influencers are split up into 4 different categories depending on their number of followers, with the ROI and overall cost differing between each:

• Nano-Influencers – less than 1,000
• Micro-Influencers – 1,000 to 100,000
• Macro-Influencers – 100,000 to 1 million
• Mega-Influencers – 1 million +

In total, there are over 300,000 YouTube channels with over 100,000 subscribers and over 60,000 on TikTok. It’s already a massive market and it’s only going to get bigger as we go into 2024.

Influencer Marketing is a popular strategy for brands trying to advertise specifically to a niche market. There are plenty in the automotive marketplace for example, from big-name automotive YouTubers with millions of subscribers to micro-influencers and social promoters with smaller followings, usually in the thousands.

Marketing In The Metaverse

The Metaverse is still an ongoing project with billions being invested into it every year. So far, brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Samsung are already utilising it as a method to reach out to their customers. Gartner released an article where they stated that they expect 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in a metaverse for work, shopping, education, social media and/or entertainment.

The Metaverse is unlike any other marketing strategy. It allows you to take your customers through an immersive experience in a world made entirely for a specific product or service. The excitement however does seem to have died down significantly compared to late 2021 when Facebook rebranded to Meta. There are several reasons as to why: there have been very few recent updates or developments of the concept, too many brands are trying to milk it for publicity, and the recent growth of AI in general has taken the shine off it somewhat.

That’s not to say that the Metaverse is a complete failure though, it’s just not where we thought it would be by now. There is massive potential for the Automotive industry for example with virtual showrooms and test drives, allowing customers to easily research different car models and features. Automotive brands could use the metaverse for advertising and events, making it fun and interactive for people to learn about vehicles. Overall, the metaverse has the potential to allow the automotive industry to create and sell cars more effectively.

Mastering SEO Content

In 2023, SEO remained an important component to any online marketing strategy. There are millions of websites competing to rank number 1 in the search engine results so it is crucial that businesses implement SEO best practices.

SEO has long been a standard practice within the digital marketing world, and it will be for the foreseeable future. However technology and user behaviour have advanced, with a new form of optimisation emerging as a result, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO). The concept of AOE refers to optimising a website’s content for queries that are phrased as questions. Well-optimised content could appear as the featured snippet or answer box on the search engine results page. The massive growth of virtual assistants and voice search has made this type of optimization very important going into 2024.

User Generated Content Is On The Rise

User Generated Content, or UGC, continued to develop in 2023, becoming a standard practice within most businesses’ social strategies. There were notable developments in both creation and consumption.

There’s a growing recognition that a brand’s authenticity holds significant importance in how it’s perceived by consumers, this is evident in how brands are now interacting with their audience, building genuine connections with unfiltered content rather than relying solely on scripted material. This emphasis on authenticity goes hand in hand with the development of Influencer Marketing, leading to a rise in micro and nano influencers who resonate more authentically with niche audiences.

Going into 2024, the Automotive industry is increasingly leveraging User Generated Content to engage with consumers and shape their brand. Curating and presenting UGC effectively takes a keen eye and social optimisation, so you won’t be surprised to read that we do exactly this for a lot of our clients!

Even with an in-house marketing team, it’s challenging to maintain the expertise required to navigate today’s evolving landscape. Adapting to market shifts and trends is becoming increasingly complex. Whilst you don’t have to master every aspect, a cohesive strategy is crucial.

At WDA Automotive, digital marketing is our expertise, relieving you of that burden. We understand the dynamics, so you don’t have to. If you need support, reach out to us through our online contact form or call us at 01332 372728.

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