PERSONALIZATION is the 2024 marketing megatrend for CPG marketers!
Why? Because it instantly increases your marketing efficiency.
Why? Because it instantly increases your marketing efficiency.
Keeping up with the latest developments is crucial to stay relevant and competitive in today’s market. However, changes in the digital marketing landscape, continuous shifts in shopping habits, and technological advancements don’t make it easy. How can you maintain a sense of relevance in your marketing activities? Among the various predictions for 2024, one trend stands out as a game-changer: PERSONALIZATION. In this article, we provide key areas where this megatrend is going to be pivotal and offer 5 tips on how to implement personalization so it increases the efficiency of your marketing spend.
1. From perception to meaningful connections
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As we step into the new year, it’s the perfect time to explore the consumer behaviours and preferences shaping up as major trends. Diageo, a leading name in the beverage industry, has analyzed social media conversations to identify five key consumer trends for the upcoming year: Neo-hedonism, Betterment Brands, Conscious Well-being, Expanding Reality, and Collective Belonging. While these terms might sound a bit mysterious, they encompass various aspects of life, including personal fulfilment, social dynamics, technological impacts, and environmental concerns.
So, what’s in it for brands? It means that consumers are expecting more than just a product perception. They are looking for the integration of physical and digital interactions anticipating a unique brand experience throughout their entire consumer journey. It starts with creating meaningful connections between the brand and the consumer that can trigger purchase decisions and also enable post-purchase engagement.
Tip 1: Direct-to-consumer solutions allow brands to connect with their audience at scale, for example, by using instant messaging apps, while maintaining the unique one-to-one experience.
For more interesting consumer insights we recommend exploring Diageo’s report.
2. Cookies are gone. 1st party data to the rescue
Marketers are now facing a new reality: they can’t rely on cookies any more. The restriction of data privacy has been affecting the digital marketing world for a while. According to the announcements, Google is going to definitely terminate cookies by the end of 2024. Moreover, more regulations in data privacy are going to be expected as the digital world expands. Here are the most important arguments to step back from the reliance on cookies:
Restricted methods for advertisers to gather data
Less efficient targeting
Diminished options for personalizing ads
Disruptions in cross-site retargeting
Challenges for website analytics
The scale of “cookiepocalypse” is tremendous. 66% of marketers expect a drop in revenue of up to 25%! The good news is that not every type of data is going to be affected. In order to stay efficient brands should prioritize 0 and 1st party data and collect it directly from consumers. This type of data can be collected voluntarily, using a transparent and respectful approach which is well-received by users. If there’s a value for consumers in data collection, they are going to share their personal information. 65% of consumers are open to sharing the data in exchange for an excellent brand experience. A personal approach to data collection has other advantages too. 0 and 1 party data is owned by a brand which means that it can be used to enrich CRM databases for creating further marketing communications. The importance of 0 and 1st party data is evident, but the challenge lies in data collection.
Tip 2: There’s no need to create a separate “data collection” campaign. Instead, data collection can be seamlessly integrated into a promo campaign, for example cashback, where consumers can see the value right away.
For more insights on how to efficiently collect 0 and 1st party data, check our mini guidebook.
3. Ratings and reviews to crack the algorithms
Digital presence for brands has never been more important. While ecommerce remains a robust shopping channel, in-store shopping is regaining its momentum but with new customer expectations. Nowadays, customers expect a smooth transition between online and offline shopping experiences. For instance, 90% of people shopping in physical stores are simultaneously comparing prices, reading reviews, and checking product details on their phones. This behaviour highlights the importance for brands to enhance their digital visibility, ensuring that customers can easily find their products online. Additionally, your position on retailer websites or marketplaces significantly influences sales. For example, being on the first page of Amazon search results can drive the majority of purchases. The key question is: how to climb to these top spots? Forget about backlinks or social media. The algorithms on Tesco’s page, eBay or Amazon work differently from that of Google’s. All elements such as the right product description, right keywords and product visuals are important. But consumer reviews make the biggest difference to your online sales. The first 20 reviews can boost your sales by up to 20%! Contrary to keywords or product description, ratings and reviews strategy can’t be set and forget.
Tip 3: Ensure a continuous flow of positive, organic consumer feedback in order to turn it into a sales machine. And yet again, these can be seamlessly integrated into a promo campaign.
For more tips on review collection, visit our post where we describe the magic formula for generating impactful reviews.
Find out more here
4. Feed the AI beast
If we were to pick the buzzword of 2023, it would be “AI”.
Source: Google Trends
Artificial intelligence and machine learning aren’t new, but last year they grabbed the spotlight, revolutionizing how we approach everything from work and research to design, computation, and programming. For marketers, AI brought many novelties too, for example: the power to personalize interactions with consumers. Brands are now using AI to get a deeper understanding of their customers, crafting messages and offering what really speaks to each individual. AI is also behind the scenes in creating marketing campaigns that are not just tailored, but deeply resonant with each customer. Plus, it’s great for targeted messaging, making sure what customers see is relevant and on point.
Tip 4: To get the best out of AI in marketing, reliable data is required. The better your input, the higher your end results. We recommend going beyond just “basic” data like name or e-mail. Focus on collecting richer consumer data like purchase behaviour and preferences, collecting feedback about the product experience and collecting user generated content like testimonials and reviews. With user friendly cashback form it can be done easily and within the same consumer journey.
5. Apply 80/20 rule to your influencer marketing
In 2024, the trend of influencer marketing continues to grow. According to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2023 study, increasingly more consumers are favouring content from influencers over traditional online ads. This shift reflects a deeper, personal connection that influencers have mastered in linking audiences with the brands they promote. Influencer marketing isn’t just a buzzword anymore It’s a key player in boosting brand awareness and making genuine connections with consumers.
The need for influencers is obvious, but there is also a huge threat of spending money inefficiently as this medium tends to be expensive and the real impact on business difficult to measure. The key is to be strategic to avoid overspending. Think about it like the Pareto principle: put 80% of your efforts into building your brand’s equity and 20% into direct sales conversions. Why? Because that 20% can really drive your sales numbers. Start with choosing the right content creator. Interestingly, micro-influencers and nano-influencers can be secret weapons as their engagement rates can be up to 5 times higher compared to celebrities with millions of followers. No matter which content creators you choose, everything comes down to tracking their performance. As many influencer-driven purchases are made in physical stores, not just online, it’s becoming tricky to accurately calculate sales impact.
Tip 5: Also in influencer marketing, it’s important to connect all the “data dots”. Track the real engagement (go beyond a click or like), track both online and offline purchases and … connect the dots. . .
Welcome to 2024, a year when the integration of digital technology and a personal approach is essential for brands to keep pace with customers’ evolving needs. At Hashting we’re committed to bridging the gap between consumers and brands. We enable brands to create meaningful connections at scale while delivering a seamless digital experience. Hashting’s technology enables brands to track campaign impact from every touchpoint whether digital or offline, react adequately based on real-time data and consequently optimize campaign
efficiency.