Where have my digital customers gone? 4 Key trends for digital marketers to focus on.

Where have my digital customers gone? 4 Key trends for digital marketers to focus on.

07 October 2024 |

Display, Video, Audio

In today’s digital marketing landscape, staying ahead of the curve requires more than just traditional practices. Marketers need to keep pace with emerging trends, consumer behaviour shifts, and new technologies to run successful campaigns. With an increasing focus on data, multi-channel strategies, and precise targeting, these four key trends need to take centre stage: the digital customer journey, tracking and measuring customer behaviour, expanding beyond Google and Meta, and implementing smarter targeting strategies.

Understanding the Full Customer Digital Journey

The digital customer journey in 2024 is far more intricate than it was a few years ago. Limiting your digital marketing strategy to just Google and Meta means overlooking vast segments of potential customers. Modern consumers are active across a multitude of platforms, from social media and search engines to newer platforms like TikTok, LinkedIn, and digital TV networks.

For example, a customer searching for a product or service might initially explore options on Google, but their path to purchase extends far beyond one platform. They could encounter recommendations on TikTok, engage with LinkedIn for B2B insights, or even view ads on digital billboards or TV networks.

To drive high performance, marketers must map out the entire customer journey, identifying the touchpoints that matter most at every stage—from discovery to post-purchase. This allows brands to optimise engagement, reduce wasted ad spend, and ultimately boost conversions by meeting customers where they are.

Tracking and Measuring Customers, Not Clicks

With the deprecation of third-party cookies and increased privacy regulations, marketers must rethink how they track and measure their digital marketing efforts. Gone are the days when marketers could rely solely on click-through rates (CTR) and basic website metrics. In 2024, understanding customer behaviour requires adopting new tracking methods and attribution models.

A key issue many marketers face today is that most measurement tools within platforms like Google and Meta are limited to tracking click and lead performance within their platforms rather than measuring the entire customer journey. To get a full picture, marketers need to look beyond clicks and implement end-to-end tracking using third-party analytics tools and customer relationship management (CRM), platforms like Hubspot or Salesforce. These platforms provide a single source of truth, enabling marketers to track customer interactions across multiple channels and tie them back to conversions.

Expanding Beyond Google and Meta for Greater Reach

As of 2024, nearly half of all customer engagement happens outside of Google and Meta ecosystems. While 52% of customer activity still occurs on these platforms, 48% happens on a wide array of other platforms including TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, digital TV networks, Spotify, and more.

Relying solely on Google and Meta limits your reach and leaves out significant opportunities for growth. Marketers who want to maximise their digital marketing performance in 2024 need to diversify their approach. This means embracing a multi-platform strategy that includes emerging and niche platforms to capture new audiences.

For example, TikTok’s user base has grown exponentially, offering brands the ability to reach younger, more engaged audiences through short-form video content. Similarly, LinkedIn has become a go-to platform for B2B marketers who want to connect with decision-makers in a professional setting. Even audio platforms like Spotify offer opportunities to reach consumers in unique, less crowded environments.

Implementing Smarter Targeting Strategies

Targeting is at the heart of effective digital marketing, but the landscape is evolving. In 2024 marketers need to explore targeting options on many other platforms that provide unique opportunities for segmentation and personalisation.

For instance, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all offer targeting capabilities based on user demographics, interests, and behaviours that differ from what is available on Google and Meta. TikTok, for example, allows marketers to target users by age, interests, and engagement behaviour, while LinkedIn’s targeting focuses more on professional data, making it ideal for B2B campaigns.

Additionally, leveraging first-party data for smarter targeting is more important than ever, especially as third-party cookies continue to be phased out. Predictive modelling and the creation of lookalike audiences based on first-party data can significantly improve targeting accuracy.

By following these 4 strategies, marketers can not only keep up with the evolving digital landscape but also deliver campaigns that outperform the competition and drive real results.

For more insights into how to create high-performance digital marketing campaigns, reach out to an ADMATICian today.