Marketing & Comms industry trends 2024: Paradigm Shift

2024-04-10 14:22 Industry

This time, we're exploring trends that are shaping the marketing and communications industry in 2024.

At Solid Water Marketing Agency, our client portfolio consists of businesses of all sizes — from large multinationals to early-stage startups backed by VCs or private investors, to traditional small and medium brick-and-mortar businesses. We also cover all sorts of industries — from telecom to space tech, from fashion retail to hospitality.

This broad experience equips us with a solid understanding of the strategies and views that are emerging across the marketing industry, so let's dive in.

From hyper fragmentation of marketing services to the holistic approach

With the recession looming and cost-cutting across the board, clients will focus more and more on the bottom-line results and ask difficult questions about the budget spent. That means a marketing agency must be able to pivot from the initially chosen marketing strategy to offer an alternative mix of tools and services as and if necessary.

Anastasia Dobronravova, Marketing Strategist:

Today's customers demand a seamless, personalised omnichannel experience, achievable only when the marketing team focuses on the entire CJM (customer journey map) rather than its individual segments. Ultimately, the primary objective for most businesses is generating revenue, not merely acquiring X followers, Y website visitors, or Z clicks.

Growth marketing emerges as a new marketing paradigm

In-flight optimization, regular pivots, sophisticated martech, and the ability to pull out whatever tool it takes to grow your client’s business.

For marketers, the challenge is to abandon the idea of the in-profession division into generalists and specialists.

No generalist is good without a solid understanding of the emerging martech, and the ability to roll up their sleeves and put their hands on performance optimization if needed. For specialists, time to forget the phrase “send me a detailed brief” as you may well be replaced by Chat GPT rather soon. Also, no social media expert is good without a strategic mindset as well as graphic design and video editing skills.

Anna Naidich, Social Media and Content Manager:

In 2024, a social media manager needs to be a truly versatile expert. From graphic design to video editing, from people management to customer service, from data analysis to comprehensive reporting. On top of this, developing a strategic perspective is key: while AI can help with some tactical ideas and tasks, it cannot substitute for our nuanced understanding of a cultural context as humans.

Brand workshops are becoming one of the hottest marketing services on the market

As a business, if there is one marketing service to buy, think brand workshop. Your brand marketecture document outlining everything from your core narrative to customer profiles is going to be one of the most important investments in your future-proof marketing strategy.

Discover how brand workshops can save your business here.

Experimentation is the new religion

Although as experienced marketers we can make a highly educated guess, every brand and product is different. Clients must be prepared to pivot and ditch ideas that don’t work, quickly.

Daria Partas, Communications Advisor, Co-founder of Solid Water Marketing Agency

I would like to emphasise that even failed experiments come with benefits as in the process you generate the tangible assets which brands can put to further use. For instance, influencers whose Stories and Reels have not generated immediate sales, can transfer their high quality AV content inbrand’s ownership. You can then use it on your own socials. At the minimum, this saves money on the next photo and video shoot! Adding this as a clause to a contract with influencers is a good idea.

“Well said, but how do we put it into practice?”

Here is what Maria Tsarkova, Growth Marketer and co-founder of Solid Water Marketing Agency, advises:

Invest in your agile marketing team. There is no one right way to do it. But here are some options to consider:

👩💻 Have a Marketing Lead in-house and the rest outsourced to freelancers with occasional agency engagement

👩💻 Build an in-house team to scale proven channels and continuously invest in their development (I'd only advise this model to businesses that have achieved a steady growth pattern)

👩💻 Entrust your marketing strategy and omnichannel execution to a growth marketing agency (like Solid Water:) that works as an extension of your team, substituting a CMO and several agencies.

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