It’s December, which means the new year is not far away! With all the end-of-year hubbub going on, you should take a little time to consider how your marketing efforts will proceed in 2024. 

What new developments might affect your 2024 marketing plan? Here are three digital advancements to keep in mind:

• AI, AI, AI. While AI has been around for a while, it’s only in the past year that it has really exploded with the development of generative AI. The arrival of AI-driven bots like ChatGPT, DALL-E, Bard and Bing Chat has “democratized” the use of AI, bringing it to organizations of all sizes and capabilities, not just large, tech-heavy operations with plenty of resources. One area that shows a lot of promise with AI is email. In one study, 92% of respondents said that “AI would have a major impact on email marketing.” And more than half of the respondents are already using AI in some way as part of their email marketing strategy, particularly with:
  • Content personalization
  • Email retargeting
  • Subject line optimization

  ESPs (email service providers) are working quickly to incorporate AI components into their platforms. In 2024, it’s expected that ESPs will have substantial developments that will help marketers to save time and improve personalization of customer messages.

• Marketing stack considerations. 2020 was an eye opener regarding marketing technology. The need to pivot quickly and change messages frequently revealed large deficiencies in tech stacks. This sparked an attitude for change that has continued into 2023. Marketers are considering their ESPs, their entire marketing stacks and updated/enhanced customer data platforms to improve their ability to get closer to their customers and obtain insightful data. They’re not looking for the shiny, new toys so much as they’re looking for the most useful and efficient tools to accomplish their business goals.
• Email authentication. Recent announcements from Google and Yahoo about changes to evaluation of inbound emails for inbox placement have motivated marketers to consider and evaluate their email strategies, especially around confirming they are trustworthy senders who are sending emails that recipients actually want. New Google and Yahoo rules will go into effect in 2024. Marketers should work with IT to evaluate protocols for authenticating emails. These protocols include:
  • DMARC – Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance
  • DKIM – DomainKeys Identified Email
  • SFP – Sender Policy Framework

Has your organization started planning for 2024?