7 Marketing Predictions for 2024​

2024 will be an exciting year for marketers, with an expectation of major investments in technology for compliance, observability, and security. But perhaps most notably, further advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). 

To help you kick off the new year, we’ve collected predictions from five of our senior executives. They shared seven marketing trends they expect to see in the coming year, based on experience working with some of the world’s biggest brands.  

Without further ado, here are our 2024 marketing predictions. 

Data Intelligence and Sustainability Will Bring the Most Change to Marketers 

“Change is bound to come in 2024, but several macro and micro factors will have the strongest impact,” advises Chris Greiner, CFO at Zeta Global.  

Macro factors include sustainability, emerging technologies like AI, and talent shortages. Micro factors include data intelligence, increased competition, and rapidly changing consumer preferences.  

All these factors will change life and business as we know it, with a particular focus on marketing and technology. Particularly, we expect sustainability to be a leading macro driver, and data intelligence to be an impactful micro factor. But with increasing scrutiny (and uncertainty), mixed with shrinking budgets, marketers need to find ways to be more efficient and successful, without expecting more resources. 

We’ve already seen these changes taking place, but 2024 will be the year they all come to a head and create new norms. 

Marketers Will Use AI to Unlock a New Customer Experience 

If 2023 was the year of experimenting with AI, 2024 is the year of implementation. Marketers will need to figure out how to fully integrate AI solutions into their tech stacks to create meaningful customer experiences. 

The customer journey is more convoluted than ever, but advancements in AI mean that marketers don’t need to have an understanding of every single point on that journey. Instead, you need to use AI and other technologies to reach customers where they are. This requires a shift in focus to data and its accuracy. 

“In 2024, there’ll be a great realization that to capture the full potential of the AI future, you’ll need to modernize—or really transform—the data layer,” predicts Steve Gerber, President and COO of Zeta. 

CMOs and CFOs Will Align on Expectations 

“2024 will hopefully be the year that we lose the gap between what marketers are measuring and what the business—and CFO—sees as the true measure of performance of success,” says David Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Zeta. 

Many marketers focus on performance tactics that produce quick and cost-effective outcomes, to the detriment of long-term growth and brand strategies. With that comes real-time measurement showing an uptick. This might satisfy some leaders, but CFOs and savvy board members want to see how marketing efforts help achieve overall business goals, both short and long-term. 

In 2024, CMOs need to collaborate with the rest of the C-suite for alignment on expectations, strategies, and marketing metrics. You’ll also need to develop a way to calculate true customer value over the long term. 

The Cloud Will Become More Important as it Moves Closer to Consumer Purchase 

The cloud space today is much different than when IBM and Adobe created their all-in-one dashboards for marketers. Today, most Big Tech companies have their cloud, including Amazon, Google, and more.  

The cloud itself is shifting, and becoming more important for successful marketing, we’re seeing more prioritization on clean rooms. Even Amazon recently unveiled a new data clean room to upgrade their ad tech solution. Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) helps marketers track the impact of their media spending—not just ads they run on the platform. 

Chris Monberg, CTO and Head of Product at Zeta, expects other cloud companies to follow suit. Brands will need to adapt as marketers look to get closer to the consumer purchase. 

Marketing Technology Will Finally Catch Up With the Connected Consumer 

We’ve been talking about connected consumers for years, but CMOs are now closer than ever to understanding them and more effectively engage them, thanks to advancements in marketing technology and AI, explains Gerber. 

Today’s connected consumers are harder than ever to nail down—with their ever-changing personas—but as technology advances and AI grows in intelligence, marketers’ tools are finally catching up. 

Data will be at the epicenter of this transformation, but what’s most vital is intelligence. To drive better outcomes for your customers, you need to be able to make sense of the data. With AI-powered data intelligence, you can turn your insights into action. This empowers better business decisions, but also achieves personalization at scale and delivers on consumers’ changing preferences. 

The AI Arms Race Will Finally Force Modernization of Data Infrastructure 

The rush to develop AI solutions intensified in 2023, but for many companies, it exposed issues. As tech companies continue to battle it out in the AI arms race, the ones that can modernize their data infrastructures will be the ones to succeed. Creating AI-ready solutions optimized around scale, security, and efficiency is an important competitive advantage, and will continue to be. 

“Generative AI is only as intelligent as the data fed into it. In 2024, marketers will work to modernize our data infrastructure around AI, by feeding it smart data, and strengthening the result,” says Monberg. 

Businesses should also be wary of Big Tech as they work to influence legislation around AI. Those who aren’t paying close attention may lose out. 

Mobile Apps Will Shift From a Delivery Channel to a Data Powerhouse 

Mobile continues to be a leading channel for marketers. But you must look at it as more than just a delivery channel.  

In 2024, as mobile app use continues to surge and consumers increase spending using mobile, marketers need to think of mobile as a data collection tool. This data, feeding innovative generative AI solutions, is the future of conversational mobile interaction.  

“Emotionally intelligent AIs will be able to analyze data sets of consumer behavior, social media interactions, and even facial expressions to determine how customers are feeling and respond accordingly,” says Neej Gore, Chief Data Officer at Zeta. 

To win this year, brands need a leading mobile strategy, combined with enterprise expertise, and powered by AI. 

How Zeta Can Help You Succeed in 2024 and Beyond 

Our focus has always been on enabling brands to build repeatable and scalable programs that accelerate business growth and drive higher ROI on your marketing investments. 

But 2024 is shaping up to bring unique challenges for marketers: Integrating AI into the customer experience, catching up with the connected consumer, and leading mobile-first strategies, to name a few.  

We can help you navigate these challenges, in 2024 and beyond. Zeta Marketing Platform is a cloud-based system with the tools to help you acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently, powered by our proprietary data, intelligence, and AI. Learn more.