Trend Predictions For 2024

As we step into 2024 and the introduction to my weekly newsletter, I wanted to kick off by sharing some of my trend predictions for the year to come.

This newsletter is where I’ll be sharing my insights, covering all things brand building, marketing, business and anything in between, based on my 15+ years of industry experience.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you, I’m so excited to have you here, let’s dive in.

Limited Edition & Products Drops

In recent years many brands have turned to an alternative approach in selling their products and creating differentiation in the form of the Drop model. If you’re new to the Drop Model, this concept focuses on selling limited edition products, or alternatively, collections with small quantities that are dropped on a particular release date. This business approach is usually announced a release date requiring people to sign up to a waitlist.

The success of the Drop Model is it creates that sense of urgency as well as the illusion that the products are unique and hard to get. Where it’s increasingly difficult to get cut through to audiences, social media plays a big role in promoting when drops are released, and often tease glimpses of the products or collection, as a result creating a lot of traction on social platforms.

This business structure is also substantially more viable for small businesses entering the market who are looking for a low barrier entry where production costs can be kept relatively low. Many businesses that are adopting this model are those that operate within the athleisure, denim or (art) prints space.

In 2024, we will continue to see either new businesses enter the market exclusively using this structure, as well as already established brands using this as an additional layer to their current collections and product offerings.

Social Commerce Will Continue To Rise

Off the back of TikTok Shop’s release last year, as well as growing consumer trust in in-app purchases, 2024 will see significant sales growth both on mobile and more specifically on social platforms. As a result, brands will need to put an emphasis on mobile experience as well as keeping their product catalogs on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok up to date to ensure they get the best conversions from their content.

If you haven’t been keeping your product catalogs on social media up to date, this is the time to do so, and ensure that this is actively part of your marketing strategy. As an example, it is not uncommon that I have jumped onto an Instagram account and clicked to view a product, only to find that it is unavailable because their shop isn’t up to date. Not only is this frustrating for customer experience, you’re also greatly impacting your conversion rates and potentially jeopardising that customer ever coming back. Brands will really need to step up and ensure not only that product catalogs are current, but also that when consumers do click over to the website while on their phone, that it is easy to navigate, responsive and that the checkout is as seamless as possible.

A Resurgence In Print Magazines & Newspapers

As we see over-saturation in the digital landscape, brands will seek new and creative ways to connect with their audience and differentiate themselves from competitors. Counterbalancing the constant influx of social and digital content, brands will look to adding more meaningful and lasting marketing collateral in the form of traditional print media.

For brands that take this avenue, it is incomparable to online — a 3D experience that is tactile and lasting, that can conjure emotion and relatability, all while allowing the brand to dig deeper into their story and connect on a different level with their audience.

Examples of businesses that this works really well for are boutique hotels and Airbnbs creating beautiful in-house custom newspapers, guides or maps. Fashion and beauty brands can build in magazines as incentives for loyalty reward programs. Or interior designers and architects printing quarterly trends and recommendations to their exclusive clientele. With an abundance of independent and global publishers, the options really are endless.

Conversational Marketing

Traditional forms of one way marketing and advertising have lost the effectiveness they once had, making way for a new era, in the form of Conversational Marketing.

Our current consumer has evolved significantly, they are more educated and diligent about their purchases, they have more requirements than ever before, they expect to be able to ask questions, receive personalised answers, and a more interactive and engaging experience with brands.

AI-powered tools like chatbots and virtual assistants help facilitate this process and will continue to become more mainstream as a tool to open dialogue with audiences. No doubt you have seen many accounts dropping into Instagram captions asking audiences to comment a specific word. This automated feature by ManyChat illustrates just one example of the capacity of what Conversational Marketing can do.

Not only is Conversational Marketing beneficial for consumers, brands reap the rewards as well, in addition to offering a more personalised experience, it also provides valuable data pertaining to feedback, greater understanding of pain points, customer purchasing decisions and more. As audiences become increasingly exposed to this approach, they will continue to build trust and confidence with this line of communication and in turn, will expect it from businesses.

CGI Created Content

We can thank Jacquemus for pioneering on-brand CGI content, with his signature bags-on-wheels campaign, a short 8 second clip of his signature Bambino bags zipping around the streets of Paris.

A huge part of the success of the campaign was not only down to its creative genius, it was also in large part because at first glance, it wasn’t clear whether it was real, or a 3D animation. It caused a stir on the internet with engagement skyrocketing, boasting thousands of comments speaking to the realness of the video.

Since its release, Jacquemus has gone onto share a string of CGI videos, each one reflecting the sheer ingenuity of the brand. As a result, more and more CGI designers are popping up, with brands beginning to jump on the trend (and challenge) of creating impressive content, without the associated resources of bringing the concept to real life.

I have personally really enjoyed seeing what they come up with time after time. This unique creative direction is really pushing the boundaries and asks brands to delve deeper creatively, to be more original and attune to their brand. It’s a really beautiful blend of creative direction and technology, and as the latter continues to evolve, more brands will tap into creating their own versions of these styles of campaigns.

jacquemus

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Alternative & Sustainable Packaging

Thanks to constantly emerging technology, there is a wide range of unique branding materials available on the market, from edible to reusable to custom packaging made of mushrooms, there are endless possibilities for sourcing solutions that are truly unique and on-brand.

Paired with new and sustainable alternatives, in 2024 will see brands leaning into unique and interesting packaging. Where packaging was previously just another way to wrap or deliver product, it really needs to be considered as an extension of a brand.

When a brand intentionally invests in packaging, which is something I highly advise to all my clients, it’s another touchpoint to seamlessly close the purchasing experience. It’s an opportunity to capitalise on, where you can share your brands uniqueness, through thoughtful and memorable designs. Packaging can also be utilised to further share your brand story, benefits and brand values.

Graphic Animations & Videos

With social media platforms continuing to prioritise video and short form content, designers will look to incorporate graphic animation in addition to the branding services they offer. Static branding and content particularly for social media is a thing of the past, we will see brands and designers look for additional ways to push the envelope creatively and create supporting content in the form of animated visuals.

These dynamic graphics focus are a fresh take on traditional static-form branding and content, in the style of animated logo’s, animated graphics for social media content and custom animations for websites.

This will look like:

• Animated logos and brand graphics like icons and patterns

• Animated elements on websites like buttons, CTA’s, banners, animations that follow the cursor

• Videos exclusively using animated graphics as an alternative to social media lives, pre-recorded videos and re-purposed clips

Paid Subscription Content & Newsletters

Over the last year alone, an increasing amount of creators are adding paid newsletters to their suite of offers. As it becomes extremely harder to gain traction on social media, creators are focusing on converting followers to owned audiences (aka ones you can manage, like newsletters) where unlike social media, you have full control and direct access.

Furthermore, the impact of standalone articles and blog posts has significantly changed, adding to the mix the introduction of AI and the ability to produce high-volume, low-quality content, the blog landscape isn’t what it used to be. Consequentially, audiences are willing to pay a premium for quality content from creators they love.

Digital newsletter platforms like Substack, Patreon and Beehiiv are on the rise, offering complete solutions to easily publish and manage free and paid content. No doubt we will begin to see more competitors pop up, as well current key players enhance platform capabilities as demand grows.

Thanks so much for reading!
Is there a topic you’d like me to write about?
Drop me a DM, I love hearing from you.

Until next time, Aylen