With ever-evolving technology, an increasingly fragmented media landscape, rapidly changing consumer behaviour and a multitude of other challenges, marketing just doesn’t seem to get any easier.
And, of course, there’s the risk of data overload and privacy concerns. Marketing teams have access to vast amounts of data – more than ever before – but effectively analysing and using it to personalise experiences without violating privacy regulations is a complex challenge.
Measurement is more important than ever but marketers will need to optimise in this era of privacy, warns Kate Bird, EMEA senior marketing director at Snap Inc.
She says: “Last year was a year of disruption for marketers – economic uncertainty and the prominence of Gen AI adoption stretched marketers’ energy and budgets. This climate will continue to proliferate in the new year.”
Economic pressures are forcing marketers to increasingly measure their success, and as such, they’re pushing budgets to the lower end of the funnel.
“But as a consequence, digital platforms are rising to the top, having captured 68.8% of the globe’s total ad spend market in 2024,” says Bird. “The platforms that can help marketers optimise their budgets by moving towards measurement like marketing mix modelling (MMM) whilst maintaining investment in awareness at the top of the funnel, will continue to hold influence and be rewarded with ad dollars and customer love.”
When it comes to content creation, Julie Bogaert, head of Talent Partnerships EMEA at Snap Inc, believes it’s the moment for the small and the mighty to shine. Niche creators, she suggests, have a golden opportunity for growth.”
“Last year, we predicted AI to be the next big technological change to disrupt the creator economy,” she recalls. “We expected creators to experiment increasingly with AI tools but for success to lie with the creators who maintain a human connection – using AI as a helpful tool, not a stand in. Much has been reported on this trend, which has largely come to fruition.”
Now, she feels the topic of conversation that creators choose is becoming much more influential than their individual personality or reach, as audiences increasingly seek alignment with their own interests and values.”
There will soon be an increased maturation of niche content creators with a growing opportunity to monetise that niche, says Bogaert.
Meanwhile, Lucy Luke, head of UK Partnerships at Snap Inc, notes that educational short-form digital content “will rise to the top and keep audiences connected to the world around them”.
2024’s calendar was filled with big cultural moments: The Paris Olympics, The EUROS, Brat Summer. But it was defined by the ways these moments were brought to our screens and feeds: short form, snackable highlights that celebrated the highs and commiserated the lows.
“Short form will continue to dominate but it’s educational content will rise to the top, says Luke. “Against a backdrop of sociopolitical change and overwhelming amounts of information released into the world, people want to feel informed and empowered to understand the world around them as easily and as quickly as possible.
“This means that the brands, creators and media owners that create content based on a cause, purpose or expertise will bolster engagement and build stronger communities. We’ll even see Generative AI play a role in this knowledge share as it starts to build a bridge to the past by being used to regenerate informative, archived content.”
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