Top 3 Marketing Trends in 2024

The first half of 2024 has passed with full of fluctuations from economic to political and social. In that context, the marketing industry in Vietnam is also constantly transforming and following many new trends. As marketing plays a key role in business development in the Attention Economy era, Marketing experts need to constantly update and equip knowledge to keep up with market changes to provide strategic directions for marketing campaigns and activities. The following is a summary of notable marketing trends in the first half of 2024.

1. Promote AI application in increasing Marketing efficiency

Contrary to worries that AI will replace humans in content creation, we are recognizing the fact that Marketing experts are actively applying AI to support them in performing daily tasks and also during the creative process. According to Kantar, up to 67% of marketers responded that they feel positive about the capabilities of AI. In addition, Hubspot also predicts that about 38% of marketers who have not yet used AI will consider using AI in 2024.

AI has long been applied in analyzing algorithms and data related to marketing campaigns. With its power in data analysis, AI will continue to help Marketing professionals better understand target customers, identify trends and predict consumer behavior.

In addition, generative AI is a popular new trend in the creative industry recently. With the ability to synthesize information, genAI is capable of supporting different parts of the creative process such as generating ideas, building outlines, writing scripts or even supporting the creation of images. GenAI application can save each marketer 3 hours to produce a piece of content. Some popular applications trusted by Marketers are: ChatGPT; Google Gemini; Poe.

However, the application of AI in creativity needs to be accompanied by caution to minimize risks in terms of content quality. Marketers need to proactively grasp the limitations of AI in synthesizing information and building censorship policies to prevent the spread of false and unethical information. To better understand ways to respond to AI risks, you can read more here.

2. Prioritize short form content and livestream

The popularity of TikTok, YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels has contributed significantly to the public’s preference for receiving short content. These videos do a great job of attracting and keeping your audience’s interest. According to Wistia, videos with a duration of less than 60 seconds have an interaction rate of 50%, 16% more than the interaction rate of videos with a duration of about 60 minutes. This trend opens up both challenges and opportunities for marketers to adapt to short-form content. The content needs to be built in a short and concise way while still ensuring attractiveness and accurately conveying the spirit of the brand.

Information from AccessTrade Vietnam 2024 shows that the three most popular livestream sales platforms in Vietnam are Facebook (31.9%), Shopee (30.9%) and TikTok (17.2%). On average, there are 2.5 million livestream sales sessions per month, with the participation of more than 50,000 sellers. The popularity of influencer marketing, KOL and livestream has opened a new industry trend called KOS (Key Opinion Sales). They appear as a professional seller representing the brand and are trusted by everyone. They possess professional sales skills and a strong following, easily motivating viewers to buy. In the context of brands from popular to high-end taking turns “inviting each other” to livestream, marketing through KOS becomes even more exciting. Although this model is still quite new in Vietnam, there have been many KOS individuals who have become prominent such as Vo Ha Linh, Pham Thoai, Lucie Nguyen – Tuan Duong. The appearance of the reality TV show “The Shoppertainer – Closing Star” has also once again recognized that the trend of KOS and Livestream will continue to flourish in the future.

3. Focus on sustainability and social responsibility

The year 2024 will see the explosion of Millennials and Gen Z groups becoming the main potential target customers of many brands. To be able to create more connections and touch points with this young customer group, brands need to understand the values ​​that the priority customer group is looking for. Specifically, both generations above are defined as responsible citizens. They care about many social issues ranging from equality, education, sexual harassment to political issues such as war and corruption.

Concern for social issues is also clearly reflected through the shopping behavior of this consumer group. The most recent example is the strong boycott of Starbucks and many other brands believed to be involved in or support Israel’s genocide against Palestine. Young people not only participated in protests but also created a list of brands that need to be boycotted and spread it across social networking forums. Not only stopping at brands, Gen Z are also strict with celebrities when they choose to stay silent about the Israeli attack on the city of Rafah. As a result, Block Out Trend has become one of the biggest media crises ever for the global entertainment industry.

From the above examples, we can see that how brands and celebrities choose to react to social events greatly affects consumer loyalty. This becomes an even bigger challenge for brands now that silence also has meaning for consumers. They expect to hear about a clear brand stance about social issues. Marketing strategists need to be very skillful in choosing statements and building practical and consistent plans.

In general, as the social and technological landscape changes, marketers need to be flexible to adapt to the times. Proactively updating and being willing to adjust plans are essential to effectively allocate budget and resources during the campaign. EloQ Communications hopes that the above summaries have supported businesses in building the most comprehensive and up-to-date view of prominent marketing trends in 2024.

This is written by Thu Tran, Internal Branding intern at EloQ Communications. Currently, Thu is in charge of spreading the company brand to customers, contributing to creating a corporate culture of solidarity and enhancing EloQ’s position in the market. With a desire to pursue Branding Management, Thu’s research focuses on localizing media campaigns and the relationship of media and social issues.