Information from 1400+ International Entrepreneurs

If you happen to’re something like me, you want you had extra time and sources to get by means of your work, ponder game-changing concepts, brush up on digital advertising business traits, and finally give your audiences unforgettable model experiences.

Nicely, analysis exhibits synthetic intelligence (AI) is turning into the marketer’s final assistant in lots of of those quests. It’s additionally one international advertising pattern that’s evolving our panorama (and competitors) quicker than ever.

However AI is only one advertising business pattern we’re navigating right this moment. Let’s use the info from our survey of 1460 B2B and B2C entrepreneurs worldwide to unpack the highest advertising traits of 2024 and establish how they might help you win over your audiences.

We will’t talk about advertising traits with out AI. With picture turbines, content material turbines, and video turbines, amongst different instruments, AI is driving quite a lot of advertising business progress.

In reality, it’s shortly turning into the final word advertising assistant, with 64% of entrepreneurs already utilizing it and 38% of others planning to start out in 2024.

Sean Downey, Google’s President of the Americas and International Companions, believes AI would be the single greatest pattern in 2024.

On this put up, he informed HubSpot, “It ought to come as no shock that in 2024, the largest advertising traits heart across the prospects of AI. Right this moment, entrepreneurs face urgent challenges to navigate evolving shopper expectations and consumption habits in right this moment’s media panorama, which is fragmented and shifting dramatically — all whereas delivering enterprise outcomes extra effectively.”

He provides, “The AI alternative is coming at a time of transformation for everybody, together with entrepreneurs. In reality, along with connecting manufacturers and merchandise to individuals, greater than ever earlier than, entrepreneurs have to be progress drivers for his or her corporations.”

Issues get attention-grabbing after we take a look at how entrepreneurs see AI getting used — 60% say it is going to act as an assistant that helps them with their job duties, whereas 20% see AI primarily taking up menial duties.

However there’s no debating that AI will make a giant splash within the advertising business in 2024.

85% of entrepreneurs say generative AI has modified how they’ll create content material in 2024 and 63% say that in 2024, most content material will likely be created at the least partly with the assistance of generative AI.

Entrepreneurs who use generative AI are seeing nice outcomes, saying it helps them make considerably extra, larger high quality content material that performs higher.

As Briana Rogers, VP of Advertising and marketing at Miro, tells me, “Entrepreneurs should learn to combine AI into their work.”

She explains, “The house is transferring so shortly and we have to experiment with every thing … from the extra well-established use circumstances — like leveraging machine studying to enhance advert shopping for, or creating predictive buyer worth fashions — to newer areas, like figuring out patterns in consumer analysis and knowledge, helping in artistic growth, and constructing full buyer campaigns which might be powered by AI.”

81% of entrepreneurs who use generative AI say it’s efficient at helping them of their position. Particularly, it helps them:

• enhance the standard of the content material they create (85%)
• create content material extra effectively (84%)
• make considerably extra content material (82%)
• create extra customized content material (77%).

On high of all that, 56% of entrepreneurs who use generative AI for content material creation say this content material performs higher than content material created with out it.

Additionally, our survey exhibits entrepreneurs utilizing AI/automation instruments are 95% extra more likely to say their advertising technique was very efficient this 12 months than those that don’t.

However a giant disclaimer is that AI should not substitute your complete content material workforce. Your shoppers will not need this and neither will platforms like Google.

A latest report from HubSpot Senior Advertising and marketing Supervisor Curtis del Principe, highlighted the punishment handed down to 1 company after they farmed hundreds of posts with AI in what we’re calling an “search engine optimization Heist.”

So, if you cannot create your entire content material with AI, how will you nonetheless use it to your finest benefit in your content material plan?

How Entrepreneurs Use AI for Content material Creation

The entrepreneurs we surveyed informed us that knowledge evaluation, analysis, and content material creation are the highest use circumstances for generative AI.

This tells us that entrepreneurs aren’t changing writers or creatives with AI. As a substitute, they primarily use AI for:

• Brainstorming new concepts or angles,
• Repurposing or adapting pre-created content material for a unique viewers, format, or channel
• Writing fundamental copy or outlines
• And creating photos or fundamental movies.

Concerning the sorts of content material entrepreneurs use generative AI to supply, social media posts, emails, weblog posts, subject concepts, photos, and product descriptions are the most typical.

Whereas that each one sounds nice, we have to speak about a number of AI issues.

Interested by AI for content material creation? HubSpot’s Free AI Content material Creator is a good place to start out.

The place AI Nonetheless Faces Limitations

Job Safety/Substitute

The AI revolution is a big change, so it’s no shock that just about half of entrepreneurs are involved about AI changing their jobs.

Of entrepreneurs surveyed, 23% suppose the business ought to keep away from utilizing generative AI altogether. Nonetheless, primarily based on how entrepreneurs are literally utilizing AI, it isn’t changing their jobs however appearing as an assistants.

Amongst entrepreneurs who use generative AI to put in writing copy, simply 6% use it to put in writing the complete piece of content material for them, 45% use it for concepts/inspiration, 31% use it for an overview, and 18% use it for a primary draft.

Moreover, 95% of entrepreneurs who use generative AI to put in writing copy find yourself enhancing the textual content, with 44% making important adjustments.

AI Adoption and Integration

One other difficulty is integrating AI all through entrepreneurs’ workflows. 46% of entrepreneurs really feel overwhelmed on the very prospect.

The excellent news is companies are going out of their means to assist, with 40% of entrepreneurs saying their firm has employed a brand new worker particularly to assist their workforce leverage AI.

With regards to general AI implementation:

• 53% of entrepreneurs have built-in it into their each day workflow or inside as-needed duties.
• 10% are nonetheless within the experimentation part.
• 36% don’t use AI in any respect – however 38% of those entrepreneurs will begin in 2024.

Plagiarism and Bias

Of these entrepreneurs surveyed, 60% share the priority that AI can hurt their model’s status by means of bias, plagiarism, or misalignment with model values.

That is undoubtedly a difficulty, however in case you’re utilizing AI as an assistant, you’ll be enhancing and watching over the output each step of the best way.

AI instruments are additionally conscious of those issues, and a few have already rolled out capabilities to supply and fact-check the knowledge they spit out.

For instance, Google’s Gemini (previously Bard) will permit you to double-check the output with hyperlinks to present sources that verify the knowledge.

Picture Supply

Fortunately, as corporations rent AI implementation specialists, entrepreneurs grow to be extra comfy utilizing AI as an assistant, and AI instruments grow to be extra correct and reliable, we predict the issues above will likely be overcome shortly.

Our Shopper Development Survey discovered that social media is definitely the popular product discovery channel for Gen Z and Millennials, whereas Gen X and Boomers are warming as much as it shortly. In reality, 64% of Gen Z, 59% of Millennials, and 47% of Gen X have confirmed discovering a product on social media previously three months.

On Instagram, TikTok, and Fb, entrepreneurs also can arrange digital shops for customers to buy with out ever leaving the platforms.

From discovery by means of influencer suggestions to in-app purchases and customer support through direct messages (DMs), social media is usually a one-stop store.

Furthermore, 17% of social media customers purchased a product in-app previously three months. In that point, one in 4 purchased one thing primarily based on an influencer’s suggestion, and 19% despatched a DM for customer support.

Each time we run our Shopper Traits survey, these numbers improve considerably. So, it’s no shock entrepreneurs are shortly embracing social promoting.

Our most up-to-date social promoting survey discovered that 87% of entrepreneurs say it’s efficient, and 59% report driving extra social gross sales than in previous years.

At present, 27% of entrepreneurs use social promoting instruments, 23% leverage influencer advertising, and 22% use social media DMs for customer support. Entrepreneurs plan to speculate closely in these channels for 2024.

Our weblog workforce has been predicting a short-form video renaissance because the rise of TikTok throughout the pandemic, and right this moment, there’s hardly any contest.

Quick-form video is now the #1 content material advertising format, with most entrepreneurs saying it affords them the very best ROI. It’s additionally being utilized by essentially the most entrepreneurs, at 44%.

Whereas short-form video has reigned for a number of years now, it is going to proceed to see essentially the most progress in 2024, with entrepreneurs planning to speculate extra in it than every other format.

26% of entrepreneurs plan to speculate extra in short-form video than every other format in 2024, the very best of any format by far.

Moreover, 57% of entrepreneurs who leverage short-form video will improve their funding in 2024, the very best improve of any format. And to high all of it off, 30% of entrepreneurs who don’t use short-form video will begin in 2024.

(Heck, even our Weblog workforce is testing out short-form movies to advertise content material.)

That is possible as a result of entrepreneurs report that video-centric social media platforms are the simplest and supply the very best return on funding (ROI).

56% of entrepreneurs utilizing TikTok say they’ll improve their funding this 12 months, the very best of any platform. YouTube and Instagram may even see a major enhance in funding.

Not solely is influencer advertising tremendous efficient and going to continue to grow in 2024, however influencers have gotten much more impactful on buy choices.

In line with 86% of entrepreneurs, influencer advertising was efficient for his or her firm in 2023. Plus, our shopper traits survey exhibits that one in 4 social media customers purchased a product primarily based on an influencer’s suggestion previously three months.

That’s up 33% from after we ran the identical survey a 12 months earlier than.

Influencer advertising may even see important progress in 2024, with 50% of the entrepreneurs who use it planning to extend their funding and 20% of those that don’t leverage it but planning to attempt it for the primary time.

One necessary caveat? Entrepreneurs are discovering extra success working with micro-influencers who’ve between 10,000 and 100,000 followers than celebrities (i.e., macro or mega influencers) with enormous followings.

About half of entrepreneurs labored with influencers or creators in 2023, and 64% of them labored with micro-influencers, making them the preferred kind of influencer.

In line with 47% of influencer entrepreneurs, these are additionally the influencer sizes with which entrepreneurs noticed essentially the most success this 12 months.

The largest causes for this are that working with small influencers is inexpensive, which makes it simpler to ascertain long-term partnerships and affords entry to tight-knit, engaged, and dependable communities.

This goes to indicate that followers aren’t every thing anymore.

Our 2023 Social Media Traits Report discovered that the majority entrepreneurs say “high quality of content material” is an important issue when figuring out which influencers to accomplice with.

From iOS adjustments to GDPR and Google’s plans to part out third-party cookies, elevated knowledge privateness laws have been a hurdle for advertising business progress over the previous few years.

With 84% of shoppers in our pattern survey saying knowledge privateness is a human proper, public opinion is unquestionably shifting in direction of extra safeguards round private knowledge.

On the marketer aspect, 84% say knowledge privateness adjustments affected their technique in 2023. This 12 months, key adjustments entrepreneurs anticipate to affect them most are:

• Google Chrome’s third-party cookie phaseout (a priority of 47% of entrepreneurs)
• Apple iOS Privateness Safety options (41%)
• GDPR (Normal Information Safety Regulation (40%)

The problem is entrepreneurs aren’t fairly prepared for this shift — 81% say their advertising actions depend on third-party cookies to some extent, and round one in 5 entrepreneurs say they aren’t ready to lose entry to them.

Moreover, 76% of entrepreneurs say Google phasing out third-party cookies will make advertising harder.

So what are entrepreneurs doing about it? 47% say their firm is exploring options to third-party cookies, with social media concentrating on and first-party knowledge being the preferred options.

25% of entrepreneurs are exploring focused social media adverts, adopted by amassing first-party knowledge (25%), Google Matters API (21%), contextual promoting (15%), and common identifiers (14%).

We’ll talk about the advantages of first-party knowledge subsequent, however to study extra about these options, take a look at our weblog put up that explores every answer in depth.

Customized Advertising and marketing with First-Social gathering Information & AI

Regardless of steps in direction of personalization — and plenty of speak about specializing in the client expertise — we all know there’s loads of room for enchancment.

Our survey exhibits solely 35% of entrepreneurs say clients get a really customized expertise with their model and simply 65% of shoppers say the content material they see from manufacturers feels relatable.

On high of that, most entrepreneurs lack essential data about their viewers, with solely 65% saying they’ve high-quality knowledge on their goal demographic.

Once we requested entrepreneurs what they find out about their target market, lower than half know the place they devour content material, their demographic data, their pursuits and hobbies, merchandise they’re concerned about, and insights on their buying habits.

To deal with these challenges, entrepreneurs can leverage our highly effective analytics device, HubSpot’s Advertising and marketing Analytics device. This device gives worthwhile insights into buyer habits, preferences, and engagement patterns, serving to entrepreneurs create extra customized and efficient campaigns.

Why is that this so necessary? Getting this knowledge helps you create a really customized expertise, which 96% of entrepreneurs say will increase the chance of patrons turning into repeat clients, and 94% say personalization will increase gross sales.

To high all of it off, entrepreneurs whose manufacturers give clients a customized expertise are 215% extra more likely to say their advertising technique final 12 months was very efficient in comparison with entrepreneurs at manufacturers that don’t supply a customized expertise.

As we talked about within the earlier pattern, knowledge privateness laws make personalization a bit of harder by decreasing your entry to knowledge.

However that additionally presents a brand new alternative with first-party knowledge, which is knowledge collected straight out of your clients. Not solely is it larger high quality, however it’s additionally distinctive to your clients and your enterprise, offering higher insights and solely getting extra highly effective with the addition of AI.

Whereas we’ve all been utilizing generative AI instruments that leverage public data, the actual magic occurs once you mix AI with your individual enterprise knowledge, permitting entrepreneurs to supply a extremely related, customized expertise.

Of entrepreneurs who use generative AI, 77% say it helps them create extra customized content material. Additionally they personalize the expertise clients get with their firm (72%), enhance the general buyer expertise (71%), and perceive their clients higher (71%).

Whereas the ability of AI and first-party knowledge continues to be but to be seen, all indicators level to this intersection being the important thing to a really scalable customized expertise.

And relating to profiting from your knowledge, one key piece to the puzzle is having a single supply of fact. So, let’s go over a number of of the explanations having centralized and accessible knowledge is make or break in 2024.

Study extra about personalization with HubSpot CRM.

This makes sharing and getting vital knowledge difficult. It additionally prevents organizations from getting a holistic view of their knowledge and reduces knowledge high quality. We name this phenomenon a “disaster of disconnection.”

Round one in 4 entrepreneurs say it’s tough to share knowledge with different groups and get the info they want from different groups at their firm.

On high of that, 23% of entrepreneurs say the best way advertising knowledge is saved at their firm is inaccessible, and simply 26% say their advertising knowledge is totally built-in with the instruments they use. Moreover, solely 59% of entrepreneurs say the instruments they use are interconnected.

Our survey additionally discovered that entrepreneurs with linked instruments, knowledge, and groups carried out considerably higher in 2023.

The Resolution: A Single Supply of Reality

Whereas 93% of entrepreneurs with a single supply of fact for knowledge say it’s useful to their group, solely 65% of entrepreneurs really inform us they’ve one.

A single supply of fact straight addresses the highest challenges entrepreneurs see with gross sales and advertising alignment: An absence of efficient communication between groups, gross sales and advertising groups utilizing completely different instruments, and issue sharing knowledge between groups.

What really occurs when gross sales and advertising groups aren’t aligned?

Entrepreneurs say their budgets are wasted, gross sales and leads are misplaced, and clients find yourself receiving a poor expertise. In the meantime, entrepreneurs who’re aligned with their gross sales workforce are 26% extra more likely to say their advertising technique this 12 months was very efficient in comparison with those that aren’t aligned.

One extremely efficient technique to implement a single supply of fact is getting a CRM like HubSpot, which integrates knowledge with instruments and boosts alignment throughout groups.

Of entrepreneurs utilizing a CRM, 86% say it’s efficient at enhancing alignment between groups. And entrepreneurs with a single supply of fact are 56% extra more likely to be strongly aligned with their gross sales workforce than these with out one.

Moreover, 76% of entrepreneurs with a CRM say you will need to the success of their general advertising technique, and 57% say their CRM turned extra necessary in 2023.

Entrepreneurs who use a CRM are 128% extra more likely to say their advertising technique this 12 months was very efficient in comparison with entrepreneurs who don’t use a CRM. And on high of that, 93% of entrepreneurs utilizing HubSpot CRM say their advertising technique was efficient this 12 months.

Lastly, AI additionally improves connection, with entrepreneurs who use it saying AI helps their group share knowledge extra successfully (74%) and collaborate extra successfully (73%).

What’s Subsequent in Advertising and marketing Business Traits

With regards to all of the issues shifting in right this moment’s panorama, the checklist above is simply the tip of the iceberg.

For an in depth checklist of the highest techniques, alternatives, challenges, channels, and content material entrepreneurs will leverage in 2024, take a look at our 2024 State of Advertising and marketing Report.