In 2023, we witnessed significant changes and advancements in the field of technology, with the rapid rise of AI and Machine Learning having an outsized influence across all sectors. As we move forward to 2024, it's time to analyse the underlying trends that will continue to shape the industry in the coming year.
Our experts from various digital technology and marketing domains have shared their insights on the past year and made predictions for the next. We have covered a wide range of topics, including leadership, business operations, web development, and user experience, to give you a comprehensive preview of the future of the digital world.
Let's dive in together and explore the exciting opportunities ahead…
Leadership and Business Operations
Zion Ong | Co-Founder | Co-CEO
Business Operations
Last year, we saw everyone jumping on the AI bandwagon. I anticipate that, in 2024, people will realise it won’t replace as much as we thought it would.
Rather than seeing AI as a threat, these tools should be used sparingly to brainstorm and generate ideas. Remember, AI still needs a human touch to apply your brand voice and storytelling skills. Treat AI like a personal assistant you need to train and onboard to your business. When writing ad copy, smart practitioners will use many adjectives and prompts to describe exactly what they want from it, as well as specifying the word count, removing jargon, and specifying the tone of voice they require.
David Birrell | Co-CEO
Operational Security
In 2023, there were numerous attempts to bring down websites through Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks, with even big players like Optus affected. Unfortunately, this trend is expected to continue in 2024, so it's crucial for marketing and IT managers to keep an eye on the security of their websites.
To keep your website secure, use an industry-standard Web Application Firewall like Cloudflare to stop DDOS attacks. If you plan to rebuild your website, use a leading Content Management System (CMS) platform with enhanced security like Kentico or HubSpot. If you're using an open-source platform like WordPress, install the latest patches and updates to keep your website safe.
Bernard Chia | Co-Founder
International Business Relations
Looking globally, many large multinational South-East Asian businesses are increasingly concerned about getting their digital solutions right. They prioritise sustainability and often look to the West for inspiration and assistance. These companies are highly interested in CRM and other tech stack solutions. They want a central database, Intranets, and Extranets to manage their vast network of suppliers, including handling complaints.
Marketing managers in these companies will need to start thinking about how their company is being presented globally, including sustainability and accessibility requirements, great user experience and information architecture.
Gemma Owen | Chief Operating Officer
Hybrid Workplaces
Flexible and hybrid working is here to stay - although it's not everyone's cup of tea!
In 2024, a challenge for employers will be continuing to support those who like to work flexibly and from home whilst also keeping engagement and morale high - especially for those who prefer the buzz of office life. Leadership teams must work harder to create opportunities to bring people together and maintain a learning culture.
A great idea is to create a visible pipeline of team building, fun and learning activities well in advance - that way, even when teams are working remotely, they always have a group or learning opportunity to look forward to.
Brand and User Experience
Xixi Ma | Head of UX and Design
Accessible Design
Design revolves around people, and accessibility is an essential requirement. It transcends mere trendiness; instead, it emerges as a crucial focal point for the upcoming year, alongside the imperative inclusion of light/dark mode functionality.
Rather than viewing accessibility as just another box to tick, businesses should be embedding it into their entire User Experience, which will likely become standard in 2024 and beyond.
Rebel Boylan | Content Strategist
Content Marketing
As we continue to see the rise of generative AI tools, marketers are going to be under more pressure to pump out large volumes of content quickly. Alongside the upcoming tightening of privacy laws, we will see more focus on quantity over quality. The way to compete in this digital landscape is not to throw content trends at the wall to see what sticks, but rather to slow down and take a strategic approach to cut through the noise.
It’s more important than ever to really know your audience and create authentic relationships. The human touch is essential here, and “unpolished” content that provides true value is the way to connect with your audience. Short-form educational content that feels more like Facetiming a close friend than watching a promotional video is the way to go.
Web Development
Tenille Evans | Head of Web
Website Security
Businesses are taking website security very seriously at the moment. In 2023, we saw many organisations stepping up their game by implementing advanced tools to keep cyber threats at bay and working with third-party companies to test their security and find any vulnerabilities.
Looking ahead to 2024, we can expect even more cutting-edge security solutions that use artificial intelligence to fend off sophisticated attacks. Strong authentication and continuous monitoring will be key to staying ahead of the curve in our ever-changing digital world. It's so important for businesses to have a comprehensive and adaptable security strategy in place to stay safe online.
Arjun Thapa | Development Operations Manager
Web Development
This year we saw the rise of AI take the world by storm, improving the efficiency of web development projects. For example, component-based development is being used extensively to build reusable User Interface components that can be utilised across different projects for consistent and streamlined development. We will also see people using low-code development for faster website development.
It's increasingly important for businesses to adapt to the rapid changes brought on by AI and Machine Learning and keep up with the latest technologies for better marketing and market analysis.
Henry Kwan | Solutions Architect
Development Processes
While it can be tempting to dive right into using AI for faster web development, it’s important to make sure it doesn’t come at the expense of quality. Testing and the human touch will prove crucial to making sure everything works well. AI will increasingly used to streamline testing processes by automatically creating test plans and identifying problems. If there are issues in the code, AI can find and fix them, even making error messages clearer for everyone to understand.
This will be the enduring strength of AI, its ability to support and enhance the human work of developers, rather than replacing them.
Digital Marketing
Hardik Gosai | Technical Digital Marketing Lead
Audience Targeting
In the coming years, it will be more important than ever to understand the Gen Z audience as they come to dominate the workforce and become the next decision-makers. A unique and powerful group, it's crucial to communicate with them using their preferred channels and formats.
Short-form content is the best way to engage and connect with this audience. As the first generation to grow up completely online, they are extremely digitally savvy, preferring authentic content that speaks to them rather than transparent marketing collateral.
Amalia Uribe | Senior Account Manager
Customer Experience
The way customers interact with businesses online will continue to undergo significant changes. They expect to be able to easily find useful answers to specific questions rather than generic information and also want the answers to be personalised to their experience.
We will see more businesses take advantage of AI-driven customer interactions, from attracting a new audience using predictive analytics to improving their on-page experience with personalised content and support from AI chatbots and advanced search tools.
Richie Chong | Senior PPC Specialist
Digital Campaigns
As privacy concerns and regulations continue to grow, 2024 may see a stronger push towards privacy-first advertising strategies. This could involve marketers finding more innovative ways to leverage first-party data and contextual targeting.
Further advancements in AI tools and machine learning technology will allow them to predict future trends and consumer behaviours more easily, helping businesses to be more proactive in their PPC strategies.
CRM
Meika Birch | Head of CRM
Marketing and Leads
While businesses have been in survival mode over the past few years, the focus has been on capturing large quantities of leads and feeding them through to sales teams. As each new technology has become available, uptake has been swift but not always well-considered.
As the ground shifts again, we are starting to see these lead volumes reduce, disconnected tools and systems, while marketing budgets are being cut. To thrive in this new ecosystem, businesses need to shift their priorities back to customer service and finding opportunities within their existing databases. Data visualisation and reporting tools will play a crucial role in improving decision-making in these areas.
Reid Arnold | Project Manager
Knowledge Sharing
In 2024, we’ll see the AI trend move towards business tools like AI Search, which will be used to extract knowledge from a business’s own information databases. AI Search digitises critical knowledge, making it easier to find, while Natural Language Processing and machine learning algorithms improve search results over time.
In doing so, companies will be able to make better use of their own vast amounts of data and information by organising it and making it more accessible to both their internal staff and even external customers where appropriate. This is already happening with Notion AI and their Q&A feature.
By providing quick and accurate answers to queries, AI Search saves time and boosts productivity. At the same time, it streamlines digital transformation efforts by making it easier to find and use critical data.
Grow your business using the latest technology with ALYKA
2024 promises to be a year of innovation, growth, and advancement in the digital world.
If you want to take advantage of these future digital trends, it's important to stay informed and work with experts in the field. At ALYKA, we offer a wide range of digital marketing and technology services to help businesses achieve their goals and stay ahead of the curve. So, get in touch with us today to see how we can help you navigate the exciting world of evolving digital technology.
