In 2023 there was one huge talking point in tech: AI. Artificial intelligence has been with us for some time, affecting our lives in ways many of us are unaware of. Last year in Pro Mobile, I covered some of the ways you can use AI in your digital marketing right now, whilst Tony Winyard explored its ‘big picture’ potential for the future.

With the public release of ChatGPT and its rival Google Bard, AI hit the headlines with a mixture of positive and negative coverage. The pros are numerous, especially in the digital marketing sphere, but concerns about the power of AI and the possible displacement of jobs (including DJs, photographers, musicians – and indeed content writers!) made for some worrying reading.

Then there’s the whole discussion around the ethics of AI; concerns about intellectual property, knowledge accuracy, discrimination, bias, and surveillance.

Regardless of these concerns, I do stand by the idea that it's better to know your enemy.

Successful businesses will understand when to use AI to their advantage, how to manipulate and get the best out of AI systems like ChatGPT, and how to manage the risks and address ethical challenges. We’re also likely to see the emergence of better chatbots with more comprehensive LLMs (large language models), offering more human-like performance. (For some ChatGPT alternatives, check out Claude AI, Google Bard and Inflection AI.)

Meanwhile, we must put our faith in governments and tech companies to do the right thing (I know, right?) and regulate the negative impacts of what is a fast-growing technology.

Despite this focus on AI, it isn’t the only thing to consider and there’s lots more to talk about in this year’s forecast. Both video content and voice search are being used more than ever, and optimising your content with these channels in mind should be a priority for 2024. The digital experience and privacy of your customers is also an important factor for success this year.

We’ll also explore some of the developments in visual design, social media commerce, influencer marketing, and – gulp! – The Metaverse.

TRENDS TO ACTION RIGHT NOW

Last year’s forecast encouraged you to use local SEO through Google My Business, and I really hope you found some success there. It was a quick win and an easy way to boost brand awareness and traffic to your website.

We also covered the sunsetting of Google’s Universal Analytics and why it was important to prepare for the switch to Google Analytics 4 in 2023. Meanwhile, website optimisation and short-form video were other popular topics.

But here are a handful of trends you can action right now in 2024:

Voice search optimisation

The need to optimise our websites and content with voice search in mind has been a talking point in digital marketing for quite some...


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