What are the predictions for online business for the rest of 2024?

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I'm excited to share with you from mentors that I listen to, some of the top online business marketing specialists, what they are predicting. I'll also share my own thoughts and opinions as well about online business in 2024.

This is important information for you to know if you're working on your strategy and plans, setting goals etc, for the 2nd half of 2024. You want to know what the experts think and what people want right now in online business, right?

What’s working in online business (still): 

Video marketing and storytelling are at an all time high, with 91% of marketers using it.

This means it will almost certainly contribute to a positive return on investment (of time, energy, and maybe a little money).

I suggest you plan on keeping video, using video, and getting comfortable with video if you're not already. If you’re asking HOW? 

My tip is to just start...just start using your video.

If that thought makes you nervous, what helps me is to think about the one person I want to talk to, the one person that I want to speak to in my video.

And because my audience is small right now, I just kind of think to myself, “you know what? Probably no one's watching right now or listening right now.”

I know YOU’RE here and that many people will watch the replay, but it helps me to feel more comfortable knowing that there's not hundreds of people on at the LIVE video. 

As I get better, I know more people will see my videos and the podcasts and that that's great, but it does make me feel better to just kind of think about that one person and then also, just think, “well, you know, there's not that many people that are going to be on live”. Then I can do these lives and feel comfortable. 

The best way to get started with live or pre-recorded video is to just start. The first ones are going to be bad, but you will get better very quickly!

Content is still King/Queen - but focus on personalization

Digital marketer and data analyst, Neil Patel says that personalized content is still king and queen of online marketing. Personalized content and talking about your expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are the most important and valuable aspects of content creation right now. 

Google has declared it will prioritize E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) content in search engine optimization. 

That should make ALL of us really happy! AI content can't provide personal experiences, stories, or anecdotes that increase trustworthiness. It can just kind of spit out facts, figures, and there's no real heart & soul to what it offers. 

Yes, use AI to speed up your content ideation and research, but definitely make it personal and personalized to the person you're speaking to. 

Social media for list building will continue to be a great resource

Y'all know I love Steph Crowder. One of the things she said recently was that social media for building your email list is going to just keep skyrocketing. The reason why she's saying this is because of the continued use of direct messages and using tools like ManyChat or FG Funnels, which is what I use. {If you want to learn more about that, send me an email or schedule a time for us to talk and I can give you a virtual tour of the platform!} 

These resources and tools can help you to automate some of the connection methods used on social media. You've seen where there's a social post and someone says “comment goals and I will send you a DM”. Steph Crowder says, you know, this is just going to keep growing and growing and growing. And people really do love it because they don't have to click away from the platform they’re on to get a resource or connect with you. If they're on Instagram, they don't have to go to your bio and find the link and all of that to get to a blog post. They can just comment to get the content you’re sharing or have a conversation in DMs. 

Again we’re seeing a shift back to personalized content and connecting with people on a personal level. You can automate the beginning part of that connection, but then really get in there and talk to people personally in the DMs. That is very much in for the rest of 2024.

Consultative selling is going to be growing

What Steph Crowder is seeing is that the process of having a conversation with people before they purchase your product, program or service (aka a sales call) is growing in 2024.

People want to have conversations to confirm what they are purchasing. They want to have personalized conversations to know what it is they're buying because there have been so many courses they’ve purchased and been burned on, or courses they've never used. They want to know in a conversation how your product or service or program will meet their needs and solve their problems.

Have the sales calls. That's something that we might need a little bit more of than we have in the past 4-5 years

Relational Marketing is on the rise

In April I attended a workshop where a panel of online business experts were talking about 2024 trends and predictions and those predictions line up with what Neil and Steph are predicting.

They all agreed that relational marketing will need to increase and the expectation is already increasing with buyers in 2024. 

Think direct messages, personal emails that are (not just mass emails, but direct emails) direct person-to-person and asking readers to reply. 

A Strong Desire for real Connections with other people 

There seems to be a desire for connecting with other people relationally more now than there was in the last couple of years. People are coming back to really wanting to connect again and have at minimum, small group environments in online programs. 

There are even those saying that Facebook groups might be on the rise due to people wanting to connect with like minded people. 

Micro-Casts are expected to skyrocket

These are very short webinars. They might be called online workshops, seminars, webinars, but they’re micro-casts. 

Basically instead of a long 60 to 90 minute webinar to even two hour webinar, experts are seeing that 45 minutes to 60 minutes in a micro-cast are GOLD! 

What’s NOT going anywhere in online business in 2024?

People still expect to receive email...

...and they're not mad about you sending them! They are opening and reading email even if they're not replying to you, even if you’re unaware of how much they enjoy your emails.

Steph Crowder says to send lots more emails than you think you need to.

Continue to send the emails for email marketing. It’s still a huge trend in 2024 and might always be a great digital marketing strategy!

Continue to grow your email list and nurture the relationships you have there with the real people those emails represent.  

People are still buying and we just need to maybe use different strategies and methods to attract them, but they do want to hear from you. 

My thoughts about online business in 2024

No one really knows... it’s all an experiment

It's not even a big surprise, but no one really knows what is going to work or what's not going to work. For that reason, we have to be ready to pivot.

We have to be ready to try new strategies, and also be ready to remain consistent to let a new idea or strategy run for a while in order to see if it's working or not. Online business is and will continue to be, always and forever, an experiment. We try things, monitor, and if it's not working, then we change it. 

What people really want is authenticity, “relate-ability”, and consistency

They want to know that you're authentic, you're real, and that you're going to show up. Being authentic with the rise of AI means you always want to put your authentic voice into any content you create with the help of AI. 

These are always the top trends to be mindful about and to implement in your online business: being authentic, relatable and consistent. I’m sure you can see from the trends and predictions from me and other online experts, that this remains true for 2024!

How will you implement the trends and strategies expected in online business for the rest of 2024 and into 2025 into your online business? 

If you’re working on your online business strategies such as list building, digital marketing, and launches of your products, programs, courses, and services and you need help, I’d love to listen!

Book a call with me so we can talk about your ideas and strategies to confirm you’re on the right track!