3 trends to tap into for 2024

Some very compelling and actionable insights to share with you, so strap yourself in!   

I’m not just gliding into 2024 I’m dancing in. With joy, optimism and a big fresh slate of energy.

This piece is coming to you from the beautiful Great Ocean Road region of Victoria, Australia, where I’m surrounded by beach, bush, and beautiful wildlife.

Kangaroos are my favourite animals and to have them hopping right outside the window of my cabin is my annual delight.

Writing blogs like this while my kids entertain themselves on a flying fox, is also another form of bliss.

Speaking of bliss, while I for one am very glad to put 2023 to rest (where it belongs) – to be fair, it did deliver me two extraordinary life-changing experiences too

Plus there were a raft of glorious global events, inspiring client interactions, and powerful thought leadership encounters, as I felt like I stepped into the “river” and became a conduit between the ideas that keep coming to me and through me, into the world.

Though the year was not without obstacles and challenges.

The last part of 2023 saw me navigate a mental health valley, unlike anything I’ve ever encountered previously, as I faced a personal crisis which turned out to be a long-awaited invitation to stretch, grow and step into the version of me I’ve been aspiring to for a long time.

As I mentioned in my newsletters during that time, I availed myself of every possible support I could to get through that time. Not say I’m fully on the other side but I do feel I’ve passed through the most intense phase.

And apart from the personal “growth spurt” which I’m still in the thick of, I also now have a heightened sense of empathy for those experiencing mental health challenges. I think I always had compassion and understanding, but there’s nothing like personal experience that enables you to relate at a whole new level.

It also highlighted the importance of something I’ve been preaching, teaching AND PRACTICING for a while now – having a marketing engine for your personal brand that breeds EASE, ENERGY and ENJOYMENT.

Without it, there’s no way I could have continued the uptick in my business and brand over that time when my reserves and capacity were at an all-time low.

In fact, I took it a step further, and pursued ways that my work and my marketing could strengthen and support my mental health, rather than placing more pressure on it.

So that’s a bit of context around the springboard from which I’m jumping into 2024.

It’s going to be a fascinating ride – and below I’ll list a couple of my key focus areas for 2024 along with some preliminary observations & recommendations.

These aren’t just some gut-feel predictions  (although as a marketing futurist I’m pretty in tune with those) – or some random actions I've plusked out of the air to focus on - these are backed by credible data, extensive research, analysis and a heck of a lot of insightful conversations with those in-the-know and on the coalface.

Of course I’ll be releasing my Annual Marketing Insights Report in the coming months as the first few months of any year are very defining as a trajectory for where things look like they’re heading as the year progresses.

But for now, here are three preliminary areas I'm focusing on, in the event they also help you orientate yourself into the “zeitgeist of 2024” and get your “finger on the pulse” as you ramp up your own marketing efforts for 2024, especially as a personal brand. (which we ALL are now, no exception).

 
1. Navigating the Wellbeing Wave: Redefining Success Beyond the Bottom Line

There’s a lot of research and commentary around how at a macro level, big brands,  large corporations even governments are leaning heavily into having a “wellbeing focus” around their operations and impact.

Where the impact of what the brand does spans just beyond economic success, and environmental impact - but also encompasses social sustainability – at both a community level as well as at an individual level.

This is way beyond CSR (corporate social responsibility) and traditional ESG (environmental, social and governance) as a box-ticking exercise or as a "nice to have".

I’m writing from Australia and for the first time ever, our government has released an entire report guiding corporations to "measure what matters" and advocate for wellbeing as a success factor alongside commercial success. 

Given what many of us have been through in recent years, expect to see and hear more about this in 2024. This taps into a huge trend, a focus that most of humanity has right now, around quality of life.

And given there is a groundswell of momentum in this area, it's become the "expected" not the "norm". 

And platitudes and hollow promises and well-worn cliches (even when well-intentioned) don't cut it. Tangible and measurable and repeatable stories of human impact are becoming the norm. 

This is true for large and small brands a like - including personal brands! Expect to see a shift in which personal brands gain traction, and which ones people switch off from in 2024 - this will be a really big factor. 

So how does this relate to you and your marketing?

Whether you run a business or are in a corporate role, people are going to gravitate to you if they can feel a positive impact from engaging with you (or conversely, they will distance themselves if your interactions, messaging or content leaves a bad taste in their mouth).

People are by and large rather jaded and hugely skeptical and big bold claims, even if they’re true from years ago, don’t hold the same weight today. The ultimate currency is your ability to impact NOW.

It might sound hard, but it's actually not as hard as you might think.  Everyone has the ability to contribute tangibly to the wellbeing of others (and most already DOin their day-to-day lives without reaslising the magnitude of it!). The key is uncovering this, identifying how it supports your commercial strategy, and shining a light on it so that the impact of it radiates further than it does now.

This is pretty aligned with what I’ve been teaching and practicing and writing about for several years and is one of the foundations of my almost-ready-to-launch book Marketing Me.

Turning Insight into Action:

Think about how what you do – in your business, your role, your company, impacts on wellbeing at a societal level, and at an individual level. Allow this lens of wellbeing to develop as you talk about what you do, and be subtely infused into your content, conversations, and commercial interactions.

2. Personal Brand Uplift: 2024's Imperative to "Be Seen".

2024 will definitely be THE YEAR of the PERSONAL BRAND. Of course I've seen this coming and for the last 5 years been almost exclusively training professionals in this area. 

Moving away from the traditional marketing agency model back in 2018 was a big deal back then. But even all that time ago I could see a “best before” date for a lot of traditional approaches.

The way things were niching, the way the marketplace was changing – and the biggest one of all – the RISE of the PERSONAL BRAND. Where people don’t want to hear from logos, but they are open to hearing from and connecting with PEOPLE. And not just a name slapped onto a blog.

It's now no longer a nice-to-have to stand out, it's moving towards a necessity to  "be seen", and moreover, being acknowledged and engaged with.

At it's core you personal brand is the emotion people feel about you when they interact with you or think of you. 

The beautiful thing about your personal brand is it’s completely portable – versatile – flexible – and whatever other adjective you care to use to describe pliability. I’ve used my personal brand to promote and support such a raft of diverse endeavours – and they have ALL worked because the constant that weaves through that is ME.

Just like the constant that weaves through the ebbs and flows of your business and life - is YOU.

Tapping into your identity and essence, and then getting proficient in how to “lend” that to whatever it is you want to focus on commercially in this season is the top skill in business I reckon. It also helps you a ton in life generally too.

Turning Insight into Action:

Your brand is way more than fonts, colour combos and content pillars. They are secondary, actually. The core things that make up a personal brand are:

STORIES – are they relatable, relevant, inspiring?
IMAGES – are they interesting, personable, fresh?
EMOTIONS – how are your values expressed, and does your brand make people feel?
MESSAGING – what you want to be known for?

This is what makes the difference between a "meh" brand, and one that's compelling and connected. 

And you need some support in this area, it’s one I’m very well positioned to help you with. Here are three ways I do that. 

1. Marketing Me Express
   (1-day personal positioning workshop).
   Jan, Feb & March dates now available for IRL or virtual workshops.
2. Marketing Me Experience
   (6 week live intensive where I help you refine and articulate your brand and set up your one-hour-a-week marketing system).
   Starts February.
3. Marketing Me Accelerator
   (12 months of personalised guidance, support and mentorship as you build and expand your brand, and access to all my latest systems, tools and insights as you do.)
   Start anytime and you’ll experience a huge shift and momentum boost within the first 90 days.

3. AI in Focus: Streamlining Your Marketing Without Losing Your Identity

This time last year the topic of AI was all the rage.  Thankfully things have settled - one thing is for sure though, the tools are here to stay. And are just getting more specialised and focused. Which overall is a good thing.

Don’t let it be a distraction though. It’s not a magic pill, especially when it comes to personal brand. It’s not a substitute for “YOU”. 

But what it can do is make your life easier – but only when you have the right focus, and at the right time. Easier said than done, right?!

There are a dizzying amount of genuine uses, and getting caught up in the distraction will shift your focus and precious energy from where it needs to be.

Turning Insight into Action:
My recommendation is to take a step back and before touching any tools, get clear on WHY, WHERE & HOW you can use AI in a REPEATABLE and STREAMLINED way to build LEVERAGE and EXPANSION into your marketing and brand.

Right now I’m doing a deep-dive into of several of the latest tools to road test, and build better systems that support ease-ful marketing, that I’ll be using myself, the inviting a few of my long-term and most-engaged clients to road test in the next month or two.

Then I’ll be creating a “non-marketers guide to using AI effectively in marketing” pathway for my clients. To make things more ease-ful and effective without sacrificing authenticity and emotion and energetic connection - all of which are the "x-factor" ingredients in a personal brand that connects goes the distance.

I"ll be introducing new “paint by numbers” systems and processes into my Marketing Me Accelerator. Where mhy clients " bring the human" – the ideas, IP, emotion and skill and then we tap into my easy-to-follow systems at the back end.

This will expedite the mundane leg-work of production and turning your ideas and IP into engaging and digestible content.

The holy grail of content marketing you say? Yes, I concur. I think it will be. Because it needs to fit into my “one-hour-a-week marketing philosophy” . That’s a non-negotiable for me. Which is why I'm doubled-down on this now. 

I see too much “cookie-cutter” and “outdated & irrelevant” stuff out there, or stuff that’s current and good but way too hard on the poor old brain to execute week-in-week-out. I know there is a better way and my gift is making complex things simple and accessible. I've done it a lot in the past and I'm relishing the challenge of doing it again now.  

I’m exploring and testing it for myself right now, and I’m on a mission to make it accessible to my clients too. My #1 priority in Qtr 1 this year.

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So there you have it - my current top focus areas - and why - and how you can tap into these too!

Please let me know if you found something helpful. I’d love to know what you think!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way. 

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).

Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands.  With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me™.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy-to-follow systems and processes that make a lot of sense and get outcomes fast.

There are different ways to work with Nina based on your situation and organisation size - with all of them you'll see rapid transformation and tangible outcomes fast. Book a chat with Nina here.