Top 3 marketing technology trends in 2024

Hi Futurist,

Drumroll please! 🥁 The very first dip into the digital future. Insights, inspiration, and innovation straight to your inbox. Let’s dive into the depths of the digital future together and discover the waves of change shaping our industry. Due to some international readers, I will switch to English. At least, I'll try.

In this post, we're dipping in:

• 📣 Byte-Sized Breakthroughs: Three (technological) developments in the digital landscape

• 🤖 Digital Toolbox: Three tools or functionalities you might not yet know exist

•  🧐 Last but not least: Things that I like

Do you have tips, feedback or ideas? Or just want to give your opinion? Feel free to share it at the bottom of this dip. That's what I'm looking for.

📣 Byte-Sized Breakthroughs

'Byte-Sized Breakthroughs' briefly highlights (technological) developments in the digital landscape

Head story: Top 3 marketing technology trends in 2024

With the end of the year in sight, it's time to look ahead. Which three trends do I foresee within marketing technology for the coming year?

1. Composability: Composability marks a new era in marketing technology. Moving away from 'best-of-breed' and 'best-of-suite'. There's a new kid in town, 'best-of-feature'. With more integrations between tools and better APIs, tools transcend the limitations of silos; leading to more flexible and targeted marketing landscapes. You build ecosystems of tools, choosing specific functionalities from different tools to meet your needs. The concept of composability is more than just a technical change; it reflects a fundamental shift in how companies think about their digital operations. Companies embracing this trend can adapt to the ever-changing digital marketing environment by selecting and customizing tools that best suit their unique needs and strategies. You essentially transform a static marketing technology landscape into a dynamic game board where every move stimulates innovation. There's no cheaper way to digitally transform your business.

2. Data analytics: With the AI eruption in 2023, it's very normal to chat with everything. Chatbots are sooo back. Whether we want to generate text, images, or even music. Write a sentence and you get output. We've become so accustomed to it, that we'll see this reflected in data analytics. Digital marketers use many different tools to execute their strategies. These tools generate a lot of data. The demand to be able to chat with your data is coming. The rise of generative AI will also make obtaining insights via chat easier, reducing the complexity of data analysis. In this way, marketers can make more informed and better decisions, as the data from multiple tools is combined and made accessible through a chat interface. The output is not yet at the level of a data scientist as of this writing, but good enough for a digital marketer. Given the steep development curve of the AI development, the quality will also quickly increase to human data scientist level.

3. No-code: We'll stay with AI for a moment. Last year, I said 'AI' more often than my girlfriend's name. Before 2023, it was 'no-code'. I love it. A no-code tool like Zapier has allowed me to achieve outputs at the beginning of my career that my boss didn't think I was capable of in the first few months. Zapier was for me the bridge between action and reaction. Data from A to B. With the generative AI development of the past year, there has also been an explosion in the possibilities of no-code tools. From text generation, images to generating complete wireframes, apps (I mention a few at the bottom of this dip) or prototypes. Although no-code has always been there, a certain mindset has always been needed to understand what you were doing. In Zapier, for example, it was thinking out and then setting up an automation workflow. That's different now. You now describe the output you want to achieve. Zapier then generates the workflow itself. The thought process to arrive at the workflow has been taken out of your hands. We're going to see this in other areas too. What does it mean? You can achieve the same results as the masters of the respective tasks can. It gives you superpowers that you previously needed the hands of others for.

EU takes steps in the AI legislation

TL;DR

The EU has approved a law that keeps AI safe and respectful of rights and democracy, banning certain AI applications and imposing strict rules for high-risk AI systems. Specific exceptions exist for law enforcement, and measures are in place to support innovation and SMEs, with fines up to 35 million euros or 7% of global turnover.

Read it yourself?

Sentiment

The industry sentiment is moderately positive. Lawyers and privacy advocates are particularly welcoming the law. However, there is concern that the law, expected to come into effect in 2025, might be outdated by then.

My thoughts

I believe regulation and control over the development of AI models in our society are important. At the same time, I wonder to what extent the absence of a similar law in the US might give American companies a lead over European ones. This advantage could be hard to catch up to, potentially pushing European companies out of the market by well-funded Americans. I would have preferred more of a guideline approach, like Biden's in the US. That would keep the possibility of a European counterweight to American dominance more plausible.

Google puts itself back on the AI track

TL;DR

Google's new AI model, Gemini, is now available in three versions: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. It supports text, images, audio, and video, and integrates with Pixel smartphones, the Chrome browser, and Google's search engine. Gemini Pro, aimed at professionals, allows users to develop their own AI applications, while Nano is for smartphones. Gemini is also integrated into Google's chatbot Bard, competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Read it yourself? 

Sentiment

Initially, the new announcement was met with enthusiasm. Google's shares even rose by 3%. Google has fought its way back into the race. Gemini Pro was even touted to perform better than GPT-4, but this later turned out to be more of a marketing stunt.

My thoughts

Who was actually still using Google, was a common question around me. Google was invisible in the AI race for a long time. With these three AI models, Google at least provides solutions for various use cases. They position themselves as a competitor to OpenAI, and they are doing that better with these models than previously with Bard. Is it too late? Hmm, maybe. They are starting at a disadvantage, but hey it's still Google.

More byte-sized breakthroughs:

• Microsoft launches new AI model
  Microsoft introduces a compact AI model with 2.7 billion parameters, performing better than Gemini Nano and almost equivalent to Facebook's 70 billion parameter model. 2023 was the year of Large Language Models. 2024 will be the year of Small Language Models.

• Trump launches new NFT’s, featuring his mugshot…
  Next year are the 47th presidential elections. Buy 47 Trump cards for exclusive rewards, like dinner at Mar-a-Lago and a piece of his mugshot suit on a signed card. Purchasing 100 cards gets you a unique one-to-one card. Almost everything about this campaign seems right.

• Mistral AI launches open-source competitor for GPT 4
  The French startup Mistral AI unveils an AI model slightly inferior to GPT 4. It operates on a similar architecture but requires less power for comparable results. Additionally, Mistral AI's model is open-source and European-made! Double win. This model marks a new era of open-source AI innovation and performance efficiency.

🤖 Digital Toolbox

In the 'Digital Toolbox,' I mention three (new) tools that you can use for your work now or later.

Weld - Data mastery simplified

With Weld you can set up your data warehouse within minutes. It's no longer a time-consuming, complicated, and expensive process. Users have immediate access and control over their data without complicated technical processes.

Fable - Bring your campaign images to life

Say goodbye to static campaign images. Fable.app is an intuitive tool for visual storytelling, allowing you to easily create and share interactive and engaging digital stories.

Magnific.ai - Maximum resolution for AI-generated images

With Magnific, you ensure that your AI-generated image can be scaled up to high resolution, with beautiful details. Optionally supplemented with your own prompts and parameters for optimal results.

 🧐 Last but not least

• Elon Musk’s ‘X’ introduces own AI chatbot: X is launching their own AI chatbot called ‘Grok’. Currently, it's available only to premium users and exclusively in the United States. Grok is comparable to ChatGPT 3.5 and answers many questions that other AI models refuse to even address. Grok has access to the internet and all content on X. 44 billion dollars for an AI training dataset doesn’t seem so crazy after all.

• Meta's 'Threads' is now available in the EU: Initially launched in July, Threads sidestepped the EU launch due to the Digital Markets Act, but now offers EU users a profile-less version for compliance. Threads, similar to X, features dual timelines and Instagram integration. Meta is exploring interoperability with platforms like Mastodon, using the ActivityPub protocol, widening potential network connections. Currently ad-free, Threads is anticipated to introduce advertisements as it grows, following Meta's usual business model.

• Canva now generates videos as well: Within Canva’s Magic Studio, it is now possible to generate videos. Canva utilizes the technology of Runway, another GenAI tool.

• The future of smart home combined with VR/AR glasses: If you want to get an idea of how you will operate smart devices at home in the future, this is your answer.

• Humane AI Pin, fully powered by AI wearable: We are approaching the era of wearable technologies that support us in our daily lives - like smartwatches, VR/AR glasses. And now, Humane is releasing their AI pin. They believe it will eventually replace the smartphone. Since the pin is fully AI-powered, there's no need for apps anymore. The first step has been taken.

• Generate real-time images based on colors, shapes and a prompt: With the AI tool Krea, you can generate real-time images. You use shapes, assign colors, and add a prompt. Then you can move them, and your image is generated in real-time. Check out this example. Or this example. More examples can be found here.

• Generate real-time images with a brush: Can it get any crazier? Absolutely. Why not generate real-time images with a brush, as if you were Bob Ross. Want to try it yourself? It’s also possible within the image generation tool LeonardoAI. Even Freepik offers this.

• Sir David Attenborough narrates via GPT 4-Vision and Elevenlabs: Everyone watches in awe Sir David Attenborough’s nature documentaries. What if you clone his voice in Elevenlabs and then have GPT 4-Vision take a screenshot every second via your webcam? This is the result. Suddenly, you become the star in the next series of Planet Earth.

• Draw-a-UI: Create a wireframe with this tool, and then convert it into a working prototype. Check out this example. Or see how this person drew a game, and it actually works.

• Screenshot-to-Code: Give this tool a screenshot, and it converts it into code. Ideal for creating workable wireframes. Check out this example.

• Generate your own app with AI: With this tool, you generate your own app based on a prompt. Then you can even install it on your iPhone. Take a look at this example. Okay, it’s not a full-fledged app, yet. Another developer developed a similar tool. He drew the lines of the app on his iPhone or Vision Pro, and it was then converted into a working prototype. You can read his thread here.

• Text-to-Video: ChatGPT for generating videos. Generate new videos, change styles, or make adjustments in the video. All possible. With just a simple prompt. Try yourself?

This was it. Our first digital dip together. It might seem like a lot, but remember; this wasn't even everything that happened in the past few weeks. This was just a fraction.

2023 was a life-changing year. The arrival of Generative AI has disrupted our work and lives, similar to the advent of steam engines, electricity or computers. It's happened so quickly, we no longer stop to think about it. A good moment to do so in the coming days. To what extent has AI disrupted your work or life? And how will you implement it in your strategy for 2024? Think about that while you're enjoying your Christmas dinner, walking through the furniture mall on Boxing Day, or toasting on New Year's Eve. Enjoy!

If you would like to discuss anything in this dip for yourself or your organization, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to connect with you.

Merry Crispmas! ▽

-Wesley