Research of Temasek, Google and Bain forecast the continued growth of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) booming digital economy, which remains on track to reach $100 billion in revenue by the end of 2023 despite global headwinds.
With the research also highlighting significant progress in digital inclusion, it stands to reason that the number of digital consumers in the region will increase, inevitably leading to evolving customer expectations around interactions and engagement with brands.
The impact of these changing expectations has become evident over the past year. HubSpot data today points to a crisis of disconnection between brands and consumers; In large digital-first economies, such as Singapore, nearly nine in ten business leaders said it has become more difficult to reach prospects in 2023 compared to the previous year.
More than eight in ten companies are also facing slowing growth, with previously successful strategies seeing declining returns.
It is clear that with customer expectations set at levels beyond competitive pricing and product quality, a new marketing playbook is needed.
Drawing on HubSpot’s first-hand research on 2024 marketing trends and observations of its SEA operations, here are Kat Warboys, HubSpot’s Asia Pacific CMO, predictions on the key trends that marketers are considering. Marketing in the region should be aware as teams work on these trends. success in the coming year.
1. AI becomes the ultimate marketing assistant
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the buzzword of 2023, with investments in the technology rising in Asia-Pacific.
We expect AI adoption to continue in 2024 in SEA, where companies in the region are poised to invest 67% more in AI and machine learning (ML) in 2023 than the previous year, according to a report from Dataiku. We’ve observed that SEA marketers increasingly view AI as an assistant that augments their ability to better manage daily tasks. This is especially true for generative AI applications, which help marketers develop higher-quality, personalized content that resonates better with audiences, all at a faster pace. These feelings are reflected in a HubSpot studywhere content creation emerged as the top use case for generative AI among 89% of marketers in the region’s business hub, Singapore.
Another major use case for AI is the automation of labor-intensive jobs. HubSpot found that marketers spend on average five hours a day – more than half of their workday – on low-impact tasks such as keyword research, data cleaning, content formatting, reporting and analysis, all of which can be automated by the tools of generative AI. Time-consuming tasks that are part of the creative process, such as digital asset management, file tagging, file naming, as well as content creation, can also be handled by Generative AI. This frees up valuable time and energy for marketers and allows them to focus on more meaningful tasks like project execution and creative brainstorming. Most importantly, it gives marketers the time and data-driven insights needed to truly connect with customers and work with them to identify and solve complex customer challenges.
However, significant barriers to adoption remain. 35% of Singapore marketers participating in a HubSpot study are facing challenges because they don’t know how or where to start with generative AI tools, highlighting the need for training and development among marketers. Other common concerns we have observed relate to the potential for AI-generated content to damage brand reputation due to plagiarism or misalignment with brand values.
We hope these concerns will be overcome as companies hire AI implementation experts, marketers become more familiar with AI, and AI tools strengthen fact-checking capabilities. Part of these efforts should be government-led. For example, Singapore recently unveiled its Updated National AI Strategya plan for the country that focuses on preparing the economy to adopt and use AI, with other major Southeast Asian economies also having similar initiatives are in place.
2. Social commerce to record outsized gains
SEA is home to some of the most avid social media users in the world. According to GWIsocial media users in the region spend around three hours per day on these platforms, exceeding the global average of around 35 minutes.
SEA marketers leverage social media platforms to reach customers and prospects, making social commerce the highest-performing marketing channel in terms of ROI. This trend is expected to continue through 2024 and will see the strongest growth, with marketers investing heavily in influencer partnerships, social selling tools, and offering customer service through direct messages on social platforms to create seamless, in-app shopping experiences.
3. A short video to reign supreme
However, not all platforms or formats are equal. Although Facebook remains the most used platform, we predict that video platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube will see the greatest growth in 2024. trend observed among SEA social media users in recent years, where social media videos contribute significantly to online discovery. HubSpot research found that short-form video provides the highest ROI in social media marketing and is therefore expected to continue to be the preferred format for marketers looking to engage the region’s digital audience.
4. Influencers have a positive impact on purchasing decisions
According to Middle overview, more than half of Southeast Asians follow influencers on social media, laying a strong foundation for influencer marketing. In fact, a Cube Asia Survey reported that 82% of SEA respondents felt their purchasing decisions were influenced by recommendations from influencers or celebrities.
SEA marketers will continue to collaborate with influencers in 2024, with micro-influencers likely being the most popular. Although influencer content does not always directly translate into a conversion, influencer promotion of a product or service can significantly contribute to brand awareness, allowing customers and prospects to become familiar with it. your mark. Working with micro-influencers is not only less expensive in most cases, but can also facilitate access to close-knit, engaged and loyal communities – essential in the age of customer disconnection.
5. Social media and first-party data are essential following Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies
SEA marketers will turn to social media targeting and first-party data to reach their audiences in response to Google’s phaseout of third-party cookies. Although the emphasis on data privacy and growing volume of related regulations across the SEA has required adjustments to marketing strategies in 2023, Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies will arguably have the biggest impact, with a considerable number of marketing activities traditionally relying on these cookies.
Marketers will explore alternatives to third-party cookies in 2024, with social media targeting and first-party data likely becoming the most popular solutions. Complemented by AI’s content development capabilities, first-party data will also enable marketers to create personalized content tailored to their target audience, significantly improving customer experience, relevance and potentially customer review rates. conversion.
6. A single source of truth will be essential for marketers
In their work, teams often leverage various disparate platforms that don’t integrate well with each other, leading to siled data and workflows. This makes information sharing and collaboration across teams very complex, becoming a key cause of disconnect between marketers and their customers or prospects, and often gets in the way of sales/marketing alignment. And this challenge will inevitably become more and more pressing as SEA economies digitalize.
We expect the same trend among SEA marketers. HubSpot interrogates marketers in Singapore in 2023, where more than eight in ten industry professionals said data and disconnected systems have become barriers to success. The main challenges relate to not enough data or too much data remaining inaccessible due to siled systems, impacting their ability to retrieve quality information.
The rapid adoption of digital products and services in SEA creates an opportunity for marketers to gain deeper insights into their customers through data gained at every digital touchpoint throughout the end-to-end customer journey . As such, we anticipate that marketers will increasingly work to integrate data with tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, allowing them to collect, store and manage customer data. From a workflow perspective, creating a single source of truth helps strengthen alignment and collaboration across teams, predict future sales, and automate marketing and sales processes, where applicable. applicable. Marketers with connected tools and data, especially when complemented by AI capabilities, are more likely to be strongly aligned with their sales team and customers, and thus successfully achieve their marketing objectives.
To succeed in marketing in 2024, you must keep pace with developments in the sector
The dynamic nature of the marketing space constantly challenges marketers to remain informed, adaptable and open to adopting new strategies and technologies. As 2024 approaches, the most successful marketers will be those who are able to keep pace with, or even stay ahead of, these trends by integrating the right technologies and channels into their strategies to target and reach the right customers in today’s digital economy.
This article was written by Kat Warboys, Senior Marketing Director APAC, HubSpot
