Reading time: 4 minutes

My 5 predictions for 2024

My TOP 5 predictions for this year.

Those predictions are based on my own experience of working with fast-growing ECOM companies, discussions with friends from other companies, a lot of content reading, and trends/data analysis. 

Some of them will probably be right, others will probably be false. So don’t take them as a truth, it’s a guess exercise that only reflects my beliefs.

That being said, let’s go try to read in the future 🔮

 

1️⃣ The shift from “Hypergrowth” to “Profitable Growth” is here to stay in 2024

 

From 2020-2021, during the COVID era, it was all about massive growth at all costs, as we saw many businesses grow from 0 to 7, 8, and even ninth figures without focusing much on their profitability.

Just GROW GROW GROW.

At ALL costs 🙊🙊🙊 

 

The businesses had an easier time with the acquisition, getting money to invest in growth, expansion of their product portfolio, and flying higher with their sales numbers than ever before.

But that changed in the second half of 2022 and 2023.

 

The marketing costs went up; the privacy changes happened; inflation, high interest rates, and geopolitical events shook the market.

 

I believe 2024 will be the same regarding the mindset that the majority of businesses will stay bootstrapped and have the mentality of growing profitably at a slower pace but with more healthy profitability indicators.

 

ECOM owner’s mindset in 2024 be like:

Grow profitably of die trying 🥲

 

 

2️⃣ Brands with owned audiences will be winning

 

Just betting on the acquisition for growth and profitability will drown a lot of brands in 2024.

Retention, Community, and fan audience will ensure the profitability that will fuel your brand’s growth.

WHAT TO DO?

 

The real winners will:

✔️ Develop strong Retention with Email, SMS, and even an App

✔️ Set up a loyalty program

✔️ Build an ambassador program so they can leverage their fan base

✔️ Ensure the quality of the products and excellent customer experience ALWAYS

✔️ Boost referral programs so customers will become a marketing channel

✔️ Hyped their audiences about their brand and new arrivals

 

Remember this:

Owned audiences maximize profitability and build longer relationships between the brand and its Community.

 

 

3️⃣ Marketing teams will need to become more and more product-oriented

 

There is no room for 💩 products on the market.

At least, it shouldn’t be.

Within the first prediction, I mentioned that things got harder, so in 2024, we need to do things better to conquer the market.

But not only sell better products that make customers’ lives better and solve their problems but also upgrade the whole ecosystem.

My prediction is that marketing teams for winning brands will become better at understanding the customers and building a product-led marketing mix.

 

Selling problem-solving products 
⬇️
With the right messaging
⬇️
Ensuring the 🔝 customer experience
⬇️
Focusing on the value of returning customers
⬇️
Developing strong repetitive processes
⬇️
Will lead to PROFITABLE GROWTH.

 

If you don’t, I can only say: “Good luck🤞🤞🤞.”

 

4️⃣ Relevance of Influencers & Content Creators 

We often read that UGC (user-generated content) and IM (Influencer marketing) are dead.

In my circle and what I see in practice, that’s far from reality.

Is it more challenging than it was before? YES.

Do you need to upgrade your approaches to leverage them? YES.

Is it still working for ECOM brands? YES.


Some of the faster brands I am working with and in my mastermind group grow on the backbone of UGC and IM.

 

The key is to integrate them into the marketing mix and tread all of it as a whole customer journey so you can:

  1. a) Increase your sales
  2. b) produce high-converting content
  3. c) build brand
  4. d) create demand
  5. e) leverage social proof and credibility 

 

I will soon share a case study in my newsletter to showcase live examples of how it’s done in practice 💪

 

5️⃣ Brandformance = Branding + Performance

This topic is rising in importance every year.

Although it doesn’t get enough discussion, in my opinion.

Most people talk about the power of AI in marketing, the importance of building a REAL omnichannel brand and creative is the biggest factor in your ad’s success. 

But I want to go in a different direction with this, although I support the above mentioned areas as essential.

But I would like to point out that 2024 will be the year when more ECOM players will combine:

BRANDING + PERFORMANCE into BRANDFORMANCE.

 

What I mean by that is that they will stop looking at it on the individual level and analyzing them separately but instead find effective ways to do both in their:

👯 Team structure

🛠️ Processes

🛒 Shops

🆕 Product launches

🎯 Paid ads

👋 Social media channels

❤️ Community

💰 Retention

✨ Creatives

🌐 International expansions

+ Brands will grow above the DTC channel.

 

Returning to the first prediction might slow down the growth a bit, but it will definitely create more sustainable profit-first brands in the long term.

________

And that’s a wrap for today’s ECOM growth community! 

I hope you liked this edition.

At the end of 2024, I want to see how things have evolved and if those predictions were correct.

 

And you, what are your top predictions for 2024? 

 

I would love to hear them, so message me on LinkedIn, and let’s discuss them.

Talk soon and as always …

Happy scaling! 🚀

 

Bests,

Jure (JK) Knehtl

Founder @ JK GROWTH

crossmenu