Influencers, compliance and AI: Global CMOs have their say on the state of the industry
The rise of influencer marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and compliance with data regulations stand out as a pivotal areas of focus for 2024, especially within the Australian market, new data suggests.
Dotdigital’s first global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) report highlights a growing reliance on influencer marketing as a key strategy for engaging consumers and driving return on investment (ROI).
Marketers globally are placing significant investments in influencer marketing (35%), just behind automation software (43%) and ahead of AI integration (30%).
These technological advancements will help CMOs empower their teams to create the best experiences without the heavy lifting.
The findings expect a surge in partnerships with micro-influencers – people with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers who serve more niche audiences.
These influencers connect meaningfully with target audiences on brand-aligned topics, offering cost-effectiveness, credible endorsements, and higher engagement rates.
Dotdigital CMO Juliette Aiken said influencer marketing is about making authentic connections.
“Influencers all have a unique voice and style, and combining it with your brand’s identity can lead to share-worthy content that reaches a larger audience – connecting with both new and existing customers. And influencers have strong communities that know, like and trust them – a simple recommendation or sponsored post can help your brand increase awareness and drive sales.”
Aiken explained that micro-influencers often have smaller, highly engaged audiences who perceive their content and recommendations as more genuine and relatable, leading to higher trust and credibility for brands.
“Micro-influencers are typically more flexible than macro influencers too, and are more willing to experiment with different content formats. This allows brands to be more innovative and to have different types of content in the market to engage their target audiences in multiple ways – i.e. tapping into key trends.”
As the digital marketing landscape evolves, compliance with data regulations has also bee highlighted as a key opportunity for growth.
Nearly 50% of marketers worldwide feel unprepared for upcoming data regulation changes. In Australia, this figure rises to 54%, with many marketers struggling to meet new compliance standards.
Globally, 32% of respondents cited regulatory compliance as their biggest challenge, noting a lack of visibility and control over endpoints as a major barrier to adhering to regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Looking ahead to 2024, trends suggest a growing emphasis on building trust through data privacy. Approximately 36% of marketing leaders view data privacy regulations as a significant opportunity to earn consumer trust, a figure expected to rise.
Aiken added: “To engage modern consumers, marketers must balance innovation with authenticity, adapt to shifts in the marketing landscape, and invest in technologies that foster creative, tailored customer experiences. It’s crucial to embrace these advancements while maintaining data privacy and ethical standards to preserve customer trust.”
Dotdigital’s survey gathered insights from over 750 marketing leaders across the UK, US, and Australia, representing 13 industry sectors.
The report also highlights AI as a major challenge for marketing professionals. While most teams use AI for marketing automation (32%) and data analysis (31%), significant barriers remain.
33% of marketers lack confidence and skills in using AI effectively, and 30% express concerns about data privacy with open-source models.
Addressing the gap in AI prompting skills will be vital in the coming year as businesses implement more structured AI solutions and the initial hype around the technology settles, the report suggests.
Marketers need to focus on enhancing transparency and fostering human-AI collaboration in content creation.
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