From saving time with AI to fostering a virtual, omnichannel presence, here’s what content marketers and communicators need to know when 2024 draws nearer.

How have content marketing and communication changed during 2023, and what are the future trends looking like on the eve of 2024?

Here are 24 communication and content marketing trends and statistics to guide your content success in 2024!

3 People Join LinkedIn Every Second

With over 950 million users and 61 million company profiles, LinkedIn is not only one of the biggest but also one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. Three people create a profile on the platform every single second.

Simply put, LinkedIn is the place to be, whether you’re an entrepreneur looking for the next client, a business looking for loyal fans or a professional willing to take the next step in your career. Your next client, fan or employee is already there!

1 % of LinkedIn Users Create Content Weekly

Only a diminishingly small portion of the 950 million people on LinkedIn create content on a weekly basis. Companies are a little bit more active with 2.7 million company pages putting out at least one post per week.

It doesn’t always feel like that when you’re scrolling through your LinkedIn feed, but consistent content creation is actually an easy way to stand out from the crowd. Even one post per week means you’re more active than the other 99 per cent of the other users. Easy, right?

52 % of Business Leaders Use AI for Content Creation

Thanks to generative AI, consistent content creation is easier than ever. Tools like ChatGPT and Bard pushed generative AI into public awareness in 2023, and the trend is going to continue strong in 2024. According to Statista, a little over half of business leaders report having used AI to generate content – while 65 % were planning to do so until the end of the year,

The AI boom isn’t limited to busy business leaders only: almost a fourth, 23 % of US book authors shared having used AI in their writing process as well. The most common way to use AI-driven tools was to improve spelling and grammar but almost a third of authors – 29 % – said they had used AI tools to brainstorm for plots and characters.

33 % of Marketers Use AI to Generate Content Ideas

When it comes to ideation, marketers win book authors by a nose: 33 % use AI to churn out content ideas. According to Hubspot’s survey, a bit fewer – 28 % – use AI to create content as well, for example, blog posts and articles.

57 % of Marketers Use Chatbots for Demand-Generation Content

While the figures above may feel modest, they are very likely on the rise as the tools become better known, and marketers hone their skills to make the most of their toolkits. After all: saving time is one of the key reasons professionals resort to AI tools.

One domain where saving time is especially important is demand generation. This phase typically requires a lot of content, which takes time to create, as 44 % of buyers engage with at least 5 pieces of content before contacting the vendor. 

Hence it’s no surprise that chatbots are one of the rising trends with 57 % of marketers having trialled them to create demand-generation content.

82 % of Content Creators Find AI-Generated Content as Good as Human-Written

How about the quality of AI-driven content, then? Surprisingly (to me, at least!) 82 % of marketers found that copy written by AI measured up with human-written content, in a survey run by Capterra.

Just because the majority thinks so, doesn’t mean they are right, though. If you want to be sure that using AI tools won’t compromise the quality of your brand content, check the resources below. 

Read More: 5 Smart Strategies to Use AI Writing Tools

Read More: 3 Reasons to Love and Fear ChatGPT

6,5 Million People Follow a Virtual Influencer Called Lu do Magalu

To continue on the note of AI content generation trends, virtual influencers are definitely a phenomenon to keep in mind. 6.5 million people follow a virtual influencer called Lu do Magalu – and this is only one of the 150 active virtual influencers according to an estimate from Stryve.

464.7 Million People Listen to Podcasts

Content marketing and communication in 2024 won’t be all about having ChatGPT write scripts for virtual influencers and chatbots, though. It seems like audiences are still craving human voices, as the trend of podcasts keeps rising with over 464 million people listening to podcasts.

Podcasts have some serious influence as well: 60 per cent of podcast listeners reported having purchased or tested a product after having heard about it on a show.

Short Video Content Is Winning

When it comes to content formats, consumers’ attention spans keep shrinking, paving the way to the success of short video content. On the other hand, on slower platforms like LinkedIn, there is still room for live videos and longer video content as well.

An Average Person Has a Minimum of 5 Social Media Accounts

Omnichannel communication will be one of the future trends, as people want to engage with their favourite brands wherever they are. An average person has a minimum of five social media accounts – and they don’t want to switch devices or services to communicate with you.

This means repurposable content to reach the audiences where they are and where they want to be contacted. Fortunately, AI is there to help us with that!

Which Trends Delight or Depress You?

What is your team’s plan to ride the hottest content marketing trends for communication success in 2024?If the trends make your head turn, schedule a head-clearing Content Strategy Call to map out the way forward – and for fresh ideas, download the content guide below for 10 ideas that outlive any marketing trend.