Ranging from AI adoption rates to personalisation and employee experience, a new survey has revealed some top trends digital leaders are expecting for 2024.

Quantum Metric, an analytics platform, announced the findings of its 2024 trends report, 4 Big Digital Bets for 2024, which surveyed digital leaders to uncover their biggest priorities heading into the new year.

Findings that emerged pertain to AI investments, digital experience, and mobile trends, employee experience becoming an increased priority and changing tides of customer loyalty programmes and personalisation.

The research team surveyed 1,000 digital leaders across sectors in the US and the UK.

Are Digital Leaders Full Committed to AI?

Although AI investments are on the rise, some digital brands have yet to take the leap; just over a third (35%) of digital leaders are either waiting to see how the tech progresses or have no plans to pursue AI in the near future.

Quantum Metric’s data found that 59% are overwhelmed by the amount of AI tools available and a third know AI has value, but simply are not sure what it is yet.

On top of this, the majority of digital leaders understand that AI regulations are well on their way, yet they remain underprepared. Almost two thirds (61%) anticipate that new AI regulations will impact their investments, with over a half (51%) saying the new regulations will add complexity to their investments.

Further, around a third (30%) of digital leaders feel a lack of visibility into how customers use AI will make it harder to meet new regulations.

Mobile Is Gaining Traction

Social media ads and features like live shopping have made mobile the first touchpoint according to two thirds (66%) of digital leaders.

The survey showed that about half (48%) of leaders say social media ads have grown mobile traffic and conversations in the last year.

Further, a fifth say life shopping is driving mobile traffic and conversations, and 38% say social media is set to drive mobile adoption in 2024.

As mobile adoption grows, digital has become part of the physical brand experience with 55% believing that digital will drive almost all business to physical locations by next year.

Employee Experience Will Be A Priority

Hiring is expected to rise in 2024 with 75% of digital leaders expecting to increase staffing for their teams.

In an effort to double down on the customer experience while also improving the employee experience, 57% of digital leaders will increase staff for customer-facing teams.

The right investments in employee experience will be critical, but about half (48%) of digital leaders say there is not enough prioritisation on backend tools.

As a result, this leaves the employee experience with major gaps which can have detrimental effects on revenue.

In fact, 30% say gaps in the employee experience have made a noted impact on company revenue and the ability to convert new audiences into loyal shoppers.

Personalisation and Customer Loyalty Programmes 

With the rise of emerging tech like AI, personalisation has become an assumed part of the digital experience.

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In terms of personalisation, digital leaders say the top services customers want personalised are self-service tools (55%), searches for products or services (51%), and when managing current orders or returns (48%).

When it comes to loyalty programmes, digital teams are focused on building multi-service customers. To do so, 60% will offer new services including new subscription options in 2024.

Additionally, the goal of loyalty programmes has changed: 31% say the primary goal of a loyalty programme is to engage the most loyal customers in these new offerings while just 14% say its to retain customers.

“As the digital customer experience continues to evolve, one thing remains critical to the success of its success and that’s complete visibility into the customer journey,” said Danielle Harvey, VP of industry strategy.

“Be it to understand the value of new AI investments, optimize mobile or enhance the ties between the customer and employee experience, it is critical that digital organizations be able to understand and empathize with the customer experience. Going into 2024, this is what will help define the businesses that continue to excel on digital from those who get left behind.”