.jpg)
2023 was a complex year for businesses. On the one hand, technology transformation skyrocketed, with the introduction of more advanced forms of AI, connected ecosystems for digital customer experience, and automation tools. On the other hand, countless companies were left struggling to survive in an era of continued economic uncertainty, labour shortages, and geopolitical upheaval.
Moving into 2024, some of the challenges business leaders will face will remain consistent, such as dwindling budgets, higher customer acquisition costs, and reduced customer loyalty. At the same time, there will be new concerns to address, particularly from a technology stack perspective.
Companies will need to find innovative ways of reducing costs while improving employee productivity, aligning distributed teams, appealing to discerning customers, and leveraging transformative new tools. Here’s what we can expect in 2024.
While the challenges most significant to your business will vary depending on a range of factors, there are some issues that seem to be influencing every business right now. Such as:
Customer acquisition costs have risen almost consistently in the last few years, driven by evolving customer expectations, and higher competition in the modern landscape. To thrive today, businesses need to explore new ways of capturing potential leads, using traditional media to overcome digital content overwhelm, and experimenting with new forms of content. There’ll also be a greater focus on building customer loyalty and boosting retention, to keep CAC as low as possible.
Although the economy may improve in 2024, with falling interest rates, companies are still struggling with limited budgets and funding. This year, economists predict certain areas of spending will begin to increase again, with companies focusing on leveraging new cutting-edge technology. However, budget optimisation will remain a priority for many companies, forcing them to consolidate software, streamline marketing activities, and refocus sales efforts.
Talent shortages are nothing new for most companies, but they’re becoming increasingly problematic in 2024, particularly in the digital landscape. The cyber skills deficit is increasing, making it harder for companies to access top talent with essential skills connected to AI, sales, and customer service. There’s likely to be a growing focus on the use of internal education solutions, and AI coaching systems to help upskill and reskill existing employees.
In 2023, only around 28% of salespeople hit their quota, and the struggle is likely to continue moving into 2024, as customer journeys become more complex. To enhance sales results in 2024, companies will need to invest more time and effort into aligning customer-facing GTM teams, increasing access to data, and targeting the right accounts for conversion. There’ll also be a greater focus on the customer-centric approach to business, and relationship development.
While security and compliance have always been challenges for growing businesses, the threats in the modern landscape are evolving. Companies now need to consider not just phishing and malware attacks, but issues with ethical AI implementation, and data breaches caused by generative AI. There will be a growing need for a more comprehensive approach to data security, privacy, and compliance as regulations evolve in 2024.
The five challenges mentioned above, all draw attention to the need for a truly optimised technology stack in the modern world. Businesses in this landscape need to take a more strategic approach to investing in the right technology and aligning their digital ecosystems.
Throughout 2024, optimising the tech stack will mean:
As customer acquisition costs increase, retention numbers dwindle, and relationships with consumers become more essential to business success, companies will need to remap the customer journey. They’ll need to develop a deeper understanding of their target audience, leveraging AI for more in-depth segmentation and personalisation throughout the go-to-market journey.
At the same time, they’ll need to ensure they’re considering all of the channels they can use to engage with customers through every stage of the buyer journey, from digital onboarding for existing customers to traditional media for capturing customer attention.
This will require a tech stack that allows users to map and orchestrate GTM campaigns around the buyer journey, instead of a traditional sales funnel.
Talent shortages in the modern landscape will require companies to invest in more intuitive technology solutions that can empower and support their existing workers. One crucial strategy will involve bridging the gaps between marketing, sales, and customer service teams, ensuring they can share data and insights consistently, to boost the chances of business success.
Integration and alignment between markets, sales, and service experts will be essential to achieving revenue growth, improving customer retention, and reducing customer acquisition costs. When teams are aligned, they can work together to boost the number of team members reaching sales quotas, improve customer targeting, and enhance consumer loyalty.
Though technology budgets may begin to increase again in 2024, particularly as more companies rush to take advantage of innovative AI tools, the mantra is still “more with less”. There’s a growing need for companies to address the complexity of their tech stacks, reduce technical debt, and align distributed ecosystems.
Connecting and consolidating different technology solutions into a more comprehensive, multi-faceted platform could be the key to reducing operational costs and data issues. Connecting your “must-have” solutions, and consolidating multiple tools into a single environment will become more critical in the months ahead.
Optimising how data is stored, collected, and aligned in your technology stack is important for various reasons in 2024. First, it’s crucial to ensure you can empower and optimise your teams, and make better decisions for your go-to-market strategy. Secondly, it’s essential to ensure you can remain compliant with evolving security and privacy regulations.
Optimising data management will also be an important strategy for businesses that want to take advantage of the growing potential of AI in the business world. AI and data management go hand in hand. If your data strategy isn’t up to scratch, you won’t get the best ROI from your AI investment.
Even in a tricky economic environment, the last year has proven that companies need to continue innovating and evolving if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Digital transformation is an ongoing process that no company can afford to overlook.
Businesses will need to continue exploring the benefits of powerful new solutions, like generative AI for content production, machine learning for segmentation, and automation to boost productivity, efficiency, and business results in 2024.
In today’s complicated world, business leaders have a number of challenges to overcome, from complex sales cycles to evolving budget issues. The key to success this year will be building a tech stack that aligns with the modern buyer journey, unifies your teams and data, and opens the door to innovation, without overwhelming your budget.
The right tech stack will give you a much-needed edge over the competition in the current world and could help to reduce your operational costs moving into the years ahead.
.png)
.png)
.png)
