In 2024, marketing and public relations leaders will be up all night dealing with many difficult issues, including SEO instability, securing PR coverage, upskilling, and AI-induced concern over job security, according to a new study.
With the marketing and public relations industries already facing high burnout rates and poor mental health, and a new CIPD study reporting that 76% of employees have experienced some form of stress-related staff absence, the new data sheds light on the key challenges that sector leaders face in real-time
The unique research from over 500 UK marketing decision-makers, commissioned by search-driven content firm No Brainer, exposes marketing executives’ major issues in 2024, which are:
- Search engine upgrades and volatility – 17%.
- In-house skills and upskilling – 16%
- Anxiety about being replaced by AI (16%).
- Landing media coverage relevant to the target clients – 15%.
- Attribution & ROI – 15% .
- Maintaining and increasing visibility in search – 15%
- Lack of knowledge about how we could use AI (14%).
- EEAT content, search rater rules, and identifying reliable, trusted experts—14%
- Market and competitor activity – 14%.
- Integration of teams to offer integrated/omnichannel marketing (14%).
In recent weeks, Google has begun penalizing low-quality content and lowering ‘unhelpful’ information by 40%. Also, nearly half of marketers say they have not been allowed to upgrade their skills.
Additionally, the UK’s AI sector is expected to be worth £2.4 trillion by 2027, increasing the complexity and change for business executives attempting to manage AI in marketing.
Together, these trends highlight the changing marketing landscape and the complications that marketers face while managing their major issues.
Gary Jenkins, Managing Director at No Brainer, stated, “Search, marketing and public relations are industries that have always experienced volatility and change; it’s something many of us working in these industries are used to and embrace.” However, in recent years, this appears to have reached new highs, and it does not appear that this will reverse very soon.
There’s a lot of complexity and convergence in marketing right now, and what agencies like us have to do is assist marketing and public relations professionals adapt to the changing landscape in new ways, controlling and minimizing risks while also capturing opportunities.
With many more Google updates in 2023 and 2024, we’re seeing a sea-change in the search landscape, so it’s not surprising that this would be high on the list of marketers’ challenges in 2024, especially since search-driven performance is a fundamental part of any successful business, none more so than e-commerce.
Driving excellent PR and digital PR performance is difficult and becoming more difficult, thus it is essential to adapt to this changing landscape and collaborate to succeed. And, in an industry typically plagued by burnout and poor mental health, it’s fascinating to observe how AI’s threats to marketers’ careers are adding another difficult layer to the issues.
“Data like this is important to understand the difficulties and challenges that all marketing directors face, whether in-house, agency-side or as consultants. Knowing them and finding strategies to address or work through them is something that we as an industry can work on together and help one another. They may, as always, be addressed with the proper strategies and resources.”
Source- Marketingtech
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