This is What WW is Watching in 2024 (besides whales)…
Whole Whale was creating an internal strategic document and we decided to open it to the sector.
You are busy and probably tired of overly verbose ChatGPT generated stuff, so we’re keeping a super high thoughts-per-word for you to quickly see what we’re looking out for this year at Whole Whale.
Ads & Analytics
- Google Universal Analytics gets deleted Jul 1, 2024. Resource: GA Apocalypse: The Deprecation of Universal Google Analytics – Whole Whale.
- Google Chrome Cookie deprecation in 2024 (1st party cookie will remain).Resource: Preparing for the end of third-party cookies | Privacy Sandbox | Google for Developers.
GA4 Improvements coming:
- Custom metrics and effect on model (for attribution) changes
- NLP trends on analytics ( ie Google Cloud NL, gensim)
- Predictive features courtesy of AI coming to GA4
- Consent mode (Google Ads, GA4, & GTM)
- About consent mode – Google Ads Help. Consent mode is a feature in Google Ads that allows you to adjust how your Google tags behave based on the consent status of your users, enabling Google to model for gaps in conversions.
Fundraising
- Crypto activity resurgence will boost crypto giving. Resource: The Giving Block forecasts $10B in giving.
- Severe penalty for spam emails and the end of list buying. Resource: Don’t buy email lists in 2024, it could kill your domain for this reason.
- Rise of easy SMS marketing will increase SMS fundraising and noise. Resource: Mailchimp quietly rolled this into their system making SMS as easy as email.
- Trust gap widening will create communication headwinds. Resource: Reports from Edelman Trust Survey showing alarming trend for nonprofits.
AI
- Rise of Search Generated Experience (SGE) as a new chat-first way to find answers will hurt organic traffic for most websites. Resource: What Search Generated Experience (SGE) Means for Nonprofits (Chat-first search)?
- Regulations will come for AI and change how these tools evolve but won’t put the genie back in the bottle thanks to open-source models. Resource: Recent NY Times copyright lawsuit will be watched closely.
- Nonprofit AI policy and practice adoption. Resource: Companies that create content will be expected to acknowledge the use of AI. Additionally, companies are going to be more vigilant about LLMs that are training on their content.
- Increase in LLM parity and commoditization across models. Openai had a head start but competitors will close the gap in 2024 giving users more options. Tools like CauseWriter.ai can give you a safe, one-stop-shop to use them all. Other tools like https://poe.com can also give access but be careful about data being used for training.
Social Media
- Election Year noise and polarization will hit a record high. Resource: 2024 will set a record for the most democratic elections in history. Short video.
- Video-first communication strategy is a must as all major social platforms are pushing short videocontent. Resource: Trust gap from AI content pushes authentic video sources (until AI video catches up)
- Rise of tier-2 social platforms. The increasing importance of competitor and non-tradition start-up social media sites: Threads, BlueSky, Mastadon, Discord, Messaging apps: Telegram, Whatsapp.
In 2024, nonprofits should prepare for major changes in analytics, fundraising, AI, and social media that will impact their strategy. Focusing on privacy-first data, authentic communications, and responsible AI adoption will be key to navigating an increasingly complex digital landscape.
We’re here to help if you want to talk about a project.