Although the foundation of marketing is tough to shake, businesses that rely on outdated or legacy tools are forced to navigate tricky terrain. With newspaper advertising quickly being pushed out by digital channels and artificial intelligence (AI), companies need to shift their marketing approach—and keep an eye on the future.
As marketing technologies continue to evolve, marketers must drive their success to new heights. To stay ahead of the curve, this article explores five tech trends that can level up your marketing game.
Giving Your Marketing Initiatives a Voice
From mobile devices to services like Microsoft Cortana and Google Assistant, the door has swung wide open for voice marketing opportunities. Voice commerce solutions, as well as music streaming and podcasting platforms, offer a stage for brands to deliver highly engaging and targetable ads that empower marketers to reach audiences at scale.
This is why more companies are turning to Vox, a Malaysian startup that offers a conversational AI platform for creating voice-enabled assistance and applications for chatbots. This tool generates human-like conversations that personalize user engagement and interactions. By leveraging big data and analytics, brands can better connect with customers across channels and boost operational efficiency.
Accelerating the Adoption of Chatbots and Conversational AI
The current marketing landscape leaves no room for doubt: chatbots and conversational AI are the way forward. More companies are turning to these tools to take point in consumer conversations, provide data-driven insights and drive brand monitoring.
Furthermore, conversational technology can help customers find the answers they need seamlessly and swiftly—without human intervention. When it comes to ensuring customer satisfaction, 71% of big businesses plan to deploy machines similar to Alexa or Siri.
Diving Deeper into Customer Insights with Data Analytics
While many brands are already prioritizing data analytics, marketers have some catching up to do. Today, there is a greater need for them to incorporate data and analytics into their strategies to deepen their understanding of customer interactions, and offer a more personal journey. In fact, organizations that leverage personalized, data-based marketing tactics achieve an ROI five to eight times higher than those that don’t.
According to Curtis Tingle, Former Senior Vice President of Product at Valassis, it is imperative for marketers to go beyond simply gathering data. It needs to be meaningful—and businesses need to leverage it in a way that elevates their marketing campaigns. By embracing descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics models, organizations can better plan, manage, and optimize their initiatives—and gain a complete picture of their effectiveness.
Propelling Marketing Efforts Through Social Media
Did you know that, by 2027, nearly six billion people worldwide are estimated to be active social media users? As an incredibly influential and essential tool in virtual spaces, social media has become a powerful platform for maximizing marketing initiatives—making it easier than ever to reach communities with just the swipe of a finger.
While social media is more accessible than other traditional approaches, it is quickly evolving. This requires brands to adapt themselves to the shifting landscape—to keep engagement soaring and maintain relevance in their audience’s eyes. By expanding their expertise on platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, marketers can build better brand awareness, generate and nurture leads, and link social posts to opportunities—the possibilities are endless!
Metamorphizing Marketing in the Metaverse
The metaverse: a futuristic amalgamation of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) that represents a unique opportunity to engage consumers in entirely new and innovative ways. Although widespread adoption of the metaverse is still underway, leading brands are already using it to rewrite the rules of marketing.
In many ways, the fundamentals of marketing in the metaverse echo those in the physical world; what differs is its application. Crafting metaverse marketing strategies requires brands to define their goals, design experiences that exceed customer expectations, and find partners that cater to new metaverse capabilities. For example, NASCAR partnered with Badimo—the developers behind Jailbreak—to introduce a special in-game branded vehicle. This resulted in a 30% jump in concurrent player visits during the ten-day event that featured the car.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, marketing revolves around people and how brands connect to them—with technology serving as the bridge. Therefore, it’s essential for marketers to keep the trends, as well as human behavior, at the forefront of their campaigns. From heightened personalization to boosting the bottom line, technology has caused a tectonic shift in the way marketers meet, and exceed their customers’ expectations. The world is only privy to the tip of the technological iceberg—it’s time to start embracing it.
