With billions of people on the planet regularly using the internet, computing devices, smartphones, social media, and other platforms, digital marketing has become mainstream for businesses.
However, with the progress in technology, the digital marketing landscape also changes, which is why it has become an increasingly dynamic component of marketing.
Nowadays, brands and businesses are using technology and finding the best possible routes to cater to their target audiences through a combination of online marketing channels. We are living in a state of flux.
According to a recent study by Responsify, 52.95% use smartphones compared to 43.11% who use desktop.
Furthermore, 53% of marketers agree that blogging is their top content marketing priority and expect about 67% more leads every month for a brand that runs a blog.
Moreover, in the B2B industry, 92% consider social media as a top marketing tactic followed by 83% who favor e-newsletters and 81% considering articles on the website as necessary. In 2021, 86% of small business will invest in employing visuals in their marketing strategy.
In light of this information, let’s take a quick look at how technology will impact Digital Marketing in 2021.
· 24/7 Customer Support
Currently, marketing is focused on delivering an always connected and ready to serve experience. This is a customer service model that many businesses out there want to achieve. Plus many have already accomplished this with the help of variant solutions.
One method is to offer support with the help of virtual assistants who can be hired as an independent contractor and provide administrative services for clients.
On the other hand, we have chatbots infused with NLP (natural language processing) and can provide assistance to customers regarding their basic queries. There is no doubt that 24/7 customer service is a valuable provision for your clients and in return, also help to market your services.
Furthermore, conversations and data collected by both virtual assistants and chatbots can help businesses yield meaningful insights about their selected audiences.
· 3D Printing
Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing has dramatically improved over the years, opening a totally new array of possibilities which were considered night impossible before. Today with high tech 3D printers an astounding amount of complex and intricate objects can be created utilizing a wide range of materials.
These days, marketers are using 3D printing to showcase new product designs, concepts, and even share legacy items made by the company in the past.
Currently, various brands are using 3D printing capabilities to excite their clientele. Among them is Reebok that has recently launched its Liquid Floatride Run line of shoes that are made with the help of 3D technology.
· AI and Machine Learning
Probably the most happening field right now is none other than AI with ML in the mix. With big names, including the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Alibaba, AI’s future looks promising indeed.
With its ability to crunch incredible amounts of data and learn from customer interactions, AI is being considered a game-changer for marketing.
Companies like Amplero, GumGum, and Invoca utilize artificial intelligence to create advertising campaigns and marketing strategies. Other companies like Tempus and Ascent are leading AI development with over a hundred million dollars invested already.
In present times AI is mostly used to speed up the collection of user data and information from customer profiles while using ML to learn the best communication and deliver tailor-made messaging.
· Business Automation
As time progresses forward, we are increasingly discovering ways to automate business operations. Applications of RPA (robotic process automation) are already being deployed, and by creating a hive of IoT (Internet of Things) controlled by a central software, companies like DHL have achieved automate warehousing.
Likewise, when it comes to marketing, there are several tools that can help you accomplish automated marketing, such as:
- AdRoll for automating your ad campaigns.
- Constant Contact & Customer .Io for automating emails.
- HubSpot auto-pilot for generating leads.
- Marketo for nurturing your leads.
- Oracle Eloqua for personalizing campaigns across multiple channels.
- Pardot for automating marketing analytics.
· Custom-Made Messaging
When it comes to delivering outstanding results and leaving lasting impressions on your customers, personalized messaging takes the cake.
This involves a careful study of your target audiences, including the formulation of customer personas and utilizing customer journey mapping to understand where they stand. Preferences and likes of your customers matter a lot, and if you can capture their attention using their own self-interest, that could be scored as a big win for your organization.
Some of the best tools right now include:
- HubSpot Marketing Hub that includes personalization tokens and custom-made pop-up forms.
- Optin Monster for creating personalized marketing campaigns.
- Proof is software that allows segmentation of audiences based on their lifestyles and other relevant data.
· Data Analytics
With over 1,200 petabytes of data on the internet today, there is no wonder that big data is blowing up out of proportions. (Where 1 petabyte = 1,024 terabytes = 1 million gigabytes). Customer and user data has become increasingly important for corporations to succeed in the current ecosystem, with many investing in data mining processes.
In the coming years with the inclusion of 5G cellular technology, this travel of data on the airwaves would further increase many folds. Today we have several software and tools that are helping marketers develop strategies and make informed decisions such as:
- BuzzSumo
- CrazyEgg
- Crowdbooster
- Formisimo
- Mixpanel
· Emerging & New Technologies
While VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) are not new, their widespread use in the masses’ daily lives has yet to kick-off. Many companies have already experimented with AR and VR technologies to market their products and services.
One of the best examples in recent times was of Burger King’s AR app where a user can point their smart phone’s camera to catch a rival’s ad, and the app would burn away the ad to reveal a Burger King coupon.
Other examples include Toyota’s Hybrid AR app for its new C-HR model. The user can interact with the app by overlaying the hybrid car’s image with an actual model in real life and learn more about the inner workings of Toyota’s new vehicle. Young learners who apply for academic writing services simply adore brands that dish out these kinds of innovative marketing strategies for consumers and customers to explore.
· Optimizing for Voice Technology
Voice technology has become fairly common especially considering that people at homes have become agreeable towards using home assistants to carry out everyday tasks including the likes of Alexa from Amazon, Google Home Assistant, Cortana from Microsoft, and Siri by Apple.
As more people frequently use voice search to find solutions to their queries on search engines.
For marketers, this is a huge opportunity to optimize their products and services for voice technology as this will help them to recurrently appear in search suggestions and hence grab the attention of users.
For starters, one should consider optimizing their online content both on websites and other digital platforms for voice technology.
· Programmatic Ads
The automated buying and selling of online advertising are known as programmatic advertising. Advertisers only pay for ads that are delivered to the right people at the right time, and therefore it’s a major shift away from the more traditional “spray and pray method”.
This has led to the emergence of DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) that allow buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple advertisement and data exchange accounts through one interface.
Hence any company with an effecting programmatic ad strategy can now reach an incredible amount of audiences on multiple platforms. Some of the best agencies offering these services include Amazon (AAP), Choozle, DoubleClick, LiveRamp, MediaMath, and TubeMogul to name a few.
Conclusion
The technology around us has created a connected ecosystem with the corporate institutions and enterprises spearheading their usage to market and promote their offered services.
As time moves ahead, more and more ventures across the planet find themselves agreeable towards the use of new and emerging technologies to promulgate their business image and create a terrific amount of impressions for their brands.
Right now we can all just all keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. Let’s see where tomorrow can take us. Cheers, and all the best for future endeavors!