Last Updated on March 4, 2024
Over the past few years, technology has created multiple opportunities for industries to add value to people’s lives. From solar power and sustainable materials, to self-driving cars and quantum computing, technology has created a brand new world for us to navigate.
Marketers have also leveraged technology in their industry. Because technology has shifted the way people see marketing from a brand-centric perspective into a customer-centric perspective, marketers must also adjust and create marketing campaigns and materials that not only integrates the latest tech, but also fulfills the 21st century customer’s needs.
This has created a digital marketing landscape that is fresh, interactive, informative, and highly enjoyable.
Intelligent Automation
With AI and Machine Learning developing at a rapid pace, it won’t be long before they become fully integrated into multichannel marketing efforts. In fact, it’s already begun: companies have started using ML and AI to perfect their chatbots and context-based automated email responses. Meanwhile, hybrid PBX has allowed companies to create front-line customer service that can effectively solve commonly encountered problems.
Analysts, however, are optimistic about where this technology can take us. Right now, AI and ML are used to address basic F.A.Q.’s and common concerns, but with continuing development in these fields, experts predict that in a few years systems will be able to solve more and more complex customer issues. That’s the kind of robot revolution we’re looking forward to!
Voice Search
One of the most fascinating results of Machine Learning is its ability to teach computers how to understand words in context. Via a process of improving AI’s lexical comprehension, Machine Learning has allowed tech companies to perfect their speech-to-text technologies, which in turn, have prompted search engines to create algorithms that process and understand voice search more effectively.
With more than half of search engine queries now being done through voice, marketers have started shifting their content to be more conversational, more relaxed, and of course, more enjoyable. Long-form keywords have created a digital landscape that’s rich with long-form content that is chock full of information people need and want, which in turn, has improved the entire internet experience altogether.
Video Content
Aside from written content, online video content has been one of the primary focuses of marketing efforts over the past decade or so. As soon as video streaming services like YouTube, IG stories, Facebook Live and Snapchat took off, marketers immediately saw an opportunity to get the word out on their brands and make a splash in the social media pool, and if you’re on any kind of social media platform (a bit weird if you’re not, to be honest!), then you know just how wildly successful video ads are.
Video marketing is so successful that social media influencers get paid thousands of dollars just to feature a 10 second video of a brand on their social media feed. What’s more, because their target audience is young, many marketers have also tapped young content creators to do their videos.
This has created opportunities for young artists to flex their creativity and push the boundaries of advertising into a whole new level. Because digital video editing programs are now widely available (with some programs even being offered for free), more and more content creators are creating professional-looking video content with a very limited budget.
VR and AR
If you thought video content was the end-all of digital marketing, you thought wrong! But don’t worry, the next level is beyond cool: virtual and augmented reality. While not entirely new concepts (crude versions of both have been around since at least the early 90’s), the past decade saw companies heavily incorporating these two technologies into their digital marketing efforts.
Virtual reality marketing saw use in a variety of industries. For example, airlines would create virtual tours of popular destinations in a “try before you fly” promo for would-be tourists. Augmented reality marketing, on the other hand, is relatively newer, but is seeing more traction in the marketing world thanks to the proliferation of smart phones and other mobile devices. With augmented reality, marketers can create digital ads and incorporate them into the real world. The ads are then accessible via an app on a smart device.
It’s new, exciting, and definitely something that experts believe will be the next big thing. With the continued development on AR equipment like Google Glass, we can expect tons more amazing VR and AR content from companies.
Omnichannel Marketing
Marketing analysts believe that the next few years will be a race between companies as to who can create effective, non-intrusive, and highly enjoyable omnichannel marketing. In doing so, companies can seamlessly blend themselves into their target audience’s daily life, enriching their clients world in the process.
All in all, the next decade promises to be an exciting time in digital marketing. With all these technologies available to us, it’s up to marketers to create cohesive, multi-channel marketing campaigns that can incorporate their message and their brand smoothly across all channels.