Marketing has always been among the leading industries to welcome and take advantage of technological breakthroughs. It has also had a hand in shaping many of them – neither print media, TV, nor the internet would exist as we know them today without marketing game influence. The symbiotic relationship between marketing and innovation is strongest today, with the future holding even greater possibilities.
As a marketing specialist or business owner, you likely have your finger on the pulse of current trends. What about the future, though? Further down, we explore ten consequences emerging technologies will have on the marketing landscape. Read up about them now so you don’t fall behind later!
1. Customer Profile Refinement & Personalization
Any advertising attempt, no matter how innovative, can’t do well unless it’s reaching an audience that’s actually interested in whatever it’s selling. TV ads were non-discriminate, and current internet advertising caters to broad categories of people based on the data available on their habits. The rise of big data platforms and artificial intelligence will take this practice to the next level.
We already have troves of data on user searches and interests, but the sheer scope doesn’t let marketers leverage it effectively. Big data platforms can build up consumer personas, allowing the right type and format of an ad to reach a desired group.
The involvement of AI takes this a step further. Imagine ads tailored to each individual, delivered at just the right time to make a sale. AI will also be able to create optimum pricing strategies that ensure each person pays what they think is reasonable while maximizing ROI.
2. Modern Ads for Modern Times
Everything moves at lightning speed in the digital age, so an effective ad needs to capture audiences’ ever-shorter attention spans. The push towards short-form video content is already underway. It’s sure to become even more prevalent in the future.
Companies looking for the widest reach will want to invest in developing short, easily digestible videos like the ones that already dominate TikTok and Instagram Reels. These can be product showcases, testimonials from satisfied customers, or blurbs that present the company or a product in a positive light.
3. Democratization of Creativity
A successful marketing campaign hinges on the combined efforts of different creatives. It needs a compelling copy, striking visuals, and means of audience engagement. While it can’t replace the human touch completely, generative AI is already at a point where it can automate many creative tasks.
The right set of inputs can generate anything from catchy one-liners to brand identity mockups that humans can then polish to perfection. On the other hand, the advancement of a No-Code approach to content creation lets team members without programming knowledge quickly create and deploy webpages or even apps that augment the shopping experience.
4. Taking a Mobile-First Approach
Close to five billion people have smartphones, which includes more than 80% of Americans. Younger people and new adopters are leading the charge. Many of them don’t have a desktop or don’t rely on them as much as older generations if they do. Marketing strategies need to adapt accordingly.
Website optimization is the most obvious area of improvement. Any company that wants to keep up needs to build fast-loading websites that look right on smaller screens. This includes user interface and experience tweaks which streamline the visitor’s journey and help them find relevant info faster.
Widespread smartphone use is also transforming how people search for goods & services. Specifically, they’re relying on their phone’s built-in voice assistants more. Such searches are usually phrased like questions, e.g., “What’s the best auto repair shop in my city?”
Companies will have to tweak their SEO strategies to account for these long-form keywords. More importantly, their content has to provide informative and believable answers to stand out.
Opening Up New Marketing Avenues
Future marketing campaigns will move from printed pages and screens into virtual worlds while also pushing into the real ones. Marketers are experimenting with different approaches. Even so, we can already make out the three that will impact user experience the most in the near future.
5. AR
Augmented reality involves superimposing digital data onto the real world. If you’ve ever scanned a QR code, you have already interacted with the most basic type of AR. More advanced uses may offer expanded info and multimedia content when you view a particular item or location through a phone camera.
Bringing virtual objects into real-world environments is the most exciting use of AR. IKEA is blazing the trail with an app that lets users visualize the company’s furniture inside their living spaces. Several fashion brands have also developed apps that help people see how different articles of clothing would look on them before purchasing.
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6. VR in Marketing
Virtual reality goes a step further. It immerses the user inside a virtual world that’s sometimes hard to distinguish from the real thing. You can already take virtual scenic tours or experience the interior of luxury cars.
VR isn’t as widespread as AR yet since it requires more powerful & expensive specialized hardware. The technology and its supporting hardware are still in the early stages, so cheaper and more accessible versions are not far off.
7. The Metaverse
The Metaverse is a fundamental reimagining of the shared online spaces we have access to today. Ideally, it’s supposed to become a virtual environment where avatars can do anything, whether it’s to form connections, work, study, or shop. The Metaverse, as envisioned by Facebook, has gotten off to a rocky start. Still, the potential for such an overarching online experience remains awe-inspiring.
The Metaverse is a ways off, but we’re already seeing glimpses of what it might look like. Fortnite is a globally popular game with millions of players that’s dipped its toes into Metaverse-like content.
It ranges from live in-game concerts through campaigns that raise awareness of different issues to ads players can see plastered throughout the world. As most Fortnite users are young, the game is priming them for what may soon become a reality for the rest of us.
8. Cybersecurity in Marketing
Emerging technologies will inevitably ramp up old and introduce new cybersecurity challenges. For example, AR apps can’t work as intended without collecting sensitive data about users and their environment. The same goes for any data management platform. How well you can market your products in the future will also depend on the strength of your protections.
Marketing work shouldn’t depend on one’s physical location. That’s why secure cloud storage with robust encryption algorithms will become even more relevant for a seamless work experience. Existing services already provide terabytes of space at reasonable rates. Plus, complex encryption and redundancies ensure file content safety. The storage on offer and its degree of protection will follow increased demand.
Switching from locally installed software to online platforms & services requires setting up multiple accounts per person. As the number of these services integral to your workflow increases, so does the likelihood of compromised passwords.
Password managers reduce the risk by removing humans from the generation equation. They can create and replace as many complex passwords as needed. Yet, users have access to all of them via a single master password. Quantum computers may one day threaten existing encryption methods, but leading providers are already developing countermeasures.
9. Audio Makes a Comeback
Some marketing strategy changes happen due to innovations. Others result from repurposing old mediums as they find new life in a changing technological landscape. Long commutes, better internet plans, and the growing number of homes with smart speakers offer exciting possibilities for audio as a reinvigorated marketing force.
Audio-based advertising can take on many forms. Radio-style ads are the most universally understood and have excellent potential to sway older generations. Such ads also allow companies to augment their brand image with unique sounds or music choices, making them even more memorable.
Many people listen to podcasts while commuting or working. Companies can develop their own or boost their presence by sponsoring already-established shows with large followings.
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10. 24/7 Customer Interaction
Customers appreciate prompt and accurate service. That’s great if they happen to need it during working hours, but what about evenings & weekends? SMBs don’t have the resources to employ round-the-clock customer service staff. Luckily, advances in artificial intelligence and large language models mean they don’t need to.
Chatbots are becoming a fashionable and economical way of keeping customers engaged even when no humans are around to help. They use models like ChatGPT to interpret inquiries and offer answers. Individual companies need to feed the chatbot with relevant data first, but it can handle things on its own.
Apart from 100% uptime, the best thing about chatbots is their uncanny ability to sound human. A recent experiment involving more than a million participants suggests AI chatbots can already convince a third of us of their “humanness”. As LLMs become more refined, that number will likely increase.
If a visitor trusts the chatbot, they’ll be more likely to stick around longer or purchase something. In true salesman fashion, the bot can also try to offer extra services or upsell the purchase without being pushy.
Conclusion
Marketers and business owners are poised to harness the potential of emerging technologies that are here to revolutionize the way we do marketing. The fusion of creativity and technology is propelling us into an era where the ability to create personalized experiences, embrace data-driven insights, and seamless interactions will define success.
As we delve into the ten transformative consequences detailed above, it becomes evident that these emerging technologies are not merely changing the game; technology is now a god who’s reshaping the entire playing field as we know it. The future holds limitless prospects, so embracing the symbiosis between marketing and technology becomes a no-brainer. This transformative journey will redefine the boundaries of success in ways we can only imagine for now.
