5 predictions for marketing in the future

In recent years, the way companies do marketing has changed significantly. Last year in particular was full of new challenges and unpredictability. However, this period was also marked by change, opportunities and new opportunities. Digitalization has become particularly relevant and has triggered a rethink in many areas. The developments in the coming months will therefore also be trend-setting for the period after Corona. For this reason, we take a look into the crystal ball and give you an outlook for the marketing of the future and what trends await you with the following five forecasts.

Voice assistants are becoming the new trend channel in online marketing

Digital assistants such as Siri, Google and Alexa are getting better and better—especially when it comes to learning how their owners speak and whose purpose is behind general questions. At the moment, the language assistants are primarily looking for things such as opening hours, recipes or the weather. Thanks to well-maintained, structured data, these can be easily read by Google and Co., and played out as a result. But websites should also be optimized accordingly in other areas in order to take up the special features of this type of search.

In the future, voice assistants should help you get to know your customers in completely new ways. The reason for this is that it makes a big difference whether people formulate their search on a keyboard or pronounce it in everyday language. A written request on the web, for example, consists of only one to three words. By contrast, when uttered, the questioner is more likely to formulate conversational questions and use important long-tail keywords. By the end of 2021, there will be more than 1.6 billion people who regularly use a voice assistant - and not just to check the time or the weather. We are moving towards an economy characterized by dialogue with consumers and in which voice assistants at home play an important role. Anyone who is able to respond directly to the user's feelings and needs when interacting with them presents themselves as a brand that is there for their customers immediately and effortlessly.

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Marketing will take place more and more in real time

Real-time marketing basically means addressing target groups across all channels at the right time with personalized offers. In recent years, so-called “newsjacking” in particular has been implemented as a real-time marketing campaign — a measure that ties in with current news events. One of the most popular examples of this type of real-time marketing came during the 2013 Superbowl, when the power went out during the game and the stadium was suddenly plunged into darkness. Oreo benefited creatively within a few minutes with his graphical tweet “Dunk in the Dark.” In less than an hour, the message was retweeted more than 10,000 times. Even eight years later, people are still talking about it in the USA. About a single tweet — not about the complex strategy behind it.

However, real-time marketing means something completely different today. Companies are now choosing a customer-centric approach for their advertising measures. This will continue to develop in the future — it is about reaching consumers at the right time with the right products and messages. Because: Consumers are becoming more and more demanding and expect more than clever messages that are delivered to a wide target group. Instead, they want advertising that is tailored to their personal, current situation — in real time. Companies' marketing must meet these expectations by using apps, mobile-optimized websites and, above all, voice recognition. Speed and accuracy are key factors that need to be further optimized, because they ultimately make the difference between acquiring a new customer or losing an existing customer.

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Classic display ads as we know them today are dying out

Personalization is playing an increasingly important role in marketing today. For example, it can already be observed that classic display advertising is losing more and more relevance. Over time, they have even achieved the opposite of what they were actually intended for: They interrupt the customer experience, which leads to more and more users installing so-called ad blockers, which ultimately leads to falling earnings for advertisers.

First-party data, i.e. all data that companies already own, is becoming increasingly valuable, especially for precise targeting. This is often data from the CRM system or data on surfing behavior on the company website. In recent years, a number of web and desktop users have used ad blockers. And the numbers are rising. This means that companies can no longer simply send one-to-many messages. Ad blockers are now fairly effective, meaning brands are seeing less and less success with display advertising.

This means that first-party data is valuable. They should be collected and maintained and ideally incorporated into optimising the customer relationship by using them to provide target groups with personalized advertising content. However, the respectful and conscientious handling of data must of course always come first.

Blockchain as a core component in marketing of the future

In order to do successful marketing, companies must master an important and yet difficult task: They must know their customers. And that includes digital customer identification. Content that was tracked in the past via cookies or email addresses will in future be regulated via encrypted blockchain registers, so-called ledgers.

Blockchain technology is finding its way everywhere where identification and data are involved — including in online marketing, for example. The technology provides transparency to the industry. It makes it possible to make the exchange between customers and companies visible and comprehensible at any time. Unlike traditional online advertising, blockchain gives companies an accurate picture of the users they have reached with their advertising, because it is possible to understand exactly who has touched the “chain.” This makes bots or purchased clicks impossible and makes third-party providers such as Google superfluous, because companies can see and determine for themselves who their advertising measures should reach.

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Cross-device identification: A fundamental component of omnichannel marketing

Omnichannel marketing will continue to fundamentally change in the coming years: It will increasingly be integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT). Together with blockchain registries, consumers will receive another “identification” in the future to ensure that they get exactly what they expect from their favorite brands and are ready to consume. So-called cross-device identification (XDID) will be crucial for consistent advertising experiences across all channels and devices in the future.

This type of cross-device identification allows you to match connected devices (such as smartphones, tablets, but also smart cars, etc.) with individual contacts. This makes it possible to address consumers on their preferred devices and channels.

Of course, XDID isn't the answer to all personalization problems. But cross-channel identification makes it possible to get to know the people behind the data even better, to draw a more accurate picture of them and to understand how they interact with the brand.

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conclusion

For the future of marketing, it is clear that personalization is becoming an increasingly important issue. Even as a result of the rapid progress of digitalization and technologies, there is still a great deal of potential in marketing, as we know it today. So adapt to changing times and changing consumer behavior - your customers will thank you for it. With our WLAN marketing package, your customers/patients/guests advertise for you, are happy and recommend you to others.