I have been looking at technology this week and trying to see how technology will affect our lives in general, and in how to market goods in particular. The developments are mind-boggling, but among the changes that seem to be on the way are:

 

Our mobile phones and tablets are becoming increasingly powerful and brands are likely to use Augmented Reality more in order to boost their engagement with potential consumers. Look for the leading social apps, Instagram and Facebook, to lead the way in integrating this technology into their market-leading platforms.

 

Might we see a sharp decline in the number of brand influencers? Companies put a lot of money into influencers, but are they seeing a sufficient return on investment? Brands may use a very select band of influencers to create results.

 

Using data to better understand the customer journey, with data-driven marketing Knowing where consumers are at all sections of their potential purchasing decisions and understanding what appeals to them. - 

 

Artificial Intelligence is becoming the company spokesperson. Live-chat tools are communicating with customers. Apple, for example, clearly believes that AR is the way to go with the release of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. This will likely lead brands to go with AR sponsored and branded content.

 

The need to target messages highly specifically to different consumer goods is critical, and new technology makes it relatively painless. That means personalization is rising to the next level, with account-based marketing (ABM) providing content tailored to specific accounts or account types.

 

Quantitative-based marketing where companies set up data-science teams to work together with marketing experts.

 

The era of self-driving cars is approaching and that will give the former drivers, who will then be passengers, time on their hands. As a result, in-car ads could become a new marketing channel.

 

Typing will increasingly become a thing of the past. In 2017, just 20 percent of online searches were conducted via voice search. In just two years, that is expected to soar to 50 percent. Marketers will need to optimize content for voice search.

 

The protection of privacy, especially where purchases are concerned, is becoming increasingly important. Consumers will use products that put privacy protection first, and companies will want to stress this aspect in order to attract custom.

 

Facebook, even with significantly more than 1 billion users, will become eclipsed by Instagram which is seeing an extraordinary rise in the number of users. It seems that Instagram is set to be the go-to app for brands in their social media marketing.

 

The response rate in using cold email is far from impressive, and filtering out junk mail has become very easy. As a result, integrated marketing campaigns that use emails, digital adverts and other means to attract potential clients using fresh strategies will see more success.

 

Those are just some of the ways that marketing is likely to change this year. There are many more and I would highly recommend researching this topic. Not only is it useful from a branding and marketing perspective, but also provides fascinating reading material.

 

Have a safe and pleasant weekend.