Before the turn of the century, innovation at its core was evolving at a relatively steady pace. However, over the past decade and a half, technology has drastically transformed the way in which products are planned, produced, and promoted. It doesn't take a genius to predict that further technological innovation will only continue to shake the digital marketing landscape for years to come.
Companies are able create and market ideas at a breathtaking rate and don't show any signs of slowing down. With constant connectivity combined with data-driven information, strategies that worked yesterday can be completely obsolete by tomorrow. Brands can learn exactly what makes consumers tick as they drive innovation into the future. Here are several upcoming advancements in technology that could turn the digital marketing world upside down.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is not a new concept. However, it is still in the infancy stages of being truly effective. The concept got widespread attention with the recent release of Pokemon Go. As the world went crazy over this game, it became clear that AR was going to have a profound impact on the future of digital marketing.
The purpose of AR is to integrate digital information into the user's everyday life. In turn, the UX is much more immersive in the content itself.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of AR is its ability to empower the consumer. IKEA has been a pioneer in embracing customer-driven AR. Their platform allows customers to digitally impose furniture items in their own home to see exactly how it will blend into the space. This application makes for quicker transactions while the customer can avoid in-store visits.
AR vastly improves the way marketers can connect with their target audience. Instead of pushing brand messages and promotions, companies can use AR to interact with consumers on a deeper level. It is all about putting the customer in the driver's seat where they can live out brand experiences at their own pace.
The future of AR is exceptionally bright with the Microsoft Hololens set to ship out in the beginning of 2017. Prepare for brands to infiltrate reality for years to come with AR.
Wearable Technology
Thinking back to things like the Walkman, pagers, and heart-rate monitors, wearable technology has been around for decades. However, devices like the Fitbit and Apple Watches have revolutionized the concept and brought it back into the spotlight.
By 2019, the worldwide market for wearable technology is predicted to increase at a yearly rate of 35%. This means several things for the digital marketing world.
First off, social media will see a huge impact in the way content is consumed and interacted with. Material must become even more accessible and formatting will have to be remastered to properly adjust. Shorter, keyword-centric content such as tweets will become necessary and it is very possible that there will be a completely new set of social media sites emerging to adhere to wearable features.
Second, online marketers will need to utilize more geo-specific and highly targeted campaigns. While there are currently options available for geo-targeting in terms of pay-per-click and SEO for these platforms, it is likely that a widespread shift to wearable technology will give companies the ability to pinpoint the location of their audience more accurately to deliver hyper-targeted content at the perfect time and place. In turn, conversions will come much easier.
Third, gathering data and analytics will be able to take a step beyond smartphones and acquire even more valuable information from consumers. One of the biggest advantages will be the ability to tap into emotions. For instance, the miniscule sensors built into smart clothing can pick up on bodily reactions to buying or browsing. Based on this information, brands will be able to gear and release content based on a much deeper understanding of the consumer's mindset.
Although still very young, wearable technology is interwoven into daily life and the bond will become stronger and stronger as marketers will be able to capitalize further on attitudes and behaviors.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is changing lives in almost every aspect. The way we consume, live, and interact is about to take a sharp turn. IoT refers to a development of the internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity with the ability to send and receive data. This entity is taking the marketing world by storm. Predictions are being made that there will be over 50 billion connected "things" by 2020.
The impact IoT will have on digital marketing in coming years will result in a whole new level of convenience to the consumer. For example, a user's home would be able to pick up on cooking habits and compile data on grocery purchases and kitchen tool usage. With such information, marketers can target consumers at the right times to replenish their supplies and create a relevant, personalized user experience.
"Anyone not excited about the potential IoT has to change marketing and the consumer space is probably not paying enough attention, and will possibly lose this fast-moving train," says Kit Hughs, CEO and founder of LookListen.
Looking into the future, IoT producers will need to integrate their products and services in a manner that different vendors can communicate with each other while using this data to create a profound customer experience across the board.
Global Connectivity
In 2015, Virgin and Qualcomm joined forces to initiate the launch of hundreds of low-flying satellites to provide fast, and affordable broadband to billions of people in third-world countries. The first launches of OneWeb's satellites are expected to take place in early 2017. Businesses that aim to improve lives in third-world countries would be wise to get ahead of the game and begin researching ways they can reach a global audience.
Currently, there are over 4 billion people living on the planet without access to the internet. The prospect of worldwide broadband opens the door for marketers to reach a huge sector of potential consumers.
But hardware and network scalability alone is not the force that will bring these 4 billion on board – it is the promise of what those who are already on the bus have access to. While "online" used to mean only email and websites in the not-so-distant past, it is now synonymous with social media and the app ecosystem. With over 2 billion users each, social media and mobile apps on smartphones have a lot of overlap.
Within this intersection, gaming is one of the highest revenue-generating categories, in terms of both downloads and in-app purchases. And just when the industry thought mobile gaming was stagnating, along came Pokemon Go. Such hit titles have the power to draw untapped audiences with sheer FOMO power, and live on in the form of spin-offs (I just found a Halloween-meets-Flappy bird game called Flying Witch Mania).
With the idea of global connectivity, the need to understand cross-cultural discourse will be extremely important in order to reach new audiences. Successful marketers will need a profound knowledge of foreign customs, economics, and social views to gear their strategies for a global stage, and find influencers accordingly. Once there is a firm understanding of both rich and poor cultures, it is likely that marketers will need to rewrite their playbooks.
Final Thoughts
By the looks of it, further advances in technology are going to drastically stir up the digital marketing world over the next decade. There will soon be ways to reach consumers on vastly different levels than are currently available. The best way for marketers to keep up with the trends is to stay alert and keep the train moving.