5 Technological Developments that are changing the face of Digital Marketing
Content marketing is adapting fast to the evolving dynamics of digitalization and is well-poised to touch $32 billion by 2018. Key trends that surfaced through 2016 and first half of 2017 are poised to become obsolete over the next few years. This makes it imperative for new entrants and e-commerce behemoths to realize that the market is more than ready for futuristic solutions.
Inexorably, this also implies that aspiring content curators and marketers would do well to start deciphering future-ready trends now to secure their path on a journey that is viscerally tumultuous, and where change is the only norm.
Here are some of the futuristic trends that will define consumer behaviour — but keep in mind that the only way to keep up is to constantly evolve.
Live streaming:
According to the Aberdeen Group, companies that leverage videos in their marketing strategy witness 27% higher CTR and 34% greater online conversion rates than those that don’t. Live events imbue a sense of exclusivity and privilege for users, and are a great way to ensure actionable customer engagement through empowered relationships.
From Facebook to Twitch, the number of takers for live streaming is already growing at a burgeoning pace, despite the fact that Facebook’s live streaming service is yet to take off in the real sense.
Voice Search:
Farfetched as it may seem, Google search might soon make way for voice search. In fact, voice search underpins the common thread between Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana. Over the next three years, voice will account for 50% of all online searches. Inevitably, this will result in the demise of traditional navigational searches in websites.
The Director of Search at Branded3, Stephen Kenwright notes:
“The changing nature of search should make publishers and brands stop for a minute and think about the content that they are producing. How long can you keep a person on your site before they revert to Google?”
Chatbots:
Shoppers often complain that talking to customer service over a phone call becomes one of their most harrowing experiences. Chatbots are an ideal solution to this hassle.
Apart from lowering costs by automating customer service, chatbots are unique in their ability to deliver immediate resolutions for customers, with generous doses of hyper Personalisation — which combines data with context to provide consumers with tailored content at every stage of their journey.
Non-Fiction Storytelling:
While storytelling will always be an integral component of any marketing strategy, the need of the hour is to implement interactive, non-fiction storytelling that impels the audience to become a part of something real and meaningful.
Millennials, who are becoming the dominant buying force for companies across the globe, do not settle for anything less than the truth. Therefore, storytelling will need to be interlaced with untainted truth if its future-readiness is to be safeguarded.
In the parlance of content marketing, interactive storytelling helps build strong emotional connections with the audience, thereby building lasting reputation.
Intelligent Content:
Intelligent content is basically any content that is iterative, fast, informative and relevant. It saves time and money, drives better customer experience and is future-ready.
The beauty about intelligent content is that it can be stored at a single point and yet, can be divided into different categories for content producers to access and implement in different baskets. This in turn allows for the creation of content which is customized for different audiences using multiple channels.
Content marketing will continue to evolve as newer technologies come into play, but the key is to engage with your audience in novel ways and help them reach where they want to get, faster than ever before.
This is an adaptation of a newspaper article I wrote for the Jaipuria Times, a supplement of the Times of India. Read it here.
