Issue 1 - Volume 1 | January 2017
The years 2015 and 2016, saw a huge increase in content marketing and marketing automation. Yet Apteco’s Trend Report 2015 on Data Driven Marketing showed that only 33% of respondents are currently using marketing automation.
Marketers are asking – What is the impact caused by being data-driven or automating campaigns? Marketing effectiveness is determined by impact and results. Nothing more, nothing less.
On the consumer spectrum, demonetization announced in November 2016, has definitely had an impact on the consumption pattern. The cash crunch has made people to think twice before spending. What this means for the marketer is – now they’ll need to be more convincing than ever.
In 2017, we might see a significant change in the way content is consumed, the way customers will be influenced. And that would mean, you need to change the way you communicate with your customers and prospects.
Few things that might change in 2017 are:
Content would become more interactive – Marketers cannot rely on passive messaging any more; they need to get the readers involved actively. This might mean there will be more surveys, contests and content delivered to a consumer will be very specific to their interests and situations. Sentiment mapping will be a key driver in content creation. You might see an increase in the usage of live streaming videos such as Facebook live, Periscope, Vine, etc.
Marketing automation will be augmented – Nobody wants to see an automated bot message coming their way. Customer experience (CX) will be the biggest differentiator. With digital transformation happening everywhere, machine learning is set to play a key role in marketing automation, to ensure relevance for the customer.
Influencer campaigns to become syncfluencer campaigns – Influencer marketing campaigns will no more be restricted to few influencers (who are domain experts in a particular field), who usually have a significant following in their domain. You might see influence being built as part of the product design, service delivery and more. Synchronicty across the factors of influence will be the key to deliver a delightful customer experience and keeping them interested.
Overall, the dependency on analytics will grow. For example, even today – the toughest of part of tracking web traffic and conversions is not being able to put a finger on what exactly was the driver. It might not be surprising to see analytical tools evolve to the next level. Predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics will not be enough; we will need tools that offer situational awareness in a consumer’s buying cycle.
To sum up, being in sync with who the customer is and what their goals are will drive the evolution of marketing in 2017 and beyond. The market is ready, are you ready to syncfluence it?
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