OpenMarket – June 2, 2016
Over the past five years, marketing technologies and solutions have proliferated. There are now thousands of unique tools and services a company can leverage in order to find, target, and engage consumers.
But if you look past all the clutter, it should become obvious that a few stand out from the noise.
The End of Marketing as We Know It
“As many organizations and professionals struggle in a perpetually changing industry, high-performers will maintain a sense of urgency regarding digital transformation,” says Paul Roetzer, CEO of a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency. “They will construct scalable marketing technology frameworks that adapt as new solutions and opportunities emerge, and as consumers’ interests, preferences and behaviors evolve.”
If it isn’t obvious to you, we’re at a very interesting point in time. While the role of marketing in high-tech industries is becoming increasingly prominent, marketing as we know it is coming to an end.
This year, marketing and sales are expected to account for 27 percent of all IT spending … which far surpasses the traditional spending ratio. However, these companies won’t be spending on the same tools they’ve been purchasing in the past.
A totally new set of technologies is emerging that will revolutionize the marketing landscape. As these tools enter the marketplace, look for technology companies to scale marketing budgets in order to account for these strategic resources.
In the coming months and years, marketing is going to look entirely different from how it has in the past. And this is a good thing.
Most people are calling for a consolidated marketing technology landscape, where companies rely on a single platform for all of their needs. But honestly, this doesn’t appear to be coming down the pipeline.
Most companies have multiple platforms in their “marketing technology stacks” and this trend looks like it will continue well into the future. Contrary to popular belief, this fragmented market isn’t a bad thing.
Individual technologies are becoming better at communicating with each other, which means organizations are much more willing to adopt them.
Five Solutions High-Tech Companies Are Turning To
While every company has its own strategies and agendas, there are some common technology adoption trends in the industry. Take a look at a handful of the top solutions in 2016:
1. Cognitive Computing
In the coming years, cognitive computing — an attempt to simulate human decision-making with computer models and data-mining technology — will become standard for companies that seek to automate their marketing and sales efforts.
Plenty of organizations in other industries are already leveraging cognitive computing, but they’re looking for IT companies to get on board. As the technology improves and algorithms become more sophisticated, there will be a place for tools like IBM’s Watson in every company.
2. Predictive Analytics
As the role of big data increases, experts believe predictive analytics will replace old rule-based analytics that are no longer delivering the same value they once did.
“Predictive analytics, which combines data mining, statistics, modeling, machine learning, and the use of artificial intelligence to analyze data to make predictions, will be a standard tool for marketers by 2018, according to IDC,” IT expert Tom Spring points out. However, this is a bit misleading.
IDC also reports that only 33 percent of companies will have the IT expertise to benefit from predictive analytics. In high-tech industries, this figure will obviously be much higher, however.
3. CRM Systems
CRM technology has been a staple in high-tech firms for years, but you can expect to see even more companies begin to adopt these robust solutions in the coming months. Here are a few of the key ways leading organizations are deploying CRM:
- CRM can be relied on for account planning and opportunity management. Leading companies use the data they collect to tailor interactions with individual clients.
- A robust CRM solution gives everyone in the organization a better overall view of the customer. This enterprise-wide understanding means everyone is more likely to be on the same page.
- With CRM solutions, sales and marketing teams can work together to enhance sales effectiveness and increase lead close rates. This harmony is allowing companies to maximize their resources more effectively.
If you aren’t currently using CRM, then you’re behind the curve. The good news is that these solutions tend to be intuitive and simple to use.
4. Programmatic Advertising Tools
With Internet advertising making up a large portion of many tech companies’ total marketing budget, these organizations are turning to programmatic advertising tools to increase their return on investment. In the simplest form, programmatic advertising mechanizes the buying and selling of various ads so different advertisers can target visitors based on available information.
It’s an extremely advanced technology that allows a group of advertisers to bid on the right to deliver their ad. It all happens in a few milliseconds, but the winner’s ad is served.
Because all this must happen very quickly, advertisers rely on demand-side platforms that do their bidding for them. The better our demand-side platform, the better your chances will be of extracting value from these ad placements.
5. SMS
When you look at the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), it’s clear that mobile apps are on the decline and artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise. In the coming years, apps will be almost entirely replaced by AI-powered bots that use mobile communication platforms to provide value to users.
What form of technology will be fueling the rise of these bots? It should be obvious: SMS.
But that’s not all. As we’ve discussed extensively in previous blog posts, companies within IT, security, and other tech-related industries are extracting immense value from SMS in the form of personalized lead generation. Look for even more companies to use SMS to engage customers in the future.
Contact OpenMarket Today
At OpenMarket, we understand the pressure companies are facing to move forward with new marketing trends. And though many of these solutions come with steep learning curves, the good news is that SMS doesn’t.
Our proprietary, industry-leading SMS messaging solutions allow you to connect directly and instantly with your customers, regardless of where they are. In an age when AI-powered solutions are growing in prominence, you want to make sure you have a reliable way to connect with customers.