The Ultimate Guide to the Use of Technology in Marketing

In a world where almost everyone is digitally connected, it’s relatively certain that you have come across technology in most business operations. Technology is increasingly having a significant effect on how we conduct businesses. And when it comes to marketing, technology plays a huge role, especially in the modern marketing world.

This guide will look at the impact of technology on marketing, its meaning in today’s modern marketing, and some trends and opportunities to look out for in the current digital marketing space.

The Dawn of The Platform Age

The marketing-tech sector is undergoing significant upheaval. A dual narrative of consolidation and diversification is one of the most fascinating phenomena.

On the one hand, massive enterprise software companies are developing and purchasing large “marketing cloud” products; on the other hand, start-ups are developing fresh concepts all around them. It’s an incredibly fertile field. Those two forces are now beginning to merge. These marketing clouds become current platforms with open APIs and official ISV (independent software vendor) ecosystems, allowing marketers to plug unique capabilities into a standard marketing technology backbone with ease. Salesforce’s App Exchange is a perfect example of this, with over 2,600 official apps that marketers can use.

What is Marketing Technology?

Marketing technology, often referred to as Martech, uses technology to tweak, enhance, and realize marketing objectives. It comprises all the software and tools used in promoting digital marketing campaigns.

Don’t Get Confused Between AdTech and MarTech

People often use Martech and Adtech interchangeably, but in essence, they’re slightly different. Martech brings up the overall technologies and techniques used to optimize and leverage digital marketing campaigns, such as analytic tools. On the other hand, Adtech refers to the technologies used to run, measure, and track online advertising metrics such as impressions, click-through rate, and keyword search volume competition, among other KPIs.

The Importance of Technology in Modern Marketing

Technology is increasingly playing a significant role in marketing, particularly influencing how much revenue we spend on marketing, the time spent, and the effectiveness of the campaigns. The evolution of technology in marketing has dramatically impacted how businesses promote their products/services, connect, and interact with their prospects.

Today, through the internet, customers have more access to a bulk of information than before. Customers can now search for information on companies and their products, compare different brands, and even interact with other consumers by sharing experiences. Technology is now more than ever a vital tool to customize and increase the efficacy of your marketing strategies in the tech world.

The impact of technology in marketing today has seen marketers and business owners receive and implement marketing technology to develop and grow their brands. By gaining meaningful insights about customers, marketers can now tweak and improve their digital marketing techniques. However, marketers have faced a few challenges in integrating new technologies into their marketing, including:

• Choosing the right Martech and Adtech platforms for their marketing campaigns
• Adjusting and changing marketing techniques while maintaining organizational cultures
• Constant technological advancements have sometimes made it challenging to implement and get accustomed to the new technologies.

Pro-tip: It would be best to gain valuable insights and intelligence before embarking on a specific type of marketing technology to avoid slip-ups.

Trends and Opportunities in Marketing Technology

According to emailmonday, 51% of companies are currently using marketing automation techniques, and 58% of B2B companies are planning to adopt marketing technology in 2021. With the ever-competitive market, the use of technology in marketing will become a necessity for businesses to improve their bottom line. Here are some technological solutions which are and will continue to influence marketing strategies:

Personalization at Scale

Personalization at scale uses technology to collect, optimize and use customers’ information to leverage marketing strategies. It entails providing users/customers with relevant and unique experiences tailored to their needs or problems with the help of analytics and LSI’s use of technology in marketing. In a Monetate and WBR research study, 93% of businesses with advanced personalization strategies reported an increase in revenue in 2018.

Personalizing content will continue to rise as today’s consumers increasingly value excellent customer experience even more than product prices. So, providing individualized experiences like in email marketing and optimizing pages with customer-centric types of keywords will put you at a better chance of increasing conversions.

Chatbots

It is no longer unusual to find companies integrating chatbots for customer service and engagement. In fact, a survey found out that over 80% of companies use or are planning to incorporate chatbots in their businesses. Basically, chatbots will continue to be preferred by customers in engaging brands, perhaps due to their speed and efficiency.

Automated Social Network Campaigns

With the increasing number of social media users, especially among the younger generation, brands will remain and increase their social media presence. Therefore, automated social media marketing solution technologies like buffer (used to schedule posts) will rise.

Geo-Targeting Technologies

Geo-targeting is where marketers use technology to send prospects and existing customers advertising messages based on their location. Through geofencing, marketers can now use technology to create a virtual boundary of a certain radius and send promotional campaigns to consumers’ mobile devices whenever they enter or leave the set limits.

Predictions and Future of Marketing Technology

Due to the constant technological advancements, marketing technology will undoubtedly continue developing and growing for a better future. And one thing’s for sure; businesses will always have to adjust and familiarize themselves with these types of marketing technology. Here are some predictions to look out for in the next five years:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Without any doubt, Al-powered marketing will be on a rapid rise in the coming years. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will better impact marketing now and in the future.

Blockchain

Blockchain, an entirely new technology, is slowly making waves in the modern marketing world. Consumers are increasingly going to have power over their data due to blockchain’s standards on data security and transparency.

5G

With many countries rolling out 5G networks, the faster mobile internet connections will play a significant role in marketing. Advertising could take a new turn in matters of speed and efficiency.

UGC

User-generated content (UGC), usually in videos, texts, or images, is increasingly becoming an essential factor in winning today’s brand-conscious consumers. And in an online space where trust and credibility are indispensable, UGC content will forever be cherished.

In terms of job possibilities, some of the responsibilities that’ll be expected from a marketing technologist in the next five years will include;

• Draw actionable insights from data collected to make sound decisions
• Analyze and select the right Martech software and applications for organizations
• Ensure business growth in the ever-growing online marketplace
• Use marketing automation solutions to minimize marketing spend

In a nutshell, digital marketers will be expected to train themselves and get acquainted with new skills relative to the latest technologies. Indeed, workplace requirements will have been considerably transformed for digital marketers.

Eventually, the evolution of tech for marketing and marketing development will see technology play a more significant and starring role in marketing. Therefore, marketers will need to use dynamic approaches to enable adaptability and agility with new technologies in marketing.

At TheExpertCafe`, we take pride in helping marketers gain valuable and unique insights that help leverage their performance in today’s savvy market. It would be best if you let your expertise count with impeccable marketing decisions. Join our ever-growing marketing community today, and be sure of the latest marketing innovations, strategies, and much more.