The marketing landscape is constantly evolving. Here are the top six trends we’ve seen as we look to the future of digital marketing—and help our clients get there.

 

1. Everyone will be a data scientist

Today’s businesses tend to focus on vertical expertise to provide specialized services, including data science. But as digital marketing matures into an industry that serves millions of businesses worldwide—all with different needs—it becomes clear that specialized skills and siloed roles aren’t enough anymore.

Data is already driving decisions about which features to develop, what type of content to create, how new products should be designed—and even how customers should be supported. As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow, an understanding of data science will need to become a core competency for every employee across your organization. The levels of expertise among employees will, of course, vary; but a basic appreciation and understanding of how data works has to be a given for every employee, both existing ones (who may need training) and new hires.

 

2. Marketing software will continue to converge

On the horizon of digital marketing is the convergence of software. Many companies are moving to a single platform for marketing, including marketing automation, CRM, CMS, and email marketing.

This is called “single platform” rather than “single interface” because it’s not just about having everything in one place—it’s about having all your data in one place as well. A truly integrated system means that any change or update you make in one channel can be reflected in all other channels automatically. That way when you send out an email newsletter, it’s already been scheduled on social media accounts and vice versa. You can even set up automated emails responses so if someone contacts you by phone or email they get an immediate answer with whatever information they need at their fingertips (more on this later).

The benefit of having all these tools in one place means that there’s less work for your team—and less time spent trying to find old documents or figuring out how something works.

 

3. Content marketing is dead—sort of

The truth is, content marketing is not dead; it’s just evolving.

Indeed, the traditional way of doing content marketing (i.e., putting out a blog post once a week) may not be the best approach anymore. But content marketing itself isn’t going anywhere anytime soon—it’s one of the most effective ways to build trust with your audience and build relationships with them over time.

Companies are becoming increasingly strategic about the content they create, with a focus on:

• • Creating content that isn’t just a sales pitch, but that has real value for customers, by being educational, entertaining, or both.
  • Connecting with customers on a personal level by sharing your story and giving them a peek “behind the curtain” at how your business works, what you’re excited about, and what’s ahead.
  • Sharing helpful tips, tools, and resources, both ones you create and ones from third-party experts.

The outcome of this type of content is that it builds trust with your audience–and trust helps convert more people into customers: After reading or watching your content for months or years, people feel a bond with your company before they’ve even bought a thing, and are more likely to turn to you when they’re ready to buy.

 

4. Agencies are getting creative with delivery models

As more and more people turn to digital platforms for news, entertainment, and information, marketing agencies are finding creative new ways to help their clients reach consumers.

One example of this is technology platforms that integrate with social networks. In the past, if you were, for example, interested in learning about the new features of your favorite smartphone or tablet, or wanted product recommendations, you might go online and search for articles, “best of” lists, and the like, using Google or Bing! Today, people are increasingly turning to Facebook or Twitter as their primary search, tapping into their existing network of friends or influencers.

By using platforms that integrate with social media, companies can connect users looking for information with their own content providers who are experts in that area. These platforms also provide instant feedback on how many people have read the content, as well as how many users liked or disliked it.

 

5. Companies will have to take a more multi-disciplinary approach to design

As the role of design becomes more strategic, companies will need people on board who can solve business problems using user insights and research, as well as formulate creative solutions that are both inclusive and scalable across channels. As a result, designers are becoming more of a strategic asset—not just there to make digital experiences pretty, but to make things work better for users, often using data as a guide. As companies become digitally savvy, they’re learning that great design can help them reach their goals faster than ever before.

 

6. MarTech stacks will get smaller and more integrated

In the future, you’ll need to know a lot more about your customers if you expect to convert them. With a tightly integrated, scalable MarTech stack, you can gather and manage the data your customer service generates and then use it to inform your marketing strategy.

That means less fragmentation and more focus on integration between different tools. You should be able to use one system for all of your marketing needs, from lead generation through sales management. That system needs to support a robust, data-driven approach that allows you to reach customers where they are and measure the efficacy of your efforts.

 

It’s clear that the future of marketing is one of increasing complexity and sophistication. The convergence of marketing software means that there are fewer tools at our disposal, but those tools need to be integrated with each other to provide effective solutions. Content marketing isn’t going away anytime soon, but agencies need to adapt their models if they want their clients’ content efforts to be successful. Finally, MarTech stacks must be smaller and more integrated if marketers want their teams’ abilities aligned with the needs of today’s consumers who demand seamless experiences across channels. To learn more and find out how SCG can help you take your digital marketing into the future, contact us.

It wasn’t clear to me if this is what you meant by content evolving, but maybe this makes sense?

I’m not sure I got this right…I wasn’t quite clear from your description of how these integrated tech platforms you’re talking about work / what they do.

I took out this whole section. It wasn’t clear to me where / how it fit in:

The marketing landscape is evolving, and these are the top trends we see happening.

Everyone will be a data scientist

As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow, data science will become a core competency for every employee across your organization. Data scientists will be responsible for helping make decisions about which features are developed, what type of content to create, how new products should be designed—and even how customers should be supported.

The question then becomes: How do we train all employees to become data scientists? To answer this question, we need to consider how companies currently hire and develop their talent. Today’s businesses tend to focus on vertical expertise to provide specialized services (e.g., lawyers, engineers), but as digital marketing matures into an industry that serves millions of businesses worldwide—all with different needs—it becomes clear that individualized skills aren’t enough anymore.

Companies need employees with a breadth of knowledge to be able to meet the demands of customers. Most organizations don’t have the time or resources to develop their own data science teams, so they must look outside of their organization for specialized talent. But finding the right people is difficult because even if you can find someone with all of the necessary skills and experience, they may not fit with your company culture or share your values.

The solution is to train employees in data science so that they can be a part of your organization’s strategy. You’ll need to ensure they have the right mindset and skills, but this is possible if you set clear goals for them from the beginning.

 

Marketing software will continue to converge

On the horizon of digital marketing is the convergence of software. Many companies are moving to a single platform for marketing, including marketing automation, CRM, CMS and email marketing.

This is called “single platform” rather than “single interface” because it’s not just about having everything in one place—it’s about having all your data in one place as well. A truly integrated system means that any change or update you make in one channel can be reflected in all other channels automatically. That way when you send out an email newsletter, it’s already been scheduled on social media accounts and vice versa. You can even set up automated emails responses so if someone contacts you by phone or email they get an immediate answer with whatever information they need at their fingertips (more on this later).

The benefit of having all these tools in one place means that there’s less work for your team—and less time spent trying to find old documents or figuring out how something works!

 

Content marketing is not dead, it is just evolving.

It’s true that the traditional way of doing content marketing (i.e., putting out a blog post once a week) may not be the best approach anymore. But content marketing itself isn’t going anywhere anytime soon—it’s one of the most effective ways to build trust with your audience and build relationships with them over time. In fact, building trust through content can lead you to convert more people into customers because they’ll feel like they know you already after reading or watching your content for years on end.

There are a number of ways to do content marketing well: – Create valuable, educational content that’s interesting and entertaining – Connect with your audience on a personal level by sharing your story – Share helpful tips, tools and resources

 

Agencies get creative with delivery models

As more and more people turn to digital platforms for news, entertainment, and information, agencies will need to find creative new ways to reach consumers.

One way for agencies to deliver their clients’ messages is through technology platforms that integrate with social networks. These platforms connect users looking for information on a particular topic with content providers who are experts in that area. For example, if you’re interested in learning about the new features of your favorite smartphone or tablet computer and want recommendations from trusted sources (such as friends), you might go online and search for answers. In the past this would have been done by searching Google or Yahoo!, but increasingly people are turning instead toward Facebook or Twitter as their primary search engines. Platforms like these allow users access directly into an existing network (i.e., their friends) without having first conduct any kind of research on one’s own behalf; they also provide instant feedback with respect how many people have read what was written previously as well as how many users liked/disliked something before deciding whether or not they agree with its contents overall.”

 

Companies will have to take a more multi-disciplinary approach to design

Companies will have to take a more multi-disciplinary approach to design. As the role of design becomes more strategic, companies will need the right people on board who can solve business problems using user insights and research, as well as formulating creative solutions that are both inclusive and scalable across channels. Designers are becoming more of a strategic asset—they’re not just there to make things pretty anymore: they’re also helping make things work better for users.

 

Design is becoming more of a business enabler

As companies become digitally savvy, they understand that great design can help them reach their goals faster than ever before. But with so much potential at their fingertips, how do they know where best to invest? That’s where we come in! We’ve got all the answers you need about how digital marketing works today—and what it could look like tomorrow.

 

MarTech stacks will get smaller and more integrated, not larger and more fragmented

In the future, you’ll need to know a lot more about your customers than ever before. You’ll need a system in place that can help you gather and manage the data they generate—and then use it to inform your marketing strategy. In order to do this, you’ll need a MarTech stack that’s integrated and scalable. This means:

• Less fragmentation and more focus on integration between different tools
• The ability to use one system for all of your marketing needs—from lead generation through sales management
• A data-driven approach that allows you to reach customers where they are and measure how effective your efforts are

 

Here are the top trends, along with examples of companies that are leading in each area.

• Content marketing: Content marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
• Mobile marketing: Mobile marketing is the practice of delivering interactive messages to consumers through their mobile devices.
• Voice search: Voice search refers to the use of voice commands as an input method in computers, smartphones/tablets and other consumer electronics devices.
• Brand advocacy: Brand advocacy occurs when customers take action (e.g., likes or shares) online on behalf of your brand because they like what you offer or because they want others to know about it too.* The future of digital marketing: The future of digital marketing has never been more exciting with new trends emerging every day! Nowadays there are so many ways for customers around the world (including yours) to get information about products or services before making a purchase decision – whether it’s social media posts from friends & family members who have tried something new out recently; online reviews from sites such as Yelp where users can write honest feedback about their experiences using brands such as yours; or even just general news articles written by journalists who cover topics relevant

 

It’s clear that the future of marketing is one of increasing complexity and sophistication. Data science has been a buzzword for a while now, but as more companies rely on data to make decisions, it will become increasingly important for marketers to be able to interpret and communicate their findings. The convergence of marketing software means that there are fewer tools at our disposal, but those tools need to be integrated with each other in order to provide effective solutions. Content marketing isn’t going away anytime soon, but agencies need to adapt their models if they want their clients’ content efforts to be successful. And finally, MarTech stacks must be smaller and more integrated if marketers want their teams’ abilities aligned with the needs of today’s consumers who demand seamless experiences across channels

Developing a brand strategy

Developing a detailed brand strategy is an important part of creating a successful business. Whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for years, you need to think about who your target audience is, what they need, how you deliver and how best to communicate that message. The better you can define your brand, the easier it will be to differentiate yourself from competitors and win over new customers. Here’s our guide on how to develop a successful brand strategy.

 

Define your brand.

Before you can determine how to convey and communicate your brand to your customers, you must first ask yourself some fundamental questions about your company. These are the intangible qualities that define how you’re unique from competitors in your industry. They’re what will make people care about your business enough to buy from it.

Ask yourself:

• What is our reason for being? Why was the company created, and what is the driving force and purpose that keeps it going and keeps people coming to work every day? What do we want our legacy to be?
• What are our values as an organization—the beliefs and principles we bring to our work and our interactions with customers?
• What is our personality as a brand? Playful? Serious? Quirky? Traditional? Brand personality is part of the value you deliver to your audience and should resonate with their needs and preferences.

It’s important to remember that there’s no one correct way to define your brand. ways. You should use this exercise as an opportunity to reflect on how your personal values align or differ from those of other brands in the same industry and then decide which aspects of your company and its offerings are most important for consumers, stakeholders, and employees alike.

 

Establish your value proposition.

A value proposition is a promise of the big-picture value you will deliver to your customers. For example, if you’re selling pet products online, your value proposition could be: “Our pet food is the only brand made from 100% organic ingredients to keep your pet healthier.” Or, if you’re selling online coding courses to beginners: “I’ll teach you how to code like a professional developer.”

A good way to set up an effective value proposition is by answering these three questions:

• What product or service do we offer?
• How are we different from other companies offering similar services/products?
• How will we deliver on our promises? What is it about our methods / quality standards / approach / team, etc. that ensures we can follow through?

 

Outline the benefits of your product or service.

When defining their brand, many companies go off track by focusing on listing the specific features of their brand. But more important is defining and understand the benefits of those features, and your offerings as a whole.

Benefits are what people get out of using something—both the tangible benefits, (e.g. like better data analysis, smoother skin, or faster package delivery) and the intangible ones, like feeling confident, happy or powerful. Benefits can be unique to your business—in fact, at least some of them should—but they can also be similar to those your competitors promise.

You can communicate these benefits in many ways: through advertising, marketing materials such as press releases, interviews with journalists and social media posts; in conversations with prospective customers and within sales pitches to current customers; even on packaging itself if appropriate for your industry.

 

Show clear and obvious differentiation from your competitors.

As you develop your brand, remember that you need to demonstrate clear and obvious differentiation between you and your competitors. If you’re the more expensive choice, you need to demonstrate the added value that comes with paying more. If prices are on par with your competitors, you need to make it clear why you can meet their needs more effectively for the same amount and deliver a better overall experience.

 

Build an emotional connection with your audience.

Your brand is more than just a logo and a tagline. It’s crucial to consider all of the ways your customers interact with your brand, from reading the copy on your website to communicating with employees or customer service reps to receiving a package with your goods in the mail. Every touchpoint in the experience should reflect the personality, values, and promises you’ve established.

It’s through these touchpoints that you will, over time, build an emotional connection with your audience—the most important part of developing a brand. An emotional connection allows for trust, loyalty, and advocacy. The key is consistently communicating your brand values, messaging, and identity at every touchpoint.

Remember also that customers want to feel special. They want to be treated as individuals, not just another customer in line for service. They want to know that you appreciate them and their business and value your relationship. They also need to know that you care about what is important to them and are interested in them as a person.

 

Think about both the short- and long-term vision for your brand.

Once you have a clearly defined brand, it’s time to start thinking about the short and long-term vision for that brand. First, think about the initial steps you need to take to communicate your brand to your prospects and customers. What deliverables and tactics will you use? What aspects of your operations and communications need to change?

Then, think longer-term. What will your brand look like in five years’ time? Will your messaging, personality, or look and feel evolve as you grow, or add new products or services? Does your brand identity have the flexibility to accommodate those changes?

Developing a brand is a critical step in any business. A strong brand strategy will ensure that your customers are able to clearly identify what sets you apart from competitors while providing them with a reason why they should choose you over others. At SCG, we can help you define and develop your brand, and then bring it to life across all of your digital marketing and communications, setting you up for success.