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:
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- 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:
Summary of top trends
- 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
