WHERE IS MARKETING TECHNOLOGY MOVING IN 2020

Here is an article covering Top marketing technology trends you should be observing to keep up with the needs and demands of tomorrow’s customers

Every company will fail, the key to prolonging that demise is to avoid looking inwards and to obsess over customers – Jeff Bezos

Consumer behavior in the digital age is constantly changing – from the way consumers shop, compare prices, spend time, consume content, discover new products and more.

It’s important for marketing to observe these trends and adapt to them or they risk not reaching their target customers – almost like showing up to the party 5 minutes too late.

1. Omnichannel is a buzzword that not many marketers get right

As consumers become increasingly platform agnostic and more marketing channels are being created every day, there will be a growing need for marketers to coordinate marketing activities in a systematic way. Hence, omnichannel will become more important – not just in helping the client consolidate their efforts – but also in ensuring a seamless consumer journey. Subsequently, the growth in this area will see omnichannel platforms grow to USD 11.01 billion by 2023.

2. Data unification unlocks the key to an interconnected customer experience

The rapid proliferation of data will lead to a need for data unification and consolidation into a single view; a way to string all the data together to form a single big picture and help the data make sense for clients. However, only 47% of marketers say they have a unified view of their customer data. While solutions like Data Management Platforms (DMPs), Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), and even Customer Intelligence Platforms (CIPs) are on the rise, it takes real effort to manage all that data. What CEOs often underestimate is that real data transformation takes time, but it’s not impossible – take Walmart’s transformation for example.

3. 100% mobile device experience makes e-commerce a thing of the past

90% of Southeast Asia connects to the internet via mobile, pushing trends in the region for businesses to look at a 100% mobile-first experience. Digital natives like Tokopedia and Lazada are excelling in this space by developing in-app games and loyalty systems to engage with customers on more than just a transactional level. But older giants are not sitting idle, such as McDonald’s digital transformation, which now includes a mobile-first approach coupled with heavy investments in machine learning and AI to enable the shift from the mass serving of fast food to catering a personalised dining experience for customers.

4. As video consumption grows, tech surrounding it will also develop

For the first time this year, users will spend more time online than they do in front of TV screens, and by 2020, the average online viewing time in the world will increase to 84 minutes. This means that revenue for Advertising Video On Demand (AVOD) is predicted to double into a USD 47 billion industry over the next five years. This shift also creates long-overdue tech growth opportunities in areas such as video analytics, digital ADEX, video quality, and streaming speeds. Video analytics alone is predicted to grow to a USD 3 billion dollar business by 2022, bringing with it rapid development of technology in that space. If video analytics can bring Salvador Dali back to life, expect more experiments and forays into this technology.

5. The rise in voice search will see VSO overtake SEO

Voice Search Optimisation (VSO) is expected to command 50% of global search and voice-commerce will represent a USD 40 billion market by 2020. On the flip side, only 4% of businesses are ready for voice search. This changes the game for all companies on how they sell search-related ads. Burger King, in line with its troll marketing strategy, created a TV ad that hijacks Google voice search on most devices to get Google to advertise the Whopper for them.

6. AI turns 65 and all that machine learning is starting to show

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may seem like new tech but in 2020, AI will turn 65, which means it has a fair bit of time to get machine learning under its belt.Today, 64% of marketers believe that real-time personalised advertising will become a norm by 2020. This changes the way ads are served and allow businesses to deliver truly personalised experiences without the need for a person on the other end.An extreme example would be the use of Replika AI that allows you to “recreate” conversations with your loved ones that have passed on, by learning chat behaviours and patterns.

7. Investment in AR and VR will continue to grow

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology is estimated to reach a market volume of USD 150 billion by 2020. This changes how clients can deliver product experiences to their customers and how agencies propose campaigns to clients.An example of AR use in Malaysia was last year’s Maxis Lion Dance campaign that created AR pop-ups on print. Progressing beyond AR and VR is combining the two into holographic technology.Brands like Hatsune Miku, the holographic Japanese singer, is now valued at USD 80 million after her world tour last year. The future of hologram is bright with China releasing Holobot, a holographic virtual assistant at CES this year.