With the year 2017 just a couple of days away, it’s time to make some predictions and resolutions for the year ahead. There are some distinct marketing trends that we need to keep in mind for our business to survive and thrive.
- Content Matters: A trend that is bound to grow in the coming year is the importance of content in online marketing. This content will be more and more user focused and generated. Even if we don’t explicitly ask customers to write for us, we can listen to their call recordings (with approval) to determine their area of interest. We can then use these recordings as a basis to write blogs, send out newsletters or even personalized e-mails.
- Relationship Building: As available choices and information expands, consumers will demand and expect more from firms. Responsiveness to unique customer needs will be the key success factor in the future business environment. For example, if a client has a specific call tracking report requirement then the AvidTrak team would be delighted to exceed the challenge and the more difficult the challenge the better.
- Real Value Addition: Marketing is likely to become even more real value addition to the consumer’s knowledge base. For example, an ad that uses a celebrity endorsement on commercial television may have less impact than a Facebook or twitter post that goes viral. People are interested in the truth and not false claims and social media will present unprecedented opportunities for spreading the truth. Authenticity will be the name of the game in Marketing. Any information that is perceived as unauthentic by the discerning buyer can lead to negative publicity for the firm. So being genuine in Marketing will be the only option for survival in the future.
- Speedy and Responsive: Marketing communication will have to respond immediately to the customer’s changing preferences. There will be no margin for getting bureaucratic approvals. For example, if a call tracking report is generated that tells you that a Facebook campaign is working better for you in terms of lead generation compared to a print-ad, you need to re-allocate your marketing budget immediately.
So the future of Marketing looks exciting and we resolve to make it better. There are exciting possibilities and smaller firms can now compete with giants in terms of intelligent information dissemination through newer and less expensive Marketing Channels. Treating the consumer as a business partner rather than a passive recipient of information is a sure shot recipe for future success.
