- Context replaces advertising as a growth lever
Advertising is a one-way communication, and consumers don’t like it. 600 million consumers are using ad-blocking technology. The future of marketing is about context. Advertising is designed to distract away from the task at hand, while context matches it.
- Purpose becomes the heart of marketing
79% of consumers prefer to purchase products from a company that operates with a social purpose, such as the brand Cotopaxi which includes the creation of sustainable living conditions for the farmers it sources materials from.
- Public relations gets participatory
The example here is the buzz created by a fake news stating (falsely) that Donald Trump had won the popular vote, which got 450,000 shares on Facebook, whereas CNN “Election Results” page got 1/10th of the shares. This proves that participation is more powerful than publication.
- Automation 2.0 will be on the rise
Marketing automation earlier focused only on marketing across two channels (email and the company website); there were only three data sources and there was only one execution point (the marketing automation platform). The need of the hour is creating cohesive customer experiences which requires integration and automation across dozens of channels, data sets and applications.
- Chatbots take over
A majority of consumers would prefer to engage via chat rather than use an app. 2018 is the year businesses catch up, because the same study showed consumers consider chatbots the fastest way to access content, get help and receive answers to their questions.
Source: http://bit.ly/2CiuhVR