To make solid short-term plans, it’s critical to keep a close eye on your outlook for the long term. No one can say with full certainty what the future of marketing will look like, and yet industry professionals offer useful predictions and insights into many of the possibilities. 

For instance, very few could have predicted the manner in which 2020 would change the face of marketing. Those that meticulously planned activities based on what the state of the world was like prior to it happening found themselves having to start from scratch.

Still, there are key variables that are certain. The future of business and marketing will be more inclusive, diverse, and connected to the needs of customers.

1. Deliver World Class Experience For The Customer

Every year is the customer’s year. The industry is beginning to observe a massive shift in its beliefs related to what marketing actually is. At the very least, it is no longer about convincing people to work or buy from your company. Rather, the priority has shifted towards the provisioning of stellar customer experiences that will keep individuals coming back for more.

When attempting to foster a positive culture and provide exceptional service, marketing takes care of itself.

Customers not only want their product served in a seamless and efficient manner, but they are also very impatient. From helping to solve problems through personalised messaging to making a buying decision based on a culture that focuses on customers throughout their journey, businesses must deliver experiences that establish quality across every single channel.

The exponential growth of Information Technology has provided customers more power than ever in terms of their spending habits. They are no longer in the passenger’s seat when it comes to discovering products. Furthermore, they aren’t waiting for a business to tell them how great a product is. Instead, they are doing their own research.

You must offer something that goes beyond information.

2. Engaged Employees

If friendly and efficient service is the cornerstone of a great experience, how does a business ensure its provision? The answer, for businesses with more than one person, is in the employees. Research previously mentioned has discovered that 46% of customers will abandon even their most beloved brand if employees aren’t knowledgeable and have bad attitudes.

Due to the fact that employees represent the face of a brand, concentrating on interactions between customers should be a cornerstone of any marketing strategy. When delegating the responsibility of great customer service over to employees, it’s critical to make sure that they want the business to succeed as much as you do. The key is to engender a solid foundation of engagement and take steps to ensure every single employee is aligned with a company’s values and mission.

3. Content Visualisation That Is Story-Driven

With the explosion of voice search and smart speakers in recent years, you’d be forgiven for believing that readable content is valued over design and visuals. Sadly, this could not be farther from the truth. Although advancements in voice search are influencing the manner by which content will be created now and well into the future, visual content should not be neglected either. Research has demonstrated that visual content is far superior to plain text. You simply need to look at the growth of platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to see proof of this.

4. Personalisation

When a customer is presented with two relatively equivalent products but must decide on which one to purchase, it’s likely they will choose the brand that speaks to their heart the most. One manner by which to engage the hearts of customers as well as their minds are to personalise the marketing to meet their specific needs.

Psychologists have long taught that people love hearing their name and seeing it in print. However, today’s technology allows teams specialised in digital marketing to analyse big data and identify what keeps customers up at night. In doing so, they can mastermind the messages designed to solve their problems.

5. Conversational Marketing

There was a point in time in which customer service and sales were formal processes. Representatives used to address customers by “sir” or “ma’am” by making an inquiry related that requires significant time via a visit to the store, a phone call, or an email. 

In the modern world, representatives take the form of bots to chat with customers via instant message. These interactions are designed to be similar to taking with a friend. Customers hate people who follow scripts and instead want help that’s specific to their situation and needs. They also desire immediate response times. This means less formal channels of communication.

6. Strategic Transformation

When browsing up-and-coming trends, it’s too easy to believe that success can be boiled down to following a best practices list and ensuring that you are using the latest technology and techniques. Marketing is becoming increasingly complex, and for companies to succeed, they must think beyond what they are doing and get back to the why of a business as a whole. Consequently, all objectives and goals must align with the business itself.

Strategic transformation is a term used to describe the process by which a business operates without a strategy and evolves through a change in fundamental procedures and processes. 

Undergoing a transformation helps companies to improve the experience and service of customers, boost reputation and brand awareness, and ultimately increase profits.

7. Push Notifications

Two elements are driving the trend of push notifications. Firstly, the landscape of email marketing is becoming so unbelievably saturated that it is becoming almost impossible to truly connect to any audience through such a channel. Secondly, people are using phones for every type of online activity, including shopping and brand searching. 

It makes sense that brands are now turning to push notifications as another way of capturing the attention of customers. In today’s world, well over half of all customers are allowing notifications to be pushed to their phones such that brands can be in direct touch with them.

Now is the time to begin planning your marketing strategy for the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 if you have not already. Ensure you begin the New Year with a clear action plan and the manner by which you wish to achieve them. As trends come and go, the basis for all success remains identical: understand the audience and communicate with them in a way that is consistent and clear.