In 2022, the marketing automation industry is expected to continue growing at almost 9%, and it will reach an estimated worth of $6.4 billion by 2024. Growing alongside the sector are consumer expectations. It is imperative to create unique, engaging experiences that appeal to this era of consumers, and marketing automation can make this a reality. In this article, we'll look at some of the important trends that will influence the marketing automation industry this year.
Personalization based on funnel stage
A good marketing funnel strategy will continue to be a crucial aspect of lead conversions. With the power of marketing automation, you can create a personalized experience that corresponds with your audience's unique challenges, requirements, and goals.
The top of the funnel is where prospects are beginning to discover your business, so it's appropriate to focus primarily on brand awareness content. At the middle of the funnel, a potential customer might be considering a specific solution or a service that you provide, so it's helpful to present comparisons with your competitors. At the bottom of the funnel, a prospect might look directly at the selling points a business offers. Reliable content like case studies and testimonials go a long way as customers approach the final stage.
Omnichannel marketing experience
An omnichannel marketing experience means a customer can interact with a business across multiple channels (e.g., a website, social media, SMS, videos, print ads, etc.) as part of one seamless customer journey. Creating an omnichannel experience is all about delivering what consumers want and how they want it.
Modern marketers face the challenge of providing relevant marketing solutions and a great customer experience. They no longer rely on one-way communication through a single platform to contact leads and customers. Instead, the average consumer can hop on all their favorite channels to engage with a business before making a purchase decision. Omnichannel marketing is here to stay, and implementing it will be crucial for every business as we advance.
Lifecycle marketing
Lifecycle marketing is the strategy used to attract, convert, and retain customers as they move through their buying journey. Businesses must possess a genuine understanding of their target audience and be committed to growing customer value over the long term. The stages of the customer lifecycle are awareness, engagement, evaluation, purchase, support, and loyalty. An ideal marketing strategy should account for the customer experience in each stage, not just the buying decision. According to a study by Forbes, almost 73% of consumers say a good experience is key to influencing their brand loyalties.
Lifecycle marketing requires finesse from marketers. They need to lay down a plan for the entire consumer cycle and nurture the incoming audience at every stage.
AI-enabled chatbots
With more consumers exploring their options online, the number of inquiries grows exponentially everyday. A human agent can only handle one request at a time, and responding to all requests efficiently can be tedious. An automated chatbot remedies this issue. It can handle multiple requests simultaneously with the least waiting time and error. Modern chatbots are equipped to respond to messages based on certain keywords or by referring to a pre-defined algorithm. They also use machine learning to adapt their responses and deliver the most accurate information.
These are just a few reasons why the global chatbot market cap is anticipated to reach a whopping $2.4 billion by 2028. As we advance, implementing chatbots will arguably be one of the most strategic moves for any business. Not only do they save time and reduce redundancy, but they can also help with lead generation, customer support, and up-selling.
Retargeting without tracking
Retargeting is the core of online marketing, and it's crucial for business growth. Traditionally, this was done using third-party cookies to track visitor behavior, but this practice is on it's way out. As consumers become wary about their online privacy, they expect to establish transparent connections with businesses, and third-party cookies often work against this value.
So how can marketers respond to this situation?
They can instead adopt a data-driven attribution model and rely on contextual marketing. Data-driven attribution provides insights on all the important touchpoints across the customer journey. It helps marketers get a better understanding of the performance of each touchpoint. This way, marketers can see great results by mainly focusing on touchpoints that have outperformed the rest.
Mobile-optimized content
The mobile device era has brought a major shift in the way we consume data. People now can find anything with just a few finger taps. With more than 50% of global traffic coming from mobile devices, you will be missing out on customer engagement opportunities if you don't take the mobile-first approach. But generating mobile-responsive content isn't enough; marketers have to lay out proper mobile-based strategies to boost engagement and earn value from the consumers. Some key strategies in the mobile-first approach are SMS marketing, push notifications, and in-app advertisements.
Concluding thoughts
As 2022 unfolds, marketing automation is becoming more relevant than ever. Strategies deemed as "can have" in the past have become "must have" today. In addition to adopting the right marketing automation tool, you'll also need to know these game-changing trends and implement them in your marketing strategy. The sooner you start, the better your results will be.
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