There are 3 key areas that you can expect the innovators of the marketing space to seriously push forward in the coming years, while the more mainstream adopters will be trailing a bit behind.
1. From the Warehouse First Marketing Approach to the Streaming
While the mainstream adopters has just begin to turn the corner, adapting and also having the believe in the warehouse first approach to data and also the marketing, expect innovators to begin to make use more of streaming and the one to one, the data driven methods of communication with their customers.
Although the idea behind the warehouse first approach may seem like the latest craze, many of the leading organisations have been adopting these type of marketing efforts over the last 5 years. The Snowflake’s record breaking IPO does not happen in a world where a “warehouse first” approach is some overnight sensation or a passing fad. The Snowflake’s massive opening is indicative and is not only of the current popularity, but also of the progress brands have been making in consolidating data for quite some time now.
As larger institutions in the banking, the finance, and healthcare starts to adopt many of these ideas and centralise to a performant data warehouse, industry innovators are now beginning to view the friction in the application that approach to all their workflows and are now seeking to become more stream first than the warehouse first.
The rise of Databricks is a good indication also that is built on top of the Apache Spark streaming platform, the product can be viewed almost as a transition, incorporating the warehouse first principles with the ability to stream. Innovators will now start to drive more and more of their marketing programs from those dedicated stream and event based services and they will now look for marketing vendors to take advantage of these new data sources to get better messaging.
2. From Cross Channel Messaging Workflows to the AMP and the RCS
The Innovators will start to utilise the new interactive channels like that of AMP for Email and RCS messaging, while the mainstream adopters will just adopt the cross channel messaging workflows.
The AMP for Email “ it allows the senders to enable the inclusion of AMP components into the rich engaging emails, making the functionality of the modern app very much available within the email.” As so for other innovations, AMP for Email made a great impact a few years ago, but the adoption has been somehow slow because practical application of its offering needed development. More of the email providers now are offering AMP functionality, and innovative marketers that will also begin to utilise it to deliver very rich experiences.
The Mainstream adopters are now at the point where they are essentially pushed to get their cross channel messaging right. The “omnichannel” concept is not theoretical any longer, consumers now just expect a seamless experience regardless of the place the interaction takes place so brands, particularly in the retail, the hospitality, and the financial sectors, will work to get it good.
3. From Dabbling in AI in Other To Make AI a core part of your brand
Innovators will start making the Artificial Intelligence a very core part of their brand, while the mainstream adopters will start to experiment with the AI and they adopt conversational messaging. AI has been around like forever and is noised about every year, but for now it is just to the point of being approachable for the average marketing department. Tools are also available that make it easier for you to leverage AI, and consumers enjoy experiences where earlier adopters have used it well.
So now what do you think it means to make AI a core part of a brand? For many, it is just a subtle usage in website or the headline copy, recommendations, or other situations where the functionality adds value and makes the customer experience better. The Retailers will make use of it to help customers make important buying decisions, the travel brands will make use of it to help customers plan very well the perfect vacation, and the financial brands will help customers to make good decisions with their money. AI will also help marketers connect the consumers with the brand in new and meaningful ways.