digital marketing trends ebook - crownpeak...include television, over-the-top content, and digital...
TRANSCRIPT
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW
Key developments that will transform how you connect with audiences
CONTENTS
1 Introduction Evolution Collides With Culture
2 Trend 1 The Importance of Privacy Protection
3 Trend 2 Digital Advertising Distrust
4 Trend 3 The IoT Explosion
5 Trend 4 Artificial Intelligence Expands--
6 Trend 5 The Rise of (Smarter) Content
7 Trend 6 The Social Media Surge
8 Trend 7 DXM Platforms Prevail
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 02
DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS EVOLUTION COLLIDES WITH CULTURE
Every time therersquos a great leap forward in terms of technology we can divide those periods into two parts
The exciting galvanizing and hyperbole-saturated arrival of wide-open innova-tion and evolution
The period afterwards where society and government begin to take account of whatrsquos just happened and decide these new channels or platforms have to be regulated
It happened with the automobile before traffic and safety laws were enacted Radio and motion pictures went through initial spurts of unshackled growth but entities like the FCC and the Hays Office soon stepped in to ensure they were acting for the public good Meanwhile advertisers and audiences predictably got over the mere novelty of a medium and began demanding real value from it
Wersquore seeing the same pattern repeated in the brave new world of digital market-ing Digital touchpoints have multiplied at a dizzying rate extending right into peoplersquos pockets via the smartphone and theyrsquoll soon be omnipresent across home appliances our cars and even the clothes and accessories we wear
Yet as those opportunities for marketing engagement have grown so have cultural concerns about the effects of digital media In the case of marketers as wersquoll see there are real questions about the lack of expected effects ndash or the negative impacts that can arise
So the trends we see taking shape now and beyond for digital marketers are largely being shaped by the collision of martech with culture Itrsquos part of the long complex process of turning Big Ideas into societal mainstays Doing what it takes to keep pace with these changes should be the goal for any CMO or martech leader
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 03
TREND 1 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY PROTECTION
Maintaining privacy and protecting onersquos personal data has become a hot-button issue for consumers in the developed world and therersquos no reason to think that wonrsquot be the case as more people worldwide join the web and utilize digital services
Social networks have led that rush to digital access Facebook had 201 billion monthly active users in June 2017 far exceeding WhatsApp (500 million) Twitter (284 million) and Instagram (200 million)
Some of those users harbor serious doubts about the safety of their personal data according to multiple recent studies
91 of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies (Pew Research)
11 of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number credit card or bank account information (Pew Research)
54 of mobile app users have decided to not install a mobile app when they realized how much personal information they would need to share to use it (Pew Research)
81 of parents of online teens say theyrsquore concerned about how much infor-mation advertisers can learn about their childrsquos online behavior (Pew Research)
A mere 16 of consumers believe online-only web merchants are trustworthy when it comes to keeping their personal data secure online by contrast 43 said they trust banks and investment firms with it but 39 donrsquot trust any type of company to protect their personal data (Forrester)
One telling statistic Pew Research found that 68 of those surveyed believed current laws werenrsquot good enough in protecting the rights of internet users
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 04
Regulatory Reactions
Between countless security breaches and the fact that so many consumers want to feel their personal data is under lock-and-key regulations are on the rise
In the European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect as of May 25 2018 mandates that any company offering products to residents of the European Union (including the UK) will be required to follow strict specific protocols for data collection and privacy Violators face fines of up to 4 of annual revenue or euro20 million whichever is more
The very low ldquotriggering mechanismrdquo in the EU law will spell problems for digital marketers unless theyrsquore willing to meet the strict compliance standards involved
ldquoWhewrdquo a US marketer might say ldquoGlad I donrsquot operate in the EUrdquo
Not so fast If yoursquove got any digital touchpoint being used by Europeans and if it necessitates cookies or other tracking functionality yoursquoll be liable in the eyes of EU regulators if you donrsquot follow tough opt-in mandates for obtaining ldquoexplicit consentrdquo from users The GDPR does permit legitimate cross-border transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU provided these countries meet an ldquoadequaterdquo standard for data protection
Itrsquos one reason why there are now ldquocompliance kitsrdquo to help companies meet GDPR guidelines
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 05
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
CONTENTS
1 Introduction Evolution Collides With Culture
2 Trend 1 The Importance of Privacy Protection
3 Trend 2 Digital Advertising Distrust
4 Trend 3 The IoT Explosion
5 Trend 4 Artificial Intelligence Expands--
6 Trend 5 The Rise of (Smarter) Content
7 Trend 6 The Social Media Surge
8 Trend 7 DXM Platforms Prevail
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 02
DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS EVOLUTION COLLIDES WITH CULTURE
Every time therersquos a great leap forward in terms of technology we can divide those periods into two parts
The exciting galvanizing and hyperbole-saturated arrival of wide-open innova-tion and evolution
The period afterwards where society and government begin to take account of whatrsquos just happened and decide these new channels or platforms have to be regulated
It happened with the automobile before traffic and safety laws were enacted Radio and motion pictures went through initial spurts of unshackled growth but entities like the FCC and the Hays Office soon stepped in to ensure they were acting for the public good Meanwhile advertisers and audiences predictably got over the mere novelty of a medium and began demanding real value from it
Wersquore seeing the same pattern repeated in the brave new world of digital market-ing Digital touchpoints have multiplied at a dizzying rate extending right into peoplersquos pockets via the smartphone and theyrsquoll soon be omnipresent across home appliances our cars and even the clothes and accessories we wear
Yet as those opportunities for marketing engagement have grown so have cultural concerns about the effects of digital media In the case of marketers as wersquoll see there are real questions about the lack of expected effects ndash or the negative impacts that can arise
So the trends we see taking shape now and beyond for digital marketers are largely being shaped by the collision of martech with culture Itrsquos part of the long complex process of turning Big Ideas into societal mainstays Doing what it takes to keep pace with these changes should be the goal for any CMO or martech leader
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 03
TREND 1 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY PROTECTION
Maintaining privacy and protecting onersquos personal data has become a hot-button issue for consumers in the developed world and therersquos no reason to think that wonrsquot be the case as more people worldwide join the web and utilize digital services
Social networks have led that rush to digital access Facebook had 201 billion monthly active users in June 2017 far exceeding WhatsApp (500 million) Twitter (284 million) and Instagram (200 million)
Some of those users harbor serious doubts about the safety of their personal data according to multiple recent studies
91 of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies (Pew Research)
11 of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number credit card or bank account information (Pew Research)
54 of mobile app users have decided to not install a mobile app when they realized how much personal information they would need to share to use it (Pew Research)
81 of parents of online teens say theyrsquore concerned about how much infor-mation advertisers can learn about their childrsquos online behavior (Pew Research)
A mere 16 of consumers believe online-only web merchants are trustworthy when it comes to keeping their personal data secure online by contrast 43 said they trust banks and investment firms with it but 39 donrsquot trust any type of company to protect their personal data (Forrester)
One telling statistic Pew Research found that 68 of those surveyed believed current laws werenrsquot good enough in protecting the rights of internet users
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 04
Regulatory Reactions
Between countless security breaches and the fact that so many consumers want to feel their personal data is under lock-and-key regulations are on the rise
In the European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect as of May 25 2018 mandates that any company offering products to residents of the European Union (including the UK) will be required to follow strict specific protocols for data collection and privacy Violators face fines of up to 4 of annual revenue or euro20 million whichever is more
The very low ldquotriggering mechanismrdquo in the EU law will spell problems for digital marketers unless theyrsquore willing to meet the strict compliance standards involved
ldquoWhewrdquo a US marketer might say ldquoGlad I donrsquot operate in the EUrdquo
Not so fast If yoursquove got any digital touchpoint being used by Europeans and if it necessitates cookies or other tracking functionality yoursquoll be liable in the eyes of EU regulators if you donrsquot follow tough opt-in mandates for obtaining ldquoexplicit consentrdquo from users The GDPR does permit legitimate cross-border transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU provided these countries meet an ldquoadequaterdquo standard for data protection
Itrsquos one reason why there are now ldquocompliance kitsrdquo to help companies meet GDPR guidelines
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 05
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS EVOLUTION COLLIDES WITH CULTURE
Every time therersquos a great leap forward in terms of technology we can divide those periods into two parts
The exciting galvanizing and hyperbole-saturated arrival of wide-open innova-tion and evolution
The period afterwards where society and government begin to take account of whatrsquos just happened and decide these new channels or platforms have to be regulated
It happened with the automobile before traffic and safety laws were enacted Radio and motion pictures went through initial spurts of unshackled growth but entities like the FCC and the Hays Office soon stepped in to ensure they were acting for the public good Meanwhile advertisers and audiences predictably got over the mere novelty of a medium and began demanding real value from it
Wersquore seeing the same pattern repeated in the brave new world of digital market-ing Digital touchpoints have multiplied at a dizzying rate extending right into peoplersquos pockets via the smartphone and theyrsquoll soon be omnipresent across home appliances our cars and even the clothes and accessories we wear
Yet as those opportunities for marketing engagement have grown so have cultural concerns about the effects of digital media In the case of marketers as wersquoll see there are real questions about the lack of expected effects ndash or the negative impacts that can arise
So the trends we see taking shape now and beyond for digital marketers are largely being shaped by the collision of martech with culture Itrsquos part of the long complex process of turning Big Ideas into societal mainstays Doing what it takes to keep pace with these changes should be the goal for any CMO or martech leader
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 03
TREND 1 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY PROTECTION
Maintaining privacy and protecting onersquos personal data has become a hot-button issue for consumers in the developed world and therersquos no reason to think that wonrsquot be the case as more people worldwide join the web and utilize digital services
Social networks have led that rush to digital access Facebook had 201 billion monthly active users in June 2017 far exceeding WhatsApp (500 million) Twitter (284 million) and Instagram (200 million)
Some of those users harbor serious doubts about the safety of their personal data according to multiple recent studies
91 of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies (Pew Research)
11 of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number credit card or bank account information (Pew Research)
54 of mobile app users have decided to not install a mobile app when they realized how much personal information they would need to share to use it (Pew Research)
81 of parents of online teens say theyrsquore concerned about how much infor-mation advertisers can learn about their childrsquos online behavior (Pew Research)
A mere 16 of consumers believe online-only web merchants are trustworthy when it comes to keeping their personal data secure online by contrast 43 said they trust banks and investment firms with it but 39 donrsquot trust any type of company to protect their personal data (Forrester)
One telling statistic Pew Research found that 68 of those surveyed believed current laws werenrsquot good enough in protecting the rights of internet users
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 04
Regulatory Reactions
Between countless security breaches and the fact that so many consumers want to feel their personal data is under lock-and-key regulations are on the rise
In the European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect as of May 25 2018 mandates that any company offering products to residents of the European Union (including the UK) will be required to follow strict specific protocols for data collection and privacy Violators face fines of up to 4 of annual revenue or euro20 million whichever is more
The very low ldquotriggering mechanismrdquo in the EU law will spell problems for digital marketers unless theyrsquore willing to meet the strict compliance standards involved
ldquoWhewrdquo a US marketer might say ldquoGlad I donrsquot operate in the EUrdquo
Not so fast If yoursquove got any digital touchpoint being used by Europeans and if it necessitates cookies or other tracking functionality yoursquoll be liable in the eyes of EU regulators if you donrsquot follow tough opt-in mandates for obtaining ldquoexplicit consentrdquo from users The GDPR does permit legitimate cross-border transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU provided these countries meet an ldquoadequaterdquo standard for data protection
Itrsquos one reason why there are now ldquocompliance kitsrdquo to help companies meet GDPR guidelines
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 05
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 1 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY PROTECTION
Maintaining privacy and protecting onersquos personal data has become a hot-button issue for consumers in the developed world and therersquos no reason to think that wonrsquot be the case as more people worldwide join the web and utilize digital services
Social networks have led that rush to digital access Facebook had 201 billion monthly active users in June 2017 far exceeding WhatsApp (500 million) Twitter (284 million) and Instagram (200 million)
Some of those users harbor serious doubts about the safety of their personal data according to multiple recent studies
91 of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies (Pew Research)
11 of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number credit card or bank account information (Pew Research)
54 of mobile app users have decided to not install a mobile app when they realized how much personal information they would need to share to use it (Pew Research)
81 of parents of online teens say theyrsquore concerned about how much infor-mation advertisers can learn about their childrsquos online behavior (Pew Research)
A mere 16 of consumers believe online-only web merchants are trustworthy when it comes to keeping their personal data secure online by contrast 43 said they trust banks and investment firms with it but 39 donrsquot trust any type of company to protect their personal data (Forrester)
One telling statistic Pew Research found that 68 of those surveyed believed current laws werenrsquot good enough in protecting the rights of internet users
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 04
Regulatory Reactions
Between countless security breaches and the fact that so many consumers want to feel their personal data is under lock-and-key regulations are on the rise
In the European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect as of May 25 2018 mandates that any company offering products to residents of the European Union (including the UK) will be required to follow strict specific protocols for data collection and privacy Violators face fines of up to 4 of annual revenue or euro20 million whichever is more
The very low ldquotriggering mechanismrdquo in the EU law will spell problems for digital marketers unless theyrsquore willing to meet the strict compliance standards involved
ldquoWhewrdquo a US marketer might say ldquoGlad I donrsquot operate in the EUrdquo
Not so fast If yoursquove got any digital touchpoint being used by Europeans and if it necessitates cookies or other tracking functionality yoursquoll be liable in the eyes of EU regulators if you donrsquot follow tough opt-in mandates for obtaining ldquoexplicit consentrdquo from users The GDPR does permit legitimate cross-border transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU provided these countries meet an ldquoadequaterdquo standard for data protection
Itrsquos one reason why there are now ldquocompliance kitsrdquo to help companies meet GDPR guidelines
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 05
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Regulatory Reactions
Between countless security breaches and the fact that so many consumers want to feel their personal data is under lock-and-key regulations are on the rise
In the European Union the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect as of May 25 2018 mandates that any company offering products to residents of the European Union (including the UK) will be required to follow strict specific protocols for data collection and privacy Violators face fines of up to 4 of annual revenue or euro20 million whichever is more
The very low ldquotriggering mechanismrdquo in the EU law will spell problems for digital marketers unless theyrsquore willing to meet the strict compliance standards involved
ldquoWhewrdquo a US marketer might say ldquoGlad I donrsquot operate in the EUrdquo
Not so fast If yoursquove got any digital touchpoint being used by Europeans and if it necessitates cookies or other tracking functionality yoursquoll be liable in the eyes of EU regulators if you donrsquot follow tough opt-in mandates for obtaining ldquoexplicit consentrdquo from users The GDPR does permit legitimate cross-border transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU provided these countries meet an ldquoadequaterdquo standard for data protection
Itrsquos one reason why there are now ldquocompliance kitsrdquo to help companies meet GDPR guidelines
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 05
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Data Protection is Going Global
A regulation such as the GDPR typically serves as a template for other countries looking at setting rules and guidelines for marketers making use of consumer data Many countries already have robust data protection regulations in place and others will likely strengthen theirs over time and pattern them on the GDPR
This map shows the relative levels of enforcement by nation
Itrsquos a safe bet that regulation will only gain more ground as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more prevalent
For marketers the secret is to view regulations like the GDPR as an opportunity not a hindrance By trumpeting compliance and transparency they can build stron-ger bonds with consumers and temper data security disasters like the Equifax crisis
Data Protection Laws Around the World
Heavy
Robust
Moderate
Limited
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 06
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 2 DIGITAL ADVERTISING DISTRUST
Digital advertising has overtaken traditional advertising and itrsquos done so at a stun-ning pace eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2016 US digital ad spending would hit $72 billion while TV spending would be at $71 billion And as part of total US media ad spending digital would grab 368 of that pie while TV would take 364
In 2014 Forrester predicted that online display advertising would double by 2019 and therersquos no reason to doubt their forecast Mobile has been a huge component of that shift projected to make up at least half of digital ad revenue by 2018
Forecast Digital Advertising Revenue (US) BI Intelligence $90
But over the last few years doubts have sprung up about how effectively digital ad networks are spending advertiser dollars and whether (as in the YouTube adjacency flap) theyrsquore actually doing damage to brands
Ad Scandals Hit the Headlines
Some of the headlines and headaches in 2017 that chipped away at the reputability of digital advertising
Google took heat from major brands like LrsquoOreal and Audi for programmatic ad placements that ran their ads alongside extremist racist and otherwise objectionable videos
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$60
$50
$70
$80
Non-Mobile
Mobile
Billi
ons
2013 2014E 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 07
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
When Chase ran ads on 400000 sites per month then ran them on just 5000 sites it saw very little shift in its cost of impressions or the visibility of its ads
The Association of National Advertisers issued a report stating that rebates and other opaque (read ldquounder the tablerdquo) business practices were ldquopervasiverdquo across US media buying operations
Facebook got bad press when a report by advertising group Video Advertis-ing Bureau found major discrepancies between the social networkrsquos metrics versus census data and even its own reported information
Facebook got more bad press thanks to ldquofake newsrdquo ad buys by foreign governments and other bad actors and its efforts to combat those with tougher disclosure requirements and monitoring may drive up costs for ad buyers
Pew Research found that of those Internet users whorsquod employed various techniques and tools to avoid being monitored the leading reason ndash cited by 33 ndash was to avoid hackers or criminals The second-biggest reason at 28 to avoid advertisers
Broken Promises
When the The New York Times covered the Chase story it pointed out how the tantalizing promise of online advertising owes to ldquothe vast reach of the web and the ability to reach people on niche sites at low pricesrdquo
According to Index Exchange the titles and URLs owned by the top 50 traditional media companies make up just 5 (or possibly less) of the trillions of ad impres-sions an ad buyer could choose from every day Google alone has a display network of 2 million websites and YouTube can offer over 3 million ad-supported channels to marketers
Skepticism among digital advertisers isnrsquot a new development
Back in 2014 Kraft explained how its concerns about ad fraud viewability and inventory murkiness made it reject up to 85 of all impressions supplied by digital ad marketplaces
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 08
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
A 2017 study by TheampPartnership mSIX media and fraud detection specialists Adloox projected that the rising tide of advertising ldquoclick fraudrdquo might result in advertisers being defrauded of $164 billion in 2017
Yet if more advertisers follow Chasersquos lead in reducing digital ad buys it may damage more than just the credibility of an industry Smaller websites that rely on ad sales and the advertising tech providers brokering the global ldquocommodities exchange of eyeballsrdquo may suffer
Will We See Solutions in the Near Future
The issues have gotten too obvious ndash and expensive ndash for advertisers to avoid taking action There are multiple ideas on the table for making digital advertising more verifiable and transparent
Proprietary Programmatic Programs JPMorgan Chase has already taken the lead in addressing the problems itrsquos encountered with digital advertising The company instituted its own in-house programmatic buying operation partnering with Google and AppNexus and extending whitelisting to channels like YouTube
While this may work for large-scale advertisers with the resources to pull it off smaller buyers will need other approaches to protect their ad investments such as standard measurement protocols
Universal Standards In broadcast Nielsen has been the de facto source of reliable measurement of advertising efficacy for decades Many advertisers and media companies have pitched a similar concept for digital A third-party firm would develop universal measurement standards and all ad networks (including Google and Facebook) would transparently provide their ad data for independent measurement and analysis
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has been working on devising digital media audi-ence measurement standards initially focusing on video but eventually hoping to include television over-the-top content and digital video Cross-platform measure-ment is a tough nut to crack so advertisers are being forced to be patient as a solution is worked out
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 09
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 3 THE IOT EXPLOSION
One of the earliest manifestations of the Internet of Things came in the form of wearables starting with devices from Fitbit and NIKE catering to the fitness crowd soon followed by the Apple Watch and others
Soon enough though networked products like Nest thermostats Amazon Echo home entertainment hubs ldquointelligentrdquo lightbulbs appliances and automobiles expanded the IoTrsquos reach one thatrsquos growing nearly exponentially
According to a United Nations study the adoption rate of the IoT is running at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephones That works out to six IoT devices for every person on earth by 2020
Gartner says there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020 Cisco claims it will be 50 billion Intel says 200 billion and the IDC says 212 billion
Business Insider forecasts that 75 of new cars will feature built-in IoT connectivity by 2020
Reportbuyer says 968000 smart clothing units (equipped with sensors or other IoT devices) were sold in 2015 but that number will total 2475 billion
by 2021 an incredible CAGR of nearly 72
Estimated Number of Installed IoT Devices by Sector BI Intelligence
5
10
15
20
25
Billi
ons
of D
evic
es
Tota
l Dev
ice
Gro
wth
YoY
0
10
20
33
76 72
56
43
40
30
40
50
60
70
80
Home
Enterprise
Government Infrastructure
2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 10
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Get Ready for Omnipresent Engagement
As their penetration expands these devices are already changing the relationship between marketers and consumers and that change will accelerate in the coming years What should a marketer expect
The IoT increases consumer expectations of convenience and personal-ization and marketers have to embrace that If theyrsquore not delivering higher levels of convenience marketers will fall by the wayside as consumers turn to other products and services that can meet the challenge
Marketers must serve that need by gathering more sophisticated insights from consumer data and the growth of connectivity delivers more and smarter data driving more relevant programs that in turn drive greater consumer engagement ndash and even more data Is there a ceiling on the poten-tial amount of information a marketer could glean Some experts claim therersquos no limit except the restrictions imposed by legislation (like the aforemen-tioned GDPR) or consumer sentiment
Mining that flood of data will depend on marketers ramping up next-gen analytical tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to digest it all
Trust-focused content will become more important as a tool for reassuring IoT users you have their best interests in mind Consumers need to be nurtured and educated about the benefits of IoT the risks involved and the security measures yoursquore taking to safeguard their data That last point isnrsquot negotiable todayrsquos consumers have a clear expectation yoursquoll provide those protections and failing to do it will seed doubt
A New Network of Regulation
Regulatory efforts like the GDPR are being largely driven by the omnipres-ence of digital devices in our lives collecting personal data with what a marketer may see as constructive intentions Gartner estimates that by 2020 consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 of sales from the Global 1000
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 11
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
But when ldquopersonalizationrdquo becomes ldquointrusionrdquo in the eyes of consumers and legislators rules and laws ensue Plus while many consumers seem willing to make the tradeoff between privacy and value received in terms of convenience and customization theyrsquore also leery of the dangers of having their privacy compro-mised as wersquove seen
So marketers need to come up with compliance strategies allowing them to exploit the opportunities the IoT presents while maintaining consumer trust and regulatory approval
The number of smartphone apps asking people to share their personal data doubled between 2013 and 2015 ndash Gartner
IoT Marketing Examples
Marketers have come up with inspired ways of leveraging connectivity for delivering surprise-and-delight to users Some recent examples
Diageo promoted its whiskey as the liquor for ldquocelebrating fatherhoodrdquo in advance of Fatherrsquos Day by connecting 100000 bottles to the web A buyer could send a personalized one-to-one digital video message to the father they were gifting with the product an example of participatory marketing that drove a 72 sales lift for the brand
Disney realized the IoTrsquos potential early with the MagicBand giving us an example of using the IoT to build an effective end-to-end consumer experi-ence The MagicBand connects park visitors to its planning portal My Disney Experience and also streamlines park and hotel room entry food and mer-chandise purchases and gives consumers the chance to unlock special expe-riences during their stay
Amazon Dash Buttons which give consumers the chance to re-order prod-ucts whenever theyrsquore running low create a frictionless purchase experience and deep customer loyalty
Tesla has largely lapped the field among carmakers by pioneering over-the-air software updates for their vehicles delivering performance updates and feature enhancements without a trip to the dealership The relationship also allows Tesla to capture valuable customer data to use in marketing and product development
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 12
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Fitbit figured out that by allowing users to post their workout or run stats to their social channels those users were endorsing and advertising FitBit to their friends increasing the reach of the product on these channels at no cost to the company and generating social proof
Victor literally invented a ldquobetter mousetraprdquo as a kind of sequel to an earlier innovation the original spring-loaded mousetrap (from 1898) Their Kill-lert Remote Notification System wirelessly informs users via text or email when a
trap (which kills by electrocution) has been tripped An online analytics platform even determines where traps are having the most success guiding user (or pest control professional) placement of the little shockboxes
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 13
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 4 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPANDS
AI has become an omnipresent memeamong digital marketers and theapplication of ldquomachine learningrdquo orldquocognitiverdquo technology depends on theneed of the marketer
So itrsquos no wonder the AI provider segment has seen literally thousands of competing vendors springing up each focusing on a different vertical or slice of the funnel
Letrsquos see where AI is making (very fast) inroads into different facets of digital marketing
Content Creation
Tools like Quill and Wordsmith are already being deployed by publications like Forbes to generate news content by using templates to incorporate relevant data and keywords The results read like theyrsquore written by a human but if copy needs an extra dose of revision marketers can edit it by using the Hemingway App an AI that highlights complex sentences and suggests alternative word choices to improve readability
Ad Buying
One solution to the problems with programmatic ad buying we covered earlier may be AI Since ldquomachine learningrdquo is about exactly that ndash learning as it goes ndash an artifi-cial intelligence platform may soon be able to provide autonomous media buying that reflects all the concerns of the advertiser when it comes to efficacy and proper placement
Image cognition capabilities mean the AI will be able to avoid placing your display ad next to letrsquos say a political video
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 14
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Programs like this going by friendly human-esque names like Albert and Frank demand little human intervention while searching out the most efficient ad buys possible After Harley-Davidson began using Albert it gave the platform credit for 40 sales growth and a 566 growth in site visits
Website Personalization amp Management
AI is already able to help marketers optimize user experiences when visiting awebsite through intelligent personalization According to research by Evergagea whopping 33 of marketers are using AI to deliver personalized web experiencesby analyzing hundreds of data points about each user including their demograph-ics location on-site behaviors history and more
Email Marketing Personalization
Itrsquos inarguable personalization of email outreach is far more effective than unper-sonalized emails most of which end up in the spam folder Demand Metrics found that 80 of marketers agreed but deploying personalization at scale across your entire prospect or CRM base isnrsquot feasible using manual processes
Batch-and-blast emails are a dying breed and AI will put the final nail in that coffin By leveraging transactional behavioral and intent data AI-powered predictive analytics allow marketers to send highly contextual highly segmented or even 11-directed emails at every stage of a customer lifecycle By taking key metrics like customer lifetime value time to first purchase time between purchases and so on into account email campaigns will grow even more adept at engaging consumers in real time
You (or rather your AI) will know the best time to reach out to each consumer the best message to put in front of them the best product to highlight and what price or promotion will move the needle
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 15
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Customer Service Autonomous Agents
Soon enough many of the interactions between a brand and its target audience wonrsquot require human intervention Customers may claim they want a real person on the other side of a sales or customer service connection yet they also demand speed and accuracy
Gartner estimates that 85 of all interactions between an enterprise and its customers will be entirely automated by 2020 with autonomous sales and customer service agents taking over much of those operations Already Swedish retail banker Swedbankrsquos AI platform handles up to 80 of its 30000 monthly queries
Most Widely Used Artificial Intelligence Main Reason Why Enterprises Currently Solutions By Enterprises Use Artificial Intelligence
Access to data response solutionsVoice recognition and 48532 businesses can use to
make effective decisions
Access to dataMachine-learning 24 136consumers can use to make effective decisions
Virtual personal assistants 15 Automation that eliminates manual 61 and repetitive tasksSystems used for 8 Monitoring and alertsabout the health
decision support 46 Automated written of the business reporting andor 5 communications Automated data-driven 46reportingAnalytics-focused 5applications
All of the above 196Robotics 4
All of the above Other8 3
Source Narrative Science 2015
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 16
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Other Examples of AI Adoption
Herersquos a short list of how AI is already being used to transform digital marketing and user experiences
Google has been using RankBrain an AI platform since 2015 to interpret new queries or phrases it hasnrsquot seen before and connect them to similar ones it has to deliver more accurate results
The Grid is an AI-driven web design platform that recognizes images user behaviors and context and adjusts design elements accordingly In short it powers websites that design themselves
Financial services provider USAA is using an AI platform to better predict how customers will contact them and what theyrsquoll be looking for Itrsquos let USAA improve its ldquoguess raterdquo from 50 to 88 resulting in a higher-quality customer service experience
WayBlazer a ldquocognitive travel platformrdquo is a B2B platform using IBMrsquos Watson AI to process consumer applications from hotel chains and airlines
UnderArmour is another Watson user combining in-house and third-party data to offer personalized training and lifecycle advice to consumers using its Record fitness app
Developers such as Mariana IQ are offering SaaS AI platforms where ldquodeep learningrdquo allows inbound marketing campaigns to improve the quality of their lead generation so marketers can deliver engagement thatrsquos highly personalized
Sales of cognitive platforms will exceed $10 billion a year by 2020 Source IDC
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 17
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 5 THE RISE OF (SMARTER) CONTENT
Content marketing strategist and pundit Mark Schaefer made a bold declaration a few years ago with his post Content Shock Why content marketing is not a sustain-able strategy One keynote in his argument was that each person has a physiologi-cal inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consumerdquo
Thus only quality content could rise above the flood thatrsquos underway and ldquodeep pockets will winrdquo as entry barriers to effective content marketing keep rising until theyrsquore prohibitive for most enterprises
When one considers the sheer volume of content on the web his argument has merit In September 2017 Wordpresscom cited that 81844275 posts had been made on its network alone which represents just a fraction of the total blogosphere
For a time content marketing seemed to have fallen into what bloggerpundit Joe Pulizzi had somberly labeled the ldquotrough of disillusionmentrdquo as initial fervor dissipated-in the face of real-world impediments
ldquoCreate content that teaches You canrsquot give up You need to be consistently awesomerdquo ndash Neil Patel
Committed to Content
In spite of these ominous hurdles B2C and B2B marketers alike wonrsquot abandon content marketing because itrsquos what their audiences demand Consumers and B2B buyers alike no longer put faith in advertising messages They want content that delivers precisely what they want whether itrsquos in the form of a personalized Netflix referral list or an IT white paper
So marketers will commit to delivering more effective content programs in the near term How do we know this
In 2017 86 of B2C marketers used content marketing of the 14 who didnrsquot 51 planned to launch a content program within a year
63 claimed their content marketing was more successful than the year before
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 18
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
77 of those ascribed their success to higher quality or more efficient content and 71 to better content strategy
88 of B2B marketers used content marketing in 2016 though only 32 had a strategy behind it
62 have seen more YOY success with it
According to a DemandGen study 51 of B2B buyers rely on content to research their buying decisions
47 of them viewed 3-5 pieces of content before ever engaging with a sales rep
As content marketing moves forward though therersquos another wave of transforma-tion in the making As new technologies and new approaches take hold the very DNA of how a marketer creates and delivers content will have to evolve
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 19
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
A Content Trends Hotlist
What are the changes to get onboard with if yoursquore a content marketer hoping to stay competitive
1 Content is diversifying
Audiences are turning to new and different formats and channels to get information particularly with the rise of mobile devices So marketers need to be ready to take advantage of that movement
In 2016 51 of B2B marketers prioritized creating visual content assets according to the Content Marketing Institute
CMI found that 53 of marketers used interactive content with the most common types being assessments calculators contests quizzes and interac-tive infographics
Overall 60 of marketers use video in their marketing and 73 plan on increasing its use according to the Social Media Examiner
SME also determined that 50 of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope and 50 wanted to learn more about live video
MassPlanner found that infographics are liked and shared on social media three times as much as any other kind of content
And donrsquot forget the aforementioned Internet of Things is an entirely new set of channels demanding a new range of content types As content is meshed with everything surrounding us a content marketerrsquos capacity to deliver immersive or ubiquitous engagement means mastering all these new delivery touchpoints
So diversify your content team
Content and growth hacking advocate Neil Patel strongly advises that simply hiring just writers to churn out content wonrsquot cut it anymore because of the diversification wersquove just described
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 20
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
An average B2B marketer uses eight content channels with social media at the top of the list followed by blogging white papers pre-produced video webcastswebinars email and other tactics
Leveraging them effectively demands a multi-disciplinary team (and an accompanying investment) thatrsquos expert in video production and editing graphic design and illustration audio production content strategy and distri-bution analytics branding content promotion and much more
2 Video is becoming the Content King
We mentioned how marketers want to jump on the live video train in droves Video ndash live and canned ndash needs to be a crux of your future content strategy Why
Facebook videos get 135 more organic reach than photos and live video gets phenomenal response too with people spending three times as much time watching live videos than non-live videos and are ten times as likely to comment during the video
A survey by Livestream showed that 80 of respondents would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post and 82 were more interested in a brandrsquos live video than its social media posts
3 VR is still niche ndash but not necessarily AR
A couple years ago every marketer seemed ready to jump into Virtual Reality with both feet The problem since then has been getting any significant number of consumers to strap on an Oculus Rift or other device considering the price points involved and the lack of compelling content So VR at least seems as though itrsquoll remain a niche play for the near to mid-future
Augmented Reality though is another story Since it can be executed using peoplersquos smartphones and an app download itrsquos far simpler to leverage and may have more upside for marketers
IKEArsquos Place app allows iOS users to preview furniture in their homes before making a buy
AR has found a role is in the cosmetics and personal care sector where consumers can try out different lipsticks hair colors eye shadows and more using their smartphones or in-store ldquomirrorsrdquo Sephora Esteacutee Lauder and
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 21
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
many others have turned to AR solutions developed by the same firm Modi-face which services no less than 84 different beauty brands
In fact the outlook for AR is glowing enough that some analysts predict itrsquoll drive $120 billion in revenues by 2020 4-5 times that of VR
4 Transparency is paramount
Whatever platform you employ donrsquot forget that consumers are as wersquove noted suspicious of marketers Nielsen verified that when it asked them what channels they trusted the most 63 trusted television ads but just 47 trusted online video ads 42 trusted social media ads and only 39 trusted ads on mobile
Moreover a slew of recent FTC judgements against brands for co-opting online influencers and reviewers has tainted everyone from Lord amp Taylor to Xbox
Defaulting to ldquocause marketingrdquo to build goodwill isnrsquot a panacea either A study by Traction a San Francisco agency found that 41 of respondents at least somewhat agreed that cause-related programs were ldquojust spinrdquo and 25 were actively annoyed by them
So consumers are setting a high bar for marketers when it comes to earning their trust Transparency and disclosure are going to be more important than ever in developing effective content and need to be authentic if theyrsquore going to make headway
5 You need content quality control more than ever
With an ever-exploding number of digital touchpoints organizations are pressed with the problem of maintaining content consistency and regulatory compliance across them all Delivering a disjointed experience damages the credibility of your content and leads to brand erosion over time Thatrsquos why enterprise companies are turning to Digital Quality Management (DQM) platforms as the solution
These help centralized governance of far-flung content and branding assets by detecting errors and allowing quick correction so consumers experience consistent messaging and brand experiences while touchpoints stay in compliance with local or regional regulations
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 22
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 6 THE SOCIAL MEDIA SURGE
Social media continues its climb into the driverrsquos seat in the marketing mix and that will only gain steam moving forward Advertising sales tell the story US digital display ad revenue will total over $48 billion in 2018 according to eMarketer in a recent analy-sis Facebook will hold down the top of that list pulling in $20 billion with Google a distant second just below $6 billion
Marketers have doubled their spending worldwide on social over just the past two years For many of them the allure is its relatively low cost per impression especially on channels like Facebook
All is not rosy for social networks however Twitterrsquos prospects have increasingly dimmed in the eyes of some analysts and eMarketer predicts the platformrsquos ad revenues will actually decline this year Leading many to speculate that Twitter may have to significantly change its business model or even be sold off
So whatrsquos ahead in social
Some of the whatrsquos likely as we move ahead includehellip
Targeted personalization and relevance will grow in importance as wersquove seen itrsquos a big deal for content marketing and that will apply to SMM too as the analytics tools and targeting options on social platforms become more sophisticated and precise
Ephemeral content will drive social engagement for younger Millennials and Generation Z as best represented by Instagram Stories though Facebook has boarded the same bus Itrsquos content that vanishes after a short time span usually no more than 24 hours Whatrsquos its appeal Its temporary nature makes it seem more authentic than permanent posts or ads and it plays on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so its targets are more apt to take quick action
Chatbots will keep chattering as never before especially as consumer patience continues to decline and they expect instant responses from brands and marketers Chatbots especially when powered by advanced AI will give marketers an opportunity for quick error-free interactions in social Facebook Messenger for example already features 100000 monthly active chatbots swapping two billion messages a month between brands and consumers
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 23
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
Content publishing on social media channels will grow too LinkedIn has been a particular harbinger of this as influencer articles have become a
favorite tactic of B2B marketers Facebook Instant Articles has gained ground too as publishers can post their pieces directly to the Facebook App and Snapchat and Instagram have installed linking features that drive users to articles and other content
ldquoFeatures overlaprdquo will grow more common as competing platforms offer similar widgets Snapchat and Instagram both offer timed videos and visual content but Instagram can boast broader reach while Snapchat can claim greater resonance and penetration with a young audience So picking a channel wonrsquot be a matter of which offers a sexier feature but where analytics tell a marketer theyrsquoll most effectively connect with their audience
Facebook will focus more and more on a mobile strategy Content technology provider Contently predicts 59 of US Facebook users will access it exclu-sively via mobile by 2020 and 80 of Facebookrsquos ad revenue already comes
from mobile ads Marketers who have relied on Facebook will need to make their brand experiences mobile-first to take advantage of the switch
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 24
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
TREND 7 THE MOVE FROM WEB CONTENT MANAGEMENT (WCM) TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (DXM)
With the proliferation of channels for marketing engagement and as more digital marketers reach across borders to open new markets theyrsquoll need more than a web content management system to contend with a host of complex issues
Maintaining a consistent digital experience including branding and messag-ing across a diverse set of markets and channels
Empowering regional offices to localize their digital experiences so they resonate with consumers in those markets while still providing workflows that enable corporate to monitor and approve messaging
Ensuring their many digital touchpoints comply with regulations and legalities in each market including specific local laws about accessibility disclaimers data collection copyright and more
Promoting efficient and collaborative publishing processes to deliver increasing amounts of content
Integrating cost-effective Digital Quality Management (DQM) to automate detection and correction of compliance issues content errors technical issues and more
Accommodating the future proliferation of digital experience platforms such as wearables and the Internet of Things
Managing all of this from the C-suite via centralized digital governance
Legacy CMS and WCM systems are inadequate to the task So marketers are increasingly turning to Cloud-based Digital Experience Management (DXM) platforms as all-in-one solutions to these knotty issues
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 25
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
How does DXM help marketers
By delivering seamless consistency of branding and content across every facet of digital experience no matter what channel DXM platforms deliver the kind of cohe-sive experience consumers and buyers demand
Itrsquos why Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 50 of organizations will redirect their martech budgets toward customer experience innovations
Beyond elevating brand reputation top-tier DXM platforms allow extensive integration with third-party software and even the many legacy systems a global marketer may have across its network
The factors driving DXM adoption
Some of the compelling reasons this trend is taking hold
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that by 2020 the demand for omni-channel customer experiences will be amplified by the demand for near-perfect execution
Aberdeen Group claims enterprises with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89 of customers versus only 33 for companies with weak omni-channel strategies
Companies that take a ldquotop-downrdquo approach to digital transformation with strong corporate digital governance through platforms like DXM are more successful than those that allow things to simply evolve in a more individualis-tic or ldquograss rootsrdquo manner according to research by the MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini
51 of CFOs said digital governance is a high or very high priority of that group over half reported EBITDA growth of over 10 over the past three years according to Ernst amp Young
Kampyle found that 87 of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing consistent experiences
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 26
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
SUMMARY
Last year as we looked ahead to 2017 we saw trends that would drive what were termed ldquotidal shiftsrdquo in how companies would create deliver analyze and evolve their digital marketing programs In the year since those trends have only gathered forcehellipand have been joined by new developments that were scarcely foreseen in 2016
Yet wersquore positive that in a year or two wersquoll be looking at an entirely new slate of innovations and advances that are driving even greater transformations in how marketers engage their audiences
That simply demonstrates how fast and furious the evolution of digital marketing has been and why organizations need to stay ahead of changes before those changes get too far ahead of them
7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS YOU NEED TO JUMP ON NOW 27
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results
crownpeakcom
About Crownpeak
Founded in January 2001 Crownpeak was the first company to offer web content management through a SaaS solution Today leading brands trust Crownpeakrsquos cloud-first Digital Experience Management (DXM) platform to quickly and easily create deploy and optimize customer experiences across digital touchpoints at scale
Crownpeak provides a complete solution for DXM featuring content management personalization search and hosting in addition to fully integrated Digital Quality Management (DQM) to ensure brand integrity and meet compliance requirements More than 200 customers rely on Crownpeak to deliver engaging experiences that delight customers promote loyalty and deliver results