There’s never been a more exciting time to be in marketing. New technologies, trends, and customer behaviors are transforming the industry at breakneck speed, creating copious opportunities for those who are able to keep up — or better still, get ahead of the curve.
To better understand what the future of marketing might look like, we asked three industry leaders to share their predictions.
1. Voice marketing
Demand for voice-assisted speakers is booming. According to Canalys, a marketing, analytics, and research firm, the global market for these devices grew 187% in the second quarter of 2018. That’s why Abbey Klaassen, the president of 360i’s New York headquarters, thinks voice marketing is the future.
“Voice is somewhere between an evolution and a revolution for marketing,” Klaassen predicts.
2. Intent
Rip up your demographic-based personas. Kiss goodbye the old-school marketing funnel. The future of the industry lies in understanding a customer’s intent, argues Matt Naeger, Merkle’s chief strategy officer. “The next big thing is around predictive intent.”
3. New influencers
In the past, brands that really wanted to stand out from the crowd would enlist the support of a celebrity. But Jerri Devard, Office Depot’s chief customer officer, says that’s changing, and it’s a new reality marketers must adapt to. “It used to be that celebrities became influencers; now influencers are becoming celebrities.”
