With 2022 just begun, now is a great time for your marketing team to get up to speed on the trends and opportunities that will help them to maximize their MarTech ROI in the upcoming year. To get you on your way, check out our Top 5 MarTech Trends to Watch Out For in 2022:
1. Full-cycle reporting with a focus on ROI
Full-cycle reporting is a “must-have” in any Marketing strategy. With robust reporting tools available, marketers have access to a massive data set – especially when it comes to digital engagement data. That being said, how you use this data is key.
ROI reporting provides powerful insights to marketers- especially when it comes to the question that is on all of our minds: “Where should I spend my marketing dollars to make the greatest ROI?” The best way to answer this question is to track spend against each marketing campaign, as well as lead generation/engagement– and then follow those leads through the cycle to the purchase! This reporting method takes effort and patience, but also provides quality insights that are unmatched by any other report type. Worth it, if you ask us!
2. The Importance of the Internet of Things, Big Data & Sentiment Analysis
t is estimated that 80 million gadgets will be connected to the Internet of Things by 2022. (IoT). This translates to a nearly limitless amount of consumer data for marketers to use. An up-and-coming use of this wealth of data is “sentiment analysis” – an algorithm that uses machine learning and natural language processing to identify customer opinion, whether positive or negative – and which can ultimately be used to forecast customer behaviour. In the Marketing Automation landscape, there are several sentiment analysis tools available on the market that integrate with MA tools like Marketo. Similarly, Hubspot Service Hub has a native a customer feedback tool that can break down qualitative survey responses and evaluate them for positive or negative intent. Pretty cool!
3. Incorporating Virtual Reality into Marketing Plans
Marketers are in a never-ending battle to capture more eyeballs and maintain a growing number of customers, amid ever growing competition. Adopting Virtual Reality (VR) will provide them a competitive advantage by taking the customer experience to the next level. For example, a few apps have been launched which allow customers to see how an item will look in their home before purchasing it. Not only does this stand out as a luxury user experience– but, tracking this kind of interaction can be a really telling indicator of “intent to buy”- which is arguably the most valuable lead touch point in the customer journey. Just think of how powerful this could be to your nurture/sales strategy!
4. The demand for MarTech Architects is on the rise
Now, this could be a foreshadowing of future events in the MarTech field, but the function of a Marketing Architect is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Marketing Architects are technically-focused marketers and problem-solvers with expertise in building software solutions that combine multiple complementary marketing and sales technologies. A good Marketing Architect not only integrates and configures the various technologies in your MarTech stack – but they define strategy to ensure that all platforms play nicely together, reduce risk of breakage, empower a larger Marketing team to learn and use the technologies independently, and continuously search for opportunities to optimize the online lead experience.
As more businesses invest in building a high-performing MarTech stack, doing so without bringing an experienced Marketing Architect on-board will be risky, and could ultimately affect the customer experience, the sales pipeline– and the bottom line.
5. Increased Customer Experience Personalization
Customer experience has never been more personalized, thanks to the prevalence of chatbots, live chat, self-service, and customized products/services. Of course, the main goal with personalization is to make clients feel heard, more connected to your company, and see the value your solution can bring to their lives.
That said, the next level in personalization will undoubtedly be AI empowered marketing, which will allow marketers to create an advanced personalized lead journey with minimal effort. There are a number of tools that can be leveraged here, but one often under-recognized tool is Marketo’s Predictive Content Module. Predictive Content uses machine learning and predictive analytics to serve up the most relevant content, based on your leads engagement history- meaning each lead receives a totally different user experience, that is continuously updated in real time. Interested? Check it out!
Staying one step ahead of competitors is crucial in the marketing world– so we hope you found our Top 5 MarTech Trends to Watch Out For in 2022 helpful in that feat. If you have any questions about how we can support you in making the most out of your MarTech stack and get ahead of these trends, contact us to chat with a consultant.
