Vineet Malhotra

The marketing industry, among all other domains, is quite susceptible to change and is always evolving. Missing out on the latest marketing trends can leave brands behind in terms of competitive advantage and generating more leads. We have seen continued accelerated adoption of digital and cloud technology in marketing this year. There won’t be any different next year in this regard.

Brands will continue to need to use technological solutions in their marketing efforts to adapt to our increasingly digital lives. In fact, it will be critical for businesses to adapt to the challenges of measuring and reacting to changes in consumer behavior across various communication channels. And with the end of cookies soon taking place, markets will need more tech tools than ever to get their messages across.

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Here are the top MarTech trends that every brand needs to follow and adopt in the coming days.

Hyper-Personalization

Today, we have access to increasingly sophisticated technologies that allow us to measure and predict consumer behavior. It allows us to identify micro-moments and selling opportunities that last a few seconds. This ability to find and respond to such moments, combined with personalized approaches, will continue to be a priority for marketers.

Brands that understand and respond to the needs of their customers as individuals and offer them something unique at the right time and place have been winning this year. For example, when you arrive in a new city, you might receive a notification with recommendations for restaurants or hotels from Booking.com or TripAdvisor . Another example is how Clorox brands sense and respond to key signals, like someone looking at flu trends in a city receiving prevention tips from the company.

Consumers are drawn to immersive and relevant experiences and content. Brands can take this hyper-personalized, micro-moment approach to further strengthen their relationships with their customers.

Integration with Wearables

Wearable MarTech integration offers brands a new way to approach their customers and build connections. Smartwatches and other wearable products allow marketers to serve highly targeted advertising. For example, an user may get a notification from a fashion or utility store when passing it by. Wearable technology trends and their integration with marketing enable brands to reach potential leads at the right time in the right places.

Wearable tech in the near future will also play a key part in search engine optimization, just like how mobile optimization has now become the norm when it comes to ranking. Brands may have to optimize their platforms for wearable devices like smartwatches to get a higher ranking and increase their conversion rates.

Blockchain Technology for Digital Marketing

The introduction of blockchain technology has brought some significant changes in the way people use the internet. It has also created new opportunities for marketers to enter new spheres in addition to their existing marketplaces. Brands need to familiarize themselves with how blockchain will impact their marketing activities.

Blockchain has found some considerable use cases in the finance industry, healthcare , and supplychain. And marketing is not an exception to the potential use cases of blockchain. For starters, the technology offers an ideal solution to challenges centered around intermediaries. Additionally, the interactive features of blockchain would help brands communicate their messages to the audience.

Another example of blockchain in marketing is the adChain platform, which works as a transformative protocol in MarTech with features like real-time lead tracking and campaign audits. It also leverages the open and shared nature of blockchain to prevent pay-per-click providers from accessing fradualent ad clicks and traffic. Blockchain martech advocates are also promoting other use cases of the technology, such as improved transparency, better security, and reducing privacy concerns for brands, marketers, and consumers alike.

Mixed Reality in MarTech

The grand idea of metaverse and interconnected digital realities has still not taken off. However, it is a different story when it comes to extended reality with technologies like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality . Marketers have already started heavily focusing on incorporating them into their marketing strategies and campaigns. And going forward, brands will see them being deployed in more connected ways with new innovations.
Augmented Reality, or AR, will continue to play a huge role in marketing strategies for brands because of its ability to give brands the ability to offer virtual try-ons. Not only will it help brands potentially reduce the rates of return, but it also offers more immersive shopping experiences, driving brand loyalty.

With the increasing availability of affordable VR headsets, virtual showrooms and malls are becoming a real possibility for brands. VR is being adopted increasingly by real estate companies to give virtual property tools to potential buyers. The development of new tools like haptic feedback devices also allows users to feel virtual reality. This gives brands a chance to give their customers more hands-on experience, something which until now was not possible.

(The author is Chief Technology Officer of Hashtag Orange. Views expressed are personal.)