In the digitally transformed world, marketing is not just about pushing products and services to customers, it's about doing what it takes to provide value and build lasting relationships. The best marketers know how to connect with their customers in a way that creates value for both parties and then use that connection to drive sales and brand advocacy. Marketing strategies change at a rapid pace, and businesses who can keep up with market needs and use the correct tools astutely will be the ones who thrive.
In its latest report, Gartner identifies five key predictions set to shape marketing in 2023:
- AI-augmented operations allow for smarter data-driven decisions
- Increasing volume of fake content requires constant monitoring
- Consumers view product placement favourably
- Loyal customers are essential for growth
- AI in marketing can be used for good or bad
AI-augmented operations allow for smarter data-driven decisions
‘’By 2025, organisations that use AI across the marketing function will shift 75% of their operational activities from production to more strategic activities.’’
AI-augmented marketing operations mean that more decisions are being made by machines. The benefit is that they can do a lot more in a short space of time than human marketers can. As a result, businesses can make data-driven decisions about content, campaigns, and channels at scale with far less risk of error and time waste, allowing for more strategic discussions.
Increasing volume of fake content requires constant monitoring
‘’By 2027, 80% of enterprise marketers will establish a dedicated content authenticity function.’’With the rise of AI-augmented marketing operations comes the need to ensure content authenticity. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to spotting fake news, so companies need to be able to prove that their marketing assets are authentic and come from a reliable and trackable source.
Consumers view product placement favourably
‘’By 2024, 70% of brands will redeploy at least 10% of their media budget to product placement in entertainment content.’’In an age where consumers will pay for ways to avoid advertising, it's important for brands to invest in sponsored content formats that consumers prefer to traditional advertising.
Loyal customers are essential for growth
‘’One in three businesses without a loyalty programme today will establish one by 2027 to shore up first-party data collection and retain high-priority customers.’’
It’s no surprise to hear that loyal customers are essential for business growth. The key challenge for many companies is how best to encourage loyalty among customers in order to retain high priority segments. Not only do loyalty programmes drive customer retention and engagement, but they’re also a valuable tool that marketers can use to collect data insights to drive the marketing roadmap. Loyalty programmes are also designed to deliver personalised customer experiences and reward customer loyalty, and they can be used as a way to create rich customer profiles - a win-win situation all round.
AI in marketing can be used for good or bad
‘’By 2025, 70% of enterprise CMOs will identify accountability for ethical AI in marketing among their top concerns.’’
AI is a tool that can be used to improve the quality of marketing and make it more effective. However, it is up to companies and marketers to make sure that AI is used ethically. The use of AI in marketing is growing rapidly, with many benefits such as: it can help understand customers better and create more personalised experiences; help find new customers, reduce costs and improve efficiency by automating repetitive tasks. All of these points sounds like great opportunities for increased productivity, however, there are also risks associated with the use of AI in marketing that users need to be aware of. Machines do not have all the answers and cannot always produce perfect results. Marketers need to think about how customers will react when they receive messages from machines rather than humans, companies must not lose sight of their human values when working alongside machines and businesses must never forget that people are at the heart of every organisation.
Need help building your brand’s future marketing strategy?
Our 25 years’ experience in life science marketing can support your organisation to build on your current marketing activity and access a wider audience through multiple channels, such as social and digital media, podcasts and webinars, events, trade media, and inbound marketing strategies. We support clients to better communicate with their complex audiences to grow awareness, change perceptions, generate demand and, ultimately, grow market share. Our business can support you globally with services into China, Europe and North America.
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