One of the biggest ways recent tech advances have impacted business is in how products are marketed. Everyone from new entrepreneurs to the CEOs of big corporations are scrambling to understand what the digital revolution means for promotion and advertising. Technology has opened up many new opportunities for marketing to a wider audience. Businesses can now use technology to market virtually anywhere in the world on a much smaller budget.
Social media moves outside its box
When Facebook first started to steal users from MySpace, no one could have guessed just how big social media would become thanks to this site. Today, it’s about more than just connecting with friends. Social media has begun to influence the non-digital world in very significant ways. LinkedIn leads the pack in that regard, collecting general information about businesses, their employees, and their customers and helping people make connections and showcase their careers. It’s a mutual exchange of information, initiated when a website adds the LinkedIn logo to their site. It works, because it helps people learn more about any participating business.
The hard sell is out
The worldview of good advertising has had a drastic change and consumers have shown in record numbers that they no longer respond to the hard sell. Today, you have to do more than just pitch your product or service. Consumers want something of value and, above all, they want some level of brand interaction and to know they’re valued as a consumer. Social media and the internet in general have raised the bar, creating a forum where brands and celebrities can easily interact with their followers. Websites, as well, are expected to offer something. If you’re a cosmetics company, post blogs featuring makeup tutorials. If you’re an auto dealer, feature classic cars on your site. The key is to be interesting and engaging.
The customer experience is more important than ever
The need to interact with customers has led to another change in marketing and that is the need to focus on the customer experience. The internet has cast a spotlight on businesses and how they interact with their customers. As a result, businesses have refocused their efforts on improving customer experience. Now that AI tech is on the rise and is being integrated into marketing, companies have even started personalizing the shopping experience for each customer. The more your business can do for its customers, the better they’ll grow their reputation.
As technology continues to evolve, we’ll see marketing tactics change in even more surprising ways. The days of catchy jingles and addictive slogans have given way to a new era, where the customer is savvy, smart, and opposed to hard sells. They look for authenticity and technology is helping them find it in their favorite brands.