We’re marketing experts, not psychics, but based on current trends and tech developments we have a few guesses about the future of marketing.
In our tech-driven world, the marketing industry is changing faster than ever before. As programs like Google Ads constantly generate updates, marketing professionals will need to keep improving their skillset to stay ahead of the dynamic environment.
As we learn more about changing consumer needs, the future of marketing becomes a lot clearer - it’s pushing towards a greater connection to consumers through more unique and personalized advertising experiences.
While this may sound like the end of the marketing world as we know it, don’t start your doomsday prep just yet. Instead, check out these predictions from our marketing experts about changes and trends to expect in the future of marketing.
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Check out these 5 marketing trends to look out for in the future of marketing.
1. The rise of live streaming content
Let’s just say that the future of marketing is online. This means the establishment of a positive and honest persona is key, and authenticity is a vital piece of this puzzle. Live content is a great way to instill customer confidence, and its influence is growing.
Using platforms like Instagram or Tik Tok, live video streaming allows two-way connection with audiences. With video streaming expected to be valued at $149 billion by 2026, this content strategy trend is showing no signs of slowing down.
Building an online community
One of the many benefits of live streaming is the live comment section, which offers brands the ability to respond to viewers in real time. This provides an exciting, personalized viewing experience that attracts high engagement. It leans in the opposite direction of the scripted feel of outdated, traditional advertising.
As well as allowing brands to connect with audiences, it also allows audiences to connect with each other. This helps to create a community that shares an interest in the brand and its content.
Live video trends
An immersive experience for viewers, live video streaming is a great opportunity to get creative with some eye-catching marketing. Here are some fun trends to look forward to in live video marketing:
- Showing how to use a product
- Hosting a competition
- Telling a interesting story about the brand history
- A Q&A session
- Collaborate with a relevant influencer
As Tik Tok continues to succeed, it’s safe to say live video streaming is on its way to becoming a mainstream marketing tip.
2. Video ads will get shorter in the future of marketing
We predict the popularity of short-from video content will continue to skyrocket. In the future of marketing, video advertising will keep it ‘short and sweet.’
Short-form videos are no more than a minute long and are usually filmed in portrait mode on a smartphone for easy distribution on social media. They have been accelerated by the boom of platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok, which have shown that short videos are an increasingly efficient way of connecting with younger audiences.
Easy to create and share
In addition to their high consumer engagement rates, the benefits of short video ads include how easy and inexpensive they can be to create. They can be filmed and edited using an iPhone and still achieve fantastic engagement. Also, the visuals provided by a quality short-form video are memorable, entertaining, and transcend language barriers. This makes them highly shareable, which is perfect for platforms like Instagram where users can DM and repost videos. As a low cost, high reward option, this new type of content marketing is attracting more brands every year.
Attention spans
The future of marketing is, in part, influenced by the decreasing attention span of consumers. Studies show that the average consumer attention span continues to drop, with recent data showing people’s attention span only lasts eight seconds. This drop is why shorter video ads are proving to produce better results, as they communicate the intended message before audiences get a chance to skip or swipe.
Overall, it’s looking like the future of marketing in the video realm will include some fast-paced competition to win the golden prize of people’s interest. This new ‘less is more’ approach to video content is a positive change that will improve efficiency and inspire creative ways of capturing consumer’s attention.
3. Content marketing will level up
In the future of marketing, content will be even more constant and accessible than it is today. As marketing processes become more efficient, the standards for content marketing are quickly rising.
Content marketing is the creation of promotional media content, such as images and videos, which is shared with target audiences through media channels. Improved data software will allow marketers to track and predict consumer trends, making the creation and distribution of content easier and less expensive. For example, advancements in AI means that written content, such as articles, can be created incredibly quickly by highly intelligent software.
Creativity
As analytical tasks like data collection will become even more automated to produce effective content marketing, high quality and unique content will be the key to standing out in the crowd - now and in the future of marketing.
In order to produce unique content, creativity skills will be highly valued in future marketing professionals. When it comes to digital marketing, professionals will need to think ‘out of the box’, and constantly seek exciting new ways to engage their audience.
Mobile-friendly content
In the future of marketing, content marketing like websites and blogs will need to become more mobile-friendly. As people continue to choose their phones over their laptops to search, shop and communicate, content will need to be easy to navigate on a touchscreen phone. In order for companies to create a seamless customer experience, content will need to be seamless, especially when it comes to speed and usability.
Contextual content
The future of marketing sees ‘contextual content’ becoming more and more persuasive. Contextual content considers personal factors about individuals to show them the right content at the right time. For example, an ice-cream brand could target their ads towards someone on a particularly hot summer day.
With access to data like location and online shopping habits, contextual content is an extremely efficient new way to distribute marketing.
4. No more ‘fake feeling’ content marketing
Companies will need to switch up their social media marketing strategies to connect with the Gen Z consumer group.
Gen Z are showing a dislike to content marketing that feels fake and impersonal. Authentic marketing empathizes with the needs and interests of its audience.
Micro influencers
When it comes to content marketing, influencers are already a popular way to create a bridge between big companies and the everyday people using their products and services. We expect to see the future of marketing plans making more room in their marketing budget for ‘micro influencers’.
Micro-influencers attract a smaller community of followers defined by shared interests. Consumers can be more likely to trust their recommendations, as their content is genuinely relevant to the brand they’re promoting. For example, a nail polish company may prefer to reach out to a nail art influencer with under 100,000 followers, instead of a beauty influencer with more followers.
Brand personality
Brand personality has never been more important to creating a reputation as an authentic organization, and this extends to content marketing. If a brand has a strong personality, it can help audiences feel more connected, and has shown to build trust with Gen Z consumers.
We’ve already seen a rise in popularity of a bold and quirky approach to content marketing, which we expect to spread in the future of marketing. We’ll likely see more brands (when appropriate) humanize themselves with funny Tik Tok videos and cheeky Instagram comments. Look forward to this fun trend in the content marketing space.
5. Marketing strategies will prioritize customer experience
It’s looking like the future of marketing will focus on creating marketing strategies that improve the online customer experience.
A positive customer experience creates a positive association with a brand, but constant exposure to online entertainment and pop-up ads are causing people to become desensitized. In order to break through this new barrier, future marketing strategies will need to meet increasingly high standards of customer experiences.
Using technology to connect with customers
One customer experience marketing strategy we expect to see in the future is to use automation as much as possible to understand and reach consumers. With help from new data collection and analysis software, future marketers will have more in-depth knowledge of their consumers than ever before. Distributing marketing content will also continue to get easier as new algorithms allow access to extremely specific consumer groups.
Offline and online integration
We can also expect to see an increased effort to create a flow between offline and offline marketing experiences. After the Covid-19 pandemic, our digital and ‘real’ lives have become irreversibly intertwined. To provide positive customer experiences, companies will need to connect their online and offline experiences.
Marketing in a company’s online store should effortlessly blend with its physical store, and vice-versa. A great example of this is QR codes at a restaurant linking to an online menu. As well as promoting the food, the online menu could also encourage customers to sign up to the company E-newsletter. It’s important that marketers prioritize cohesion with this tactic, as inconsistencies in online and offline customers experiences can reduce brand trust.
To pave the way into the future of marketing, today’s marketing professionals should use the changing role of technology in our lives to improve their customers’ experience.
6. Marketing will meet the Metaverse
The Metaverse is a highly anticipated development in the future of marketing. Marketing professionals are sure to jump on the exciting opportunity to integrate AR technology into their strategies.
The Metaverse is expected to take AR marketing beyond just virtual billboards. Metaverse marketing will open the door to completely new customer experience strategies. Effective marketing in the Metaverse will create a positive online experience of what a company does in the physical world. For example, a fashion brand may sell AR replicas of their clothes that provide gamers with special abilities.
Marketing experiments
While this is still a very new environment for advertisers, there’s already news of some experimental Metaverse marketing in the making. Google Maps is offering an AR version of walking directions, and artists like Ariana Grande have already performed virtual concerts to promote music sales.
It’s important to note that the current state of Metaverse marketing does not offer brands much control over where their image appears, and users have a lot of interactive freedom. However, the risks of reputation damage caused by issues like ‘virtual vandalism’ can be managed with intentional, well-researched marketing content.
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