The year 2020 came with significant changes for the marketing industry, putting to test all we knew as modus operandi. Although marketing has long been a progressive and dynamic profession, the level of change that it witnessed in 2020 was enormous. Some may even argue that it was ‘unprecedented’. The pandemic obviously played a pivotal role in changing the marketing landscape for every brand and marketer out there.
From shopping going largely electronic (E-commerce) to social commerce (Instagram and surprisingly WhatsApp sales), and telemedicine/E-services becoming increasingly adopted by consumers, marketing has never known a more disruptive time.
This disruption, although accelerated by an unexpected pandemic, was also buoyed by technology. In 2020, the number of internet users across the world grew by 321 million to peg the total number of users at 4.66 billion. That’s more than 875,000 new users added daily (A 7.4% increase from the previous year).
More people are online daily, and this will not change in the foreseeable future. In fact, because of the number of people flocking online daily, marketers will have to be more imaginative in engaging with customers. Still, imagination and creativity alone won’t cut it for marketers in the years leading up to 2025.
Between now and 2025, they will rely heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) to understand, reach, connect with and convert online customers. They will use the technology to track customer movement, predict demographic compatibility, anticipate purchases, and to provide top-tier customer service. AI will be the backbone of modern marketing by 2025; it will study how customers think, what they want, and how you as a marketer can reach them.
One might argue that AI is already helping marketers win, but the industry has actually been underutilizing AI. Just watch what happens between now and 2025. I’ll be here to say, “I told you so.”