2019 was big for digital marketing technologies. Many of the forecasted digital marketing technology trends for 2019 were practiced in full swing especially:

• Video marketing – Video being used for Facebook & Twitter ads, F8 introduced live video interactions and Google added video ads in-SERP
• Mobile marketing – more than 80 percent of internet users used smartphones
• Augment reality (remember Pokemon Go?) and IoT paved new ground for digital marketing

Last year paved the way for new possibilities for digital technologies, and now everyone is demanding for AI (artificial intelligence) be it a smartphone or a CRM.

Digital marketing is not only going creative in a massive sense but also looking at the analytical approach to get everything right. There’s a change in consumer buying decisions and it is getting more complex by the day.

For marketers to understand this, they require tools and techniques that will help them influence it in their favour. Mobile and video marketing is growing as well and will continue to grow this year.

There are lot many reasons why marketing is getting more dependent on visual representation and faster connectivity. However, one of the crucial reasons is consumers want content that is easy to consume and understand, plus being on-the-go majorly incites connection need.

In any case, if marketers were thinking that 2016 was the year of major changes then they haven’t looked into digital marketing technology trends for 2017.

Here are seven top digital marketing technology trends for 2017.

Marketing Automation

MA (as many marketers like to call it) has been one of the top three digital marketing technology trends since last five years now, and it still is.

This is not an ordinary technology, and it has great potential to change the way marketing and automation work. 91 per cent of businesses are investing in marketing automation tools as this tool helps inconsistent marketing across various channels.

Your email, mobile and web marketing can be easily automated with the help of this tool. With the increase in innovation, there’s more that can change in this tool – better social engagements, interactive landing pages and web forms and more.

However, the focus will be mainly on social. It is safe to say that marketing automation tools will now offer features equivalent to a social CRM. 

Check out the marketing automation services that we offer.

Content Marketing

Another trend that has been on the trends chart for the last three years and it is back again. This is only because the content is the basic requirement of digital marketing now.

Many marketers keep quoting that content is king, and it indeed is. Creating content in the form of infographics, e-books, toolkits, checklists, guides and more such, distributing it to the right channels is what the buzz is all about.

Consumer buying decisions can be influenced using good pieces of content i.e., helpful and relevant. Apart from this, dynamic content is also going to go big in 2017.

Mobile Marketing 

The popularity of mobile phones/smartphones remains the same. Users will continue to spend more time on the internet using a smartphone. Because smartphones are on the rise (more than 180 smartphone users), usage is bound to increase.

Plus it is mobility to search, read or watch anything on the internet while on-the-go adds to its charm. That’s one of the biggest reasons why mobile marketing will continue to grow. Your website, any landing page, emails, blogs, social posts, images or even newsletter needs to be mobile-friendly.

In simple words, all your marketing techniques need to be optimized for mobile use. Adding buy buttons on your social posts will help users connect with your product/service easily.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is the future for all. A system that can think, act and talk like a human is what users need. This technology will go massively in 2017 and will improve customer engagement.

As AI technology offers bots that can think and talk about humans making it easier for businesses to cater to their customer base 24/7. With this technology, the approach will become more proactive than reactive, and that’s what the users need.

Like Siri and Cortana, another industry such as CRM is also planning to introduce AI in their tools to improve customer management.

IoT Marketing Apps

Connecting multiple devices and trying to build an ecosystem of connecting products/media is trending and will be trending for next three years. Products that can talk to each other and has the technology to share data on the internet is a smart efficient move.

Marketers are still trying to find out the exact potential of IoT, however, this tech promises to be a revolution. Imagine products that can place an order (Amazon – Tide), market themselves (Diageo – Interactive Father’s Day Campaign), and basically, just be out there connecting with each other.

There will 20.8 billion connected “thing" to the internet by 2020, now just imagine the opportunities digital marketers will gain.

Video Marketing

Facebook did it by introducing videos as it major interactive features such as video display pictures, live streams, video posts and more. Every other social platform just followed in its footsteps.

Snapchat was already making rounds with its instant video stories allowing users to post 15-second videos to their storyboard (unlimited videos, mind you). Instagram didn’t want to be left behind and introduced it’s very “original” Instant storyboard that also happens to allow unlimited video stories and live video stream.

This is just the beginning; marketers will be exploiting this video marketing strategy to its maximum because interactions are any day better than content.

Influencer Marketing

This marketing strategy is selling hotcakes in the market right now. All the marketers are trying to capitalize on this type of marketing. Influencer marketing is all about finding the right experts and thought leadership in one’s industry, connecting with them, and pitching your business to them, and in return, they will talk about your business/brand/product to their followers.

These people act as a defining voice for your end-user/consumer, plus it doesn’t act as advertising per se but more like experts recommending your product to the users.

Well, here are my picks on top digital marketing technology trends and I can say that these seven are going to go massive. However, if you think there is something else in marketing technology that might trend(s) this year, please share it.