About 51% of the world's best marketers predict that the Internet of Things is going to revolutionize Marketing in 2020 (Marketo). Let's see how you can take advantage of it.
The Internet of Things (IoT) it's about WiFi connected objects, that wouldn't normally be connected. Sure, we've grown used to having WiFi in our mobile phones and computers, but what if your next fridge comes connected to the web? Your house, car or even your vacuum cleaner? What if the most common objects, like a pen or a can of juice, are now connected to the internet? What would this mean to the Digital Marketing world?
"In the past, convenience meant having a corner shop next to your house. Today, it means having your groceries delivered to your door." (Neil Patel). Technology advancements are getting us used to a growing level of comfort, convenience and expectations. Consumers are more demanding, but the IoT brings a new tool to the Digital Marketing toolkit, allowing not only to follow these demands, but also to anticipate them and surprise the consumers.
1. Collecting and Analyzing Data
With IoT, Big Data is getting even "bigger". What used to be impossible to get access to, like the product lifespan, it's location after the sale, the way the products are used can now be monitored. Understanding intentions, behaviours, needs, desires and patterns becomes more straight-forward (HubSpot) and the data collection stops being based in surveys and interviews (potentially biased) to start being a first-hand observation of consumer behaviours.
With the introduction of products equipped with IoT, segmentation is no longer based in buyer personas, interest groups or digital footprint. Messages are now personalized and aim directly at you, not to a targeted audience. ScientÃfic Marketing will become more and more scientific.
2. Relevant Information in Real Time
In the Inbound world, the message relevance is of extreme importance, not only when it comes to contents but also in the moment in which they're delivered, in what channel and space. IoT allows for real-time information collection and storage about the state of the product, when it was purchased, how often it is used, and other data that allows us to identify with more accuracy the moments and messages that are more relevant to each individual.
3. Marketing Department's Role
According to HubSpot, as IoT grows, so does the role of marketeers towards information technology. Knowing how to work with software (not just as users, but developers), implementing integrations between platforms and being trained in cyber-security will be crucial.
On the other hand, marketeers will also need to be creative in order to take advantage of all this technology. How will IoT be able to help developing campaigns that stand-out? What applications will be able to interlink these products to allow for a different purchasing experience? What new ways will we have to deliver products and messages?
4. SEO
The type of IoT that proved more popular in 2018 were Smart Houses. The boom of Siris, Alexas and Google Homes is granting Voice Search more traction, which is going to revolutionize SEO completely, not only because people search in a different way, but also because, these search engines, to be able to engage in a conversation, start showing an understanding of more complex phrasing, contexts and synonyms, as opposed to a simple keyword density analysis.
5. Ethics
"With big data comes big responsibility" (HubSpot). The GDPR brought the first official rules to Big Data, but it won't be enough to regulate the new Digital Marketing context. Companies need to take measures, establish internal rules and a deontological code to protect them and their clients. It's important to define the limits between curiosity and privacy. What's the limit when it comes to getting ROI? Where does customer security start? Until someone so dictates, the ball is in our court.
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