As 2014 draws to a close, John Watton, EMEA Marketing Director, Adobe Marketing Cloud looks at how mobile, cross-channel, data driven marketing and customer experience will impact the marketing landscape in 2015.
‘Cross channel’ will become ‘one channel’
Our physical and digital worlds have collided and customers no longer differentiate between the two – they want a great experience regardless of when, where and how they interact with a brand. In 2015 brands will be focused on making sure all channels work seamlessly together, bringing together the best of online and offline to create the ultimate customer experience. In the retail sector, interactive shop windows, digital displays and iBeacons will bring relevant messages and promotions to the shop floor, while the concept of the ‘personal shopper’ will go digital through live chat with real in-store staff and intelligent algorithms which will drive recommendations and real time service. A by-product of this ‘one channel’ mentality is that customers will expect order pick-up and order return to work on any channel, inevitably leading to new challenges for the supply chain.
Data will be used to drive decisions, not defend decisions
Until now, marketers have been primarily using data to report on campaign success retrospectively, with the main objective being to prove their worth in the business and on the bottom line. We will see this change in 2015 with advanced maths and algorithms more frequently used to inform decisions about how, when and where to best spend future marketing budget. The troves of multi-channel data collected over recent years offers an intelligent view on the customer beyond targeting and personalisation, so marketers have got their hands on an invaluable crystal ball. Data insights, often accessed in real time, will offer marketers a pulse on the business so they will be better placed to steer business decisions.
Brands will live or die by their mobile chops
After years declaring this year will be the year of the mobile, the tipping point has been reached. Time spent on mobile devices has never been is high and over the next twelve months, marketers will look to mobile as the foundation of the customer journey and prioritise creating relevant touch-points. Major brands will face tremendous competition in the battle to reach mobile consumers and the winners will be those who can deliver highly personalised content across screens. In a fast evolving landscape, with technology innovations and consumer expectations ever changing, brands will need to fight for talented, mobile-centric marketers who will be in high demand.
By John Watton
EMEA Marketing Director
Adobe Marketing Cloud
http://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/digital-marketing.html