Technology has disrupted the world of marketing. With the world going digital, the way advertisers and marketers engage with the customers has also changed. In fact, marketers are still finding their feet in this ever-changing scenario.

In 2016, the top five channels for marketing spend were email, social, online display and retargeting, mobile, and search.

According to marketing experts, brand experience now has to be more personalised and play off the tech ecosystem. “Digital advertising gives deeper access to consumers. A custom integrated advertising approach is the only sure-fire way to get to consumers,” said Kevin Kelly,  founder and president of Bigbuzz Marketing Group in a recent interview.

Social media is something that no brand can ignore. It is a platform for direct contact and accessibility; it is here that you walk the talk of your brands and what you stand for.  One dis-satisfied customer can affect the company in ways that hurt the bottomline, so companies cannot ignore this and have to have a comprehensive social media strategy.

Brands need to collect all the data available through multi-channel digital platforms, be it payment gateways, social media or websites, and utilize the same for correct applicability. Content has to incorporate demographics and psychographics. Mere collection of data is futile, dynamic interpretation has to be there to garner any returns.

The only constant is how to differentiate the brand in this new way of disseminating messaging. Creativity and authenticity will always hold true, just the tools of publishing the message have changed.

With the collection of so much data comes responsibility too. Consumer data needs utmost protection as consumers need to engage with and trust the brand. Recent cases of consumer data leaks have done immense harm to brand images of companies. ( Yahoo, Costco, and some credit card companies are cases in point).

A market study done of people in the marketing business shows that 61 percent want to improve their SEO (search engine optimization) and their organic presence and 72 percent believe that creating relevant content was the most effective strategy to push this growth.

Interestingly, companies based in Asian countries are way ahead than their western counterparts in adopting technology to market their wares. According to a recent study , the technology gap between East and West is pretty wide. On average, Asian companies use virtual reality, interactive touch screens or gamification much more than their European or American counterparts to sell their brands. The research points out that 42 percent of Asian marketers use  sensory interaction to enhance brand experiences. Digital agencies like Hong Kong’s First Page are adept at delivering such new age digital brand experiences.

Consumers come armed with a lot of information and studies show that they research and dig on the net about a particular brand or service before coming to any decision. The message is clear-- engage with the audience, but be more streamlined. Refine your social media strategy, collect consumer data through offers and do automated email marketing. The future is in collecting. assimilating, analysing and applying all the data one collects.

The way forward is to stay forward.