Pay Attention to These 6 Marketing Technologies in 2018

These technology solutions can help marketing teams capitalize on customer-centric trends in the year ahead.

The Chinese New Year of the Dog officially starts on February 16, 2018, but it will more likely be the Year of the Customer for marketers. Consumers report an intense desire for customized engagements across channels, particularly on mobile devices. As a result, CMOs report that customer experience, customer retention and growth, and customer analytics are the most vital areas to support marketing outcomes over the next 18 months. Sixty-four percent of marketing leaders report using or planning to deploy personalization technology, yet they struggle to develop personalized customer experiences across the buying journey.

“Six solutions in particular can help marketing teams capitalize on these customer-centric trends.”

CMOs are under pressure to find the right tools to achieve results based on three customer-centric trends:

Rising customer preferences for mobile engagements
Elevated customer expectations for personalized interactions
Leadership demands for marketing transparency and ROI

Which technologies should CMOs evaluate to achieve this customer-centric model over the coming years?

“Six solutions in particular (selected from among 38 technologies featured in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Digital Marketing and Advertising, 2017) can help marketing teams capitalize on these customer-centric trends,” says Charles Golvin, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner for Marketers.

Mobile marketing analytics

Make mobile marketing analytics an investment imperative in 2018. Mobile devices are dominant consumer engagement points, and marketing leaders see clear value in customer insights derived from mobile usage. According to the Gartner 2016 Marketing Technology Survey, 41% of marketing leaders use mobile marketing analytics, while another 24% are testing solutions ahead of deployment.

Multitouch attribution (MTA)

Extend MTA across the customer journey. Marketers using MTA find they can better allocate their budgets to those owned touchpoints that work best for any one particular campaign or outcome. Designate a team member to explore linear and algorithmic attribution techniques. See how MTA can provide a holistic measurement framework built on three pillars: Identity management, data integration across channels and systems, and analytics.

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Cross-device identification (XDID)

Make 2018 the year you graduate from cookies to XDID. Marketing leaders turn to XDID for sophisticated ad targeting, personalization and measurement capabilities as a means to counter the mounting pressure to deliver consistent, sequential experiences across channels. Explore both deterministic and probabilistic approaches to XDID in 2018. Deterministic XDID capitalizes on insights derived from specific usernames or email addresses, while probabilistic XDID uses more speculative information drawn from different data types to collectively map probable IDs.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics are a variant of machine learning that anticipates future behaviors and estimates unknown outcomes. Marketing leaders explore its potential for churn management, cross-selling, propensity to purchase, multichannel campaign management and customer lifetime value prediction, as well as new applications to improve business decision making.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Transform customer engagements with AI in 2018. AI has the potential to revolutionize business over the next decade by enabling conversational experiences, real-time personalization, multichannel orchestration and content generation. Take steps to nurture a marketing culture that understands and uses AI as a tool to solve specific business problems. Start with AI-enabled capabilities embedded within the marketing technologies currently deployed within your organization.

Customer data platforms (CDPs)

Drive personalization with customer data platforms in 2018. CDPs collect and unify data from multiple sources into a single profile, create and manage segments, and push those segments into an execution tool. CDPs have the potential to transform how you deliver consistent, targeted and contextually relevant experiences across channels. Evaluate your existing marketing technology — you may discover your existing solution already has the CDP features you seek.