The marketing technology can help you stay ahead

I love the innovation technology brings to marketing, and I'm constantly chasing and evaluating where those break-throughs make a meaningful difference. Below are a two areas of marketing technologies I am keeping my eye on and exploring.

Conversational technologies: These are the technologies that underpin engaging your audiences with technology. These can bridge the distance between a person who wants personalised information, but also not dealing directly with a sales person.

1a. Chatbot Services - Chatbots are computer programs that simulate human conversation. They can be used to provide customer service, promote products or services, or simply engage in conversations with potential customers. Thanks to advances in natural language processing (NLP), chatbots are becoming more and more realistic, making them an increasingly valuable tool for businesses of all sizes.

1b. Conversational AI - Also known as conversational artificial intelligence (AI), this technology enables computers to understand human conversation and respond in a way that simulates human interaction. This is what powers chatbots -- sometimes (though not always). This technology is still not perfect, and it has tremendous potential for businesses that want to provide a truly personalized customer experience.

1c. Voice Search - As more and more people use voice-activated devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, voice search is becoming an increasingly important part of the digital marketing landscape. Optimizing your website for voice search is essential if you want to ensure that your business comes up when potential customers are looking for products or services like yours.

Data Analytics - Data analytics is the process of analyzing data sets in order to extract valuable insights. This is where marketers can really stand out - being able to really, deeply know their way around data and different systems. Finding the right information can improve marketing strategies, better understand customer behavior, and make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources.

2a. Predictive Data - Predictive data is a type of data analytics that uses historical data to make predictions about future trends and patterns. This information can be used by businesses to anticipate customer needs and make decisions about product development, pricing, and inventory management.

2b. Faster Analysis - With so much data being generated every day, it's essential to have tools in place that can help you quickly analyze large data sets and identify the most important insights. There are a number of different software platforms that offer fast data analysis, so finding one that meets your specific needs should be a top priority. Everyone seems to agree on this, and yet lots of people are still using Excel spreadsheets to bridge the gaps. So, not only make sure you are getting the right platform for your organisation, also make sure you are training your team to fully leverage the systems you have in place.