Online marketing is an industry that has evolved incredibly fast since the early days of the internet. New online marketing technologies are constantly emerging and having varying impacts on how we can market our businesses. The question is, however, what new technologies should we be keeping an eye on in the not too distant future?
We will take a look at three emerging technologies that stand a very big chance of having an impact on digital marketing. The key will be how you embrace these technologies and when you decide to do so. It will come down to timing, cost and the potential impact that these technologies can have on your business marketing going forward.
Voice Searches
The ability to do a search using voice is not new but until now it has not taken off. Google has been allowing voice searches for many years in their browser but until Amazon Alexa and the like arrived on the scene, most searches will still be performed by typing.
Now, as home networks allow for appliances and devices to be controlled by voice, this will ultimately lead to a massive increase in how many voice searches are performed around the world.
Any digital marketer or SEO specialist should be keeping a firm eye on how quickly this technology takes hold.
There is no doubt that voice search will have a big impact on how websites are ranked within the search engines. Keywords and phrases are different when speaking instead of typing. Staying ahead of the curve here is paramount.
Virtual Reality
VR is another relatively new technology that is starting to explode onto the scene. As of right now, virtual reality is quite expensive so the uptake might not be at the required level for advertisers right now.
Only a small percentage of the demographic can afford to pay for VR headsets and devices. As prices fall, however, you can imagine there will be lots of marketing opportunities.
Many companies are already using the technology so that customers can visit their store virtually, view their hotel rooms in the same way, or preview a new holiday destination from their own homes.
You can already imagine it. As you are doing any of the above, there is prime space for some advertisements. Once VR is accessible for all in terms of price, you can be sure that it will become a powerful marketing tool.
Self-driving cars
While this technology is not directly related to marketing, it does offer plenty of scope for advertisers.
As this technology develops into the real-world solution that it promises to be, you can already envisage self-driving taxi cabs and buses in the future.
What will most people be doing once inside a vehicle that can drive itself? Probably get online using their device or possibly by using inbuilt devices inside the car. As you can imagine, there is lots of scope for plenty of advertisement.
This is going to be a brand new market and one that many marketers will be looking to enter into now to be the first pioneering marketing firms for this tech.
VPNs For Market Research
Another tool often overlooked within marketing and market research is VPNs such as vpnveteran’s tech that helps marketers connect to countries overseas and see local results. VPNs are also a great way to scrape sites as you do not need to invest in 100s od proxy IP addresses that can be very pricey and have a short lifespan.
Instead, you can ditch the proxies and use VPNs by swapping IP address every 1 minute if your VPN software allows it. With a large VPN service provider, you will have access to multiple countries, multiple IPs, and carry out software-driven market research!
Conclusion
Technology does not stand still and neither should our online marketing efforts. To stay one step ahead of the competition, we have to make sure that we can take advantage of new marketing technologies as soon as they become viable for our business. Standing still in this area will just allow our competitors to get the upper hand.
Above are just three technologies that are likely to bring opportunities for the marketing of our businesses in the future. At the minimum, we should be keeping our eyes on how they develop. Once they become more mainstream and are adopted by a wider audience, they will suddenly become hot property for digital marketers.