As this year draws to a close, it’s common to reflect on what’s happened while also look towards what the New Year will bring. Among the blogs referencing digital marketing trends for 2017, CMO perhaps best sums up the current situation:
As we head into 2017, [marketers] know now that nothing will ever be the same in our new digital world where consumers are in charge. – CMO.com
The customer experience in the digital space matters more than ever, and equally as important is how that experience plays out in real life. According to CMO’s 2017 digital marketing predictions infographic, 83% of marketers believe customer experience is central to their role.
We recently talked to the experts from our Adobe consultancy practice about the top six digital marketing trends to watch in 2017. Here’s what they had to say about customer experience as it pertains to digital commerce.
Trend #2 – The Union of Content and Commerce Will Require the Delivery of Engaging Experiences and Simple Transactions
When you consider all the interactive devices at our fingertips combined with a growing volume of digital services – social media, apps, branded content, and eCommerce – buyers have never had so many options for buying products and services. Empowered consumers are demanding personalized and compelling eCommerce experiences that trigger inspiration, provide education, and hopefully result in a successful purchase.
Delivering relevant and timely content is key to creating memorable customer experiences. However, the marriage of content and commerce presents challenges to marketers.
Historically, integrating digital marketing platforms with eCommerce was linked to catalog management, and the primary challenge was merging “romance copy” – marketing descriptions and benefits – with product specifications and features.
Our content and commerce subject matter experts are observing trends where highly integrated commerce capabilities are delivered to digital marketing platforms by means of software as a service (SaaS) and/or strengthening partnerships among commerce and content vendors, translating into increased integration capabilities.
What’s the takeaway?
“One of the more innovative marketing platform capabilities I’ve seen in recent years incorporates machine learning because of how it calculates and presents automated recommendations,” said Avanish Gandhi, Lead Consultant for Adobe Experience Manager Mobile, Perficient Digital.
We will see tools expand the customer experience while making content management and distribution easier for marketers. We believe there will be a rise in recommendation engines – using machine-learning systems – to deliver product recommendations or targeted content based on users’ browsing behavior.
Download our latest guide, Top Six Digital Marketing Trends for 2017, and learn how to make these trends a reality for your business in the new year and beyond.
