The past few decades have seen technological growth that is unprecedented, to put it lightly. What humans once considered advanced technology has become obsolete, replaced by analog and digital tools that simplify processes and increase efficiency, saving us time. Whether implemented in the form of travel, communication, or personal research, it’s easier than ever to remain connected to our past and present. Much of that is thanks to the internet.
As the internet has progressed and matured, it has caused changes formerly unprecedented: Social media allows us to interact with one another instantaneously; sites like Wikipedia are hubs of collective information; digital platforms have made word of mouth and referral marketing more effective than ever before.
That last point deserves extra attention, as marketing has undergone a drastic, fundamental shift as technology has improved over the past few decades, especially when we consider a specific topic: the Internet of Things (IoT). What is IoT, how has it affected marketing, and how will it change marketing going forward?
What Is IoT?
IoT is the collection of internet-connected devices that share data between one another. These include all objects that communicate over data networks, including computers, laptops, and smartphones. But more devices are included in this, too, such as your Google Nest, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Watch. This data connection allows your device to access the internet and further access and store data, from collecting items from your cloud storage to saving a grocery list.
How IoT Is Affecting Marketing
As said above, IoT is affecting marketing in drastic ways, as the developments of technology have made it incredibly easy for businesses and marketers so collect, curate, and produce information for digital marketing purposes. But how is all of this added data, collected from internet-connected devices across the world, affecting the digital marketing world? Here are just a few ways:
- Changing the Way Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Works
Driven by artificial technology, such as natural language processing (NLP), often seen in the form of autocorrect and autofill text features, devices connected to the internet are becoming more efficient at tracking, understanding, and expecting human speech patterns.
This pattern identification makes it easier for apps and search engines to predict the things a person might say or search for—think of the searches that autocomplete as recommendations when you begin typing in Google’s search bar, which are based on your search history and results related to your history.
The data collected from AI comprehension of customers’ interests and brand engagement decisions is expected to improve the efficiency of search engine optimization (SEO) platforms. These SEO findings can be introduced into marketing deliverables, making it easier for potential customers to find the niche content they are looking for.
- Making It Easier for Data to Be Accessed and Collected
IoT is going to make it far easier for data to be accessed and collected from various sources. This will be particularly beneficial to marketers working with cross-channel marketing strategies, as they can effectively track how customers first became involved with their brand and how their sales journey transpired from engagement to purchase. Such data will be essential to help marketers identify strengths and weaknesses throughout their marketing channels—all so they can enhance them to improve the customer experience throughout the conversion.
- Understanding the Market
One of IoT’s greatest strengths is its ability to more readily process and handle data collection. This vast collection of data will make it easier for companies to effectively study the market so they can understand the various assets of their industry and how they pertain to their marketing bottom line.
You Should Be Adding IoT to Your Marketing Strategy
The field of marketing is expected to benefit immensely from the integration of IoT. The applications it offers to businesses and marketers are expected to provide solutions that otherwise would have been unattainable in the past or would have taken far too much time to understand.
By providing an endless trove of data that can be used for marketing purposes, marketing professionals can expect to better understand their customers while creating content made specifically for them. The reasons you should add IoT to your marketing strategy include:
- Connecting Everything
The connectivity of IoT digital marketing makes it the premier asset to target your customers across multiple channels. This collaborative, communicative effort can be implemented in various ways, such as featuring an ad on a podcast that may be streamed through someone’s Alexa. That transference of contact is a goldmine for data identification and collection.
- Launching Your Brand Further
The ability to garner more information about your customers makes IoT an essential tool for your business. Leveraging this information makes it easy for your brand to identify areas for potential growth, seeing strengths within your sales funnel that should be exploited and weaknesses that need to be revised and updated. This increase in information is a prime way to streamline your marketing approach, making it easier for you to talk to your customers and hook them into a conversion.
The Simplicity of Technology
One of the best benefits of an IoT marketing strategy is the ease of research and analysis it provides to professionals. No longer do you have to run down data to understand how your program is performing. Instead, IoT’s ability to evaluate and produce raw data into concise graphics and detailed reports makes it possible for any marketer to readily track their business’s performance.
Furthermore, the real-time reporting it provides digital marketers allows reports to be produced and evaluated instantaneously, no matter the time of day, meaning performance doesn’t have to be hindered by human factors.
Make Your Time Work for You
Most importantly, the simplicity of the data IoT produces is the time saved. No longer will you lose time moving between evaluations from one channel to another. The enhanced connectivity of IoT allows you to keep all of your data in order without having to jump through hoops, meaning you can spend more time understanding the strengths of your program and developing content for your customers.
Understanding your business’s marketing efforts doesn’t have to be complicated. With a digital IoT marketing strategy, your company can save time and devote mental energy to improving your products, producing content that best resonates with your intended audience.
