As the strategies and technologies available for marketing undergo transformation, businesses get exposure to technologies that will improve service delivery and increase returns, two things every business can afford to have more of. Many predictions have been put forward regarding the development of email marketing over the next three or so years.
One such prediction is the increased momentum and growth of multi-channel marketing strategies over the next few years. Industry experts strongly believe in the potential to develop more means of delivering messages through channels that consumers prefer, rather than just channels that are available for marketers.
Most likely, the main avenues of delivery will be through social based marketing, SMS and email marketing. For now, we have yet to experience the pervasion of real-time message triggering, as well as location-based email marketing. As technology advances however, it will be possible to say email a potential customer a coupon right before they pass a store for instance.
In addition, it will be possible to reach consumers who are shopping in the store with deals and offers and promotions, knowing they will perceive the information as being more relevant and timely.
Third party Service delivery
As regards actual service delivery, email marketing is going to become more and more of a third-party affair. The number of service vendors offering email marketing services has grown over the past few years, and we’ll see an explosion of dedicated vendors with marketing automation solutions.
The reasons for this are simple:
- Increasing complexity of marketing automation platforms
The technological advancement in the world of marketing automation will make it more difficult for non-trained professionals to be handling automation tools of the future – kind of like throwing a Cessna pilot into a Boeing Dreamliner. Marketers will face a complex ecosystem of automation tools, which will necessitate skilled expertise to leverage them for business advancement.
- Growth of marketing automation vendors
The growth of automation solutions will come with an exponential growth in the capacity of ESPs and marketing automation tools and service providers. This growth level is great, because the increased competition will force vendors to augment the kind of service they offer to provide extra value to consumers. By leveraging this edge, consumers would therefore end up with email marketing solutions that will do much more for much less.
