8 Marketing Technology Trends for 2024

The one constant aspect of technology is change. That’s as true of marketing technology, or martech, as of any other area of tech. Each year brings new changes and trends to the martech market, and anyone who doesn’t keep up with them will inevitably fall behind.

If you want to keep up with the future of martech, you should make a point of staying on top of all the latest marketing technology trends. Thankfully, we’re here to help you do just that. Below are eight of the most prominent martech trends out there, including:

1. Growing use of artificial intelligence (AI)
2. Hyperpersonalization
3. First-party data integration
4. ROI prioritization
5. Customer data enrichment
6. Voice search optimization
7. More streamlined data management
8. Forecasting and predictive analytics

Read on to learn more about each of these marketing tech trends. And to learn more about other marketing topics, be sure to subscribe to Revenue Weekly, our email newsletter!

View Post: Digital Marketing Trends 

1. Growing use of artificial intelligence (AI)

At this point, you’re probably sick of hearing the term “AI.” And you’re not alone — it’s impossible to get away from it. Every company that deals with tech is shoving AI into everything they sell. And that most definitely includes martech companies.

These companies are implementing AI tools more and more in a bid to stay relevant. Some of those AI tools are superfluous, but others have valid uses. For example, AI can be great for tasks like predictive data analytics (more on that later).

This isn’t the sort of trend that necessarily requires you to do anything. Rather, it’s good to be aware that you can expect to see a lot more AI in your marketing tools.

2. Hyperpersonalization

Personalization has always been vital to marketing. When your campaigns are tailored to specific customers, it makes them much more effective at driving conversions. But a recent marketing tech trend is something called hyperpersonalization, which is personalization to an extreme degree.

This level of personalization is made possible in part by the AI mentioned in the previous trend, and it focuses on using advanced data analytics to personalize marketing campaigns to individuals. This process looks different across each tool, but one example might be showing different website elements to users depending on their past behavior.

Given the rise of this trend, it would be smart to invest in some tools that allow you to improve your marketing personalization.

3. First-party data integration

Gathering data is crucial for driving successful marketing campaigns. And the best type of data you can get ahold of is first-party customer data. That refers to data that’s drawn directly from marketing campaigns that your customers interact with.

It’s no surprise, then, that first-party data integration is becoming a bigger priority for marketers in 2024. Martech companies are also making a point of upgrading their first-party data gathering capabilities, with platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads making it easy to send over first-party data for more accurate ad targeting.

To keep up with this trend, make sure you’re looking for effective ways to gather more first-party data, and then use that data heavily in your analytics.

4. ROI prioritization

Return on investment (ROI) is always important for marketers, but it’s becoming an even bigger focus in the world of marketing technology. When you pay money for a tool, you want to be sure that you’re earning an overall profit from the revenue it helps you drive. If a tool costs more than it earns, it’s not worth the investment.

Part of this new focus on ROI is that companies are expecting a substantial ROI within a shorter amount of time. If a tool isn’t driving a profit within a matter of months, many companies will decide it’s not worth keeping around.

Is this a trend you should follow? It depends on the tool. There are some tools out there that take a while to drive results, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth the investment. It’s important to assess each tool on its own merits to decide what kind of ROI you should expect, and within what time frame.

5. Customer data enrichment

Going back to customer data, another of the biggest marketing technology trends for 2024 is customer data enrichment. This refers to the practice of combining first- and third-party data to learn more about your customers. In other words, it’s about getting a bigger variety of data so you get a more complete picture of your audience.

Many businesses gather data about their customers’ age, gender, and behavior and call it a day. But you can go deeper, gathering information like:

• Occupation
• Location
• Interests
• And more!

This is also true if you’re marketing to companies rather than individuals. You want to get plenty of info about the industries those companies occupy, as well as the unique space they hold in those industries. The more information you have, the more effectively you can market to your target audience.

6. Voice search optimization

Martech trends aren’t always about the tools you use. They’re sometimes about the tools your audience uses. That’s why one marketing tech trend that’s stayed constant over the last few years is voice search optimization.

More and more people are using assistants like Alexa and Siri to perform searches online, asking their questions aloud. That means if you want to stay on top of your search engine optimization (SEO) game, you need to optimize for those searches.

The best way to optimize for voice search is to target keywords that take the form of full sentences, particularly questions. Be sure to clearly and directly address those questions in the content you create. That gives you a much better chance of appearing in the voice search results.

7. More streamlined data management

Given the importance of data to your marketing, which we’ve already discussed elsewhere on this page, it’s equally important that your data be well-managed. When your data is repetitive, inaccurate, or disorganized, it won’t be of much benefit to you.

For that reason, one of the biggest marketing technology trends right now is a greater focus on streamlining data management. Basically, that means companies are putting more effort into keeping their data organized, as well as cleaning it — that is, combing through it to remove inaccurate or repetitive data.

Consequently, these companies are seeing much greater results from their analytics processes.

8. Forecasting and predictive analytics

This page has focused on the future of martech as a whole, but it’s just as important that you consider the future of your individual marketing campaigns. That’s why many businesses are increasing their focus on predictive analytics, which involves using past sales data to predict future results.

Data forecasting is important to help you plan your budget, campaigns, and overall strategies for upcoming quarters and years. The more accurate your forecasting is, the more effectively you can plan. Thankfully, marketing technology is evolving to make this easier, particularly with the enhanced capabilities of AI.

Implement all of these martech trends with the help of WebFX

It can take a lot of time, effort, and expertise to keep up with the ever-shifting landscape of marketing technology, which can be challenging when you’re already devoting so much time just to managing your existing tools and campaigns. That’s why many businesses opt to partner with a professional marketing agency like WebFX.

With our digital marketing services, you’ll be able to offload the work onto us while still maintaining full control of your campaigns. Plus, you’ll be able to access one of the most effective martech tools out there — MarketingCloudFX, our very own proprietary marketing software.

Interested in partnering with us? Just give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to get started!