As small businesses we want to do everything we can to engage with customers. We’ve been through all sorts of revolutions already, from mobile to social media. And so the question naturally arises: what’s next? Let’s take a look.

The Internet Of Things

The internet of things is going to turn out to be one of two things. Either it’s going to be the arbiter of ultimate domestic convenience. Or it’s going to be an unwanted intrusion into our personal space. My hunch is that it will be the former. And if it is, then that means that the uptake will be high.

Once companies have got customer data from the internet of things, they’ll have a powerful tool to engage with their clients. Knowing what food they put in their fridge might sound a bit Big Brother. But it will allow companies to know customer tastes and habits. And that’s going to revolutionize how and what they market.

Press Release Services

It used to be the case that press release distribution was for the large enterprises that could afford it. But we’re starting to see a substantial change here too. Now companies of practically any size can use press release services to get their message out.

This trend is based on the idea that “content is King.” Over the next decade, many experts expect that it will go into high-gear. Customers will demand bespoke information from companies with which they do business.

Ephemeral Social Networks

Companies know that the best way to engage with customers is to provide them with unique experiences. We’ve already seen how Snapchat has changed the nature of chat. Messages arrive on your feed and then disappear after a set period of time. Well, this type of thing is soon to come to social media marketing as well. Customers will find themselves receiving so-called ephemeral messages for their eyes only.

Multi-Channel Marketing

It used to be that if you wanted to do something across different devices, you had to do it differently. Using the internet on your phone was completely different to using it on your PC. But then we saw these experiences converging. Yes, they’re still slightly different. But there’s fundamentally no difference in their essence. You can still get done what you want to get done on both.

The same convergence is occurring in marketing too. Marketers are going to create experiences that are seamless across all channels. That means that your experience on your PC will be like your experience in VR, on social media and so on.

Wearable Payments

Information technologies are still on their Moore’s Law trajectory. And this means that their size is going down and their performance going up. It’s going to open up whole new marketing channels. One cool new channel will be wearable payment systems. Some techies are predicting that soon we’ll be able just to walk into a shop with payment systems embedded in our clothing. If we take an item out of the store, payment will be automatically taken from our account.