Digital marketing is an ever-growing industry as the world continues to move further into the digital age. Companies that pivot their businesses to leverage digital marketing are positioning themselves for the future and will drown out the old-school companies in their space.
One reason digital marketing is becoming so effective is because of the impressive technology that it sits upon. There is an unspoken relationship between digital marketing and software development. The innovative tools that software development is able to build has facilitated this next evolution of marketing.
How specifically has software development done this? Let’s dive into some key examples.
5 Ways Software Development Shapes Digital Marketing
Some of the impact that software development has had on digital marketing is already seen through existing tools. However, what is amazing is that most of the innovation hasn’t even been created yet; we’re at the infancy of this new generation of marketing.
1. Automating your marketing processes
Manual processes are the antithesis of scale. If you want to build a scalable process, you need to automate. How do you automate? You automate thanks to software development and by doing so, you should hire the right software team. If you are using any cold-email drip campaign type tool or a platform that automatically posts to your socials for you, then you are leveraging marketing automation.
If it weren’t for software development, these tools wouldn’t exist. The automation is leveraged by companies around the world to save time and resources while also improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your campaigns given that these tools also offer data insights into your performance.
2. Users love mobile applications
If there is anything that users can agree upon, it is that they love mobile apps. According to a recent study by Compuware, 85% of consumers are strongly in favor of mobile apps over websites or web apps.
A mobile application allows your business to be mobile (pun intended). Giving your customers the ability to use your product on the go helps strengthen your position in the market. They also offer ways for brands to provide more personalized experiences that can drive stronger user engagement and brand loyalty.
3. Implementation of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is truly changing the world. When it comes to marketing, one of the main advantages is that it offers unique insights after analyzing large sums of data that no individual person would be able to conclude with such speed and accuracy.
AI tools can help you and your digital marketing team with a multitude of tasks, some tools you use probably leverage AI. Some of these tasks include sourcing leads and contact information, building out predictive analytics and creating personalization based on an individual’s user experience.
4. Leveraging virtual and augmented reality
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two emerging technologies that will revolutionize the digital marketing world. With VR, you can create an entirely fictional world creating an immersive experience that allows your customers to engage with your product or services in innovative ways.
With AR, you can augment reality, allowing individuals to enhance their existing experience with your product or service. For example, companies like VideoBomb leverage AR to give brands a way to activate unique videos and experiences when you put your camera on that brand’s logo.
While the VR/AR industry is young, it is one that will continue to heavily influence the digital marketing world.
5. The power of chatbots
Chatbots are one of the most effective trends to hit digital marketing, and all thanks to nifty software developers who built the tool. Chatbots are able to provide instant customer service, whether it be answering questions or guiding customers throughout the buyer’s journey.
Leveraging chatbots allows you as a company to strengthen your customer experience without taking up any of your time, personally. This allows you as a company to scale more efficiently as you can expand your operations without having to hire more individuals.
Whatever the tool or trend may be, we are already seeing tremendous impact that software development is having on the digital marketing world. What is wild is that this is just the beginning – software will continue to shape the future of digital marketing, in ways we cannot yet even predict.
