RiseofIoTThe spread of smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) are profoundly revolutionizing digital marketing. Used in marketing, IoT can collect customer information in ways that marketers of the last century could never achieve.

IoT is now impacting SEO and web content, as search strings are moving toward natural conversational speech. One of the emerging SEO trends is to create personalized content for different target audience segments regarding specific criteria, such as geolocation. In general, we should always keep in mind that the goal of smart technology is to move toward user convenience and efficiency. For instance, in recent years, IoT is causing a shift in digital marketing from keyword-based SEO content to intention-based writing. This means, search engines are now ranking web pages built on natural spoken language rather than keywords. As intelligent technology advances, advertising will be more targeted to specific market sectors and more personalized to consumer tastes and behavior.

IoT offers tremendous advantages to digital marketers as it collects customer information that allow for personalized future advertising messages. Not to mention that today’s consumers want to know that a company they buy from cares about their personal needs. These personalized messages help to optimize the interaction with the target followers. In addition, IoT offers a wealth of analytics that reveal customer purchasing patterns that may previously have been overlooked. Manufacturers can use IoT data to estimate past, current, and future buying trends.

Of course, IoT will increasingly help automate the processes entailed with social media marketing. It can generate automated posts and present interesting data that can't be found elsewhere.

Previously, product development was driven by customer feedback, but today smart technology can give manufacturers and marketers instant consumer feedback, accelerating the pace of product development. Thanks to improved marketing automation platforms, digital markets no longer need to collect customer data incrementally over a long period, rather have the tools at hand to organize customer marketing lists and link everyone to a profile about their purchasing history. This information can be used to automate personalized messages.

Shoppers can use their smartphone to scan the QR code of a product, which gives them access to deeper product information and potential rewards and provides marketers with consumer data. That’s why digital marketers should keep pace with IoT solutions to stay competitive. Building relationships with customers based on data about them has proven to be an effective way to build a loyal fan base.

In other words, IoT technology is helping businesses make their products and services more appealing to consumers by making it easier to listen to customer needs and respond appropriately. Savvy business owners, managers and marketers are using this breakthrough technology to better transmit the right marketing message at the right time on the optimal device(s).

It should, therefore, not be long before the data collected by IoT devices shape the marketing strategies for all types of products, services, and other offers. Such data-driven marketing will thoroughly analyze user habits on a number of internet-connected platforms.

The question is no longer whether targeted and fully contextual advertising will reach the masses, but when such advertising will be commonplace. Besides that, IoT will help provide marketers and business owners / managers with helpful insights into the typical buyer’s journey. Data derived from IoT will make it easier for businesses to understand the customer’s current stage in the buying process.

In short, marketing, business and technology will continue to change in the future, so anyone working in advertising should get familiar with IoT technology to get access to information from internet-enabled devices.

The trends show that IoT will enrich the marketing world in the future. Those who adapt to this change will prevail. Those who refuse to change will inevitably fall behind.

By Daniela La Marca