Future of Inbound Marketing: 5 Big Opportunities

What Is The Future Of Inbound Marketing?

The channels used to research and make purchases, and the preferences of a buyer continue to change.

As a result, marketers need to change and adjust their approach to attract customers into buying their products & services.

So where exactly is the future of inbound marketing headed? Are marketers educated enough and well-equipped to incorporate what's coming in the future?

A massive section of marketers believe that advertising modes like print media and outdoor broadcasting are overrated marketing tricks and that there is a  need for a better ROI driven marketing approach.

Also the other traditional outbound channels are not very effective in reaching the right customers on a consistent basis.

Naturally, the need to frame a sustainable future using inbound marketing is steadily becoming a necessity. The inbound marketing process of wooing the buyers through useful and relevant content is turning out to be very fruitful & accountable.

Here are 5 key insights that will shape the future for inbound marketing when implemented correctly!

Impact of Inbound Marketing

The more businesses start adopting inbound marketing procedures, the more of an impact it will have on the future. Advances in technology and the way people like buying these days will further contribute to the effect.

Following are few of the many reasons why we say that inbound is the future of marketing

• Over the past few years, more and more people are buying from online e-commerce websites and companies.
• Customers don’t require experts to research the products for them. They prefer to do it themselves!
• Each and every consumer who surfs the internet can pry out information on a specific product or service.
• Technology also influences their preferences heavily.
• The availability of information online and the ease of buying are moving the buyers to the point of self-dependency.

1) Get on the Virtual Reality (VR) Train

VR or Virtual Reality is an emerging technology that can play an essential role in shaping the future of inbound marketing. Most marketers aren’t using them to their advantage, but soon they will understand the need.

A brilliant opportunity lies within the grasp of businesses for adding value to their products and services.

Virtual reality can show how a product works or looks and it can serve to create a branded experience. The more apparent applications are for retail companies and e-commerce websites to let the buyers experience the products before opting to purchase.

Here's an awesome blog from HubSpot showing the application of VR for Marketing in 2019 - 9 VR Marketing Examples That You'll Want to Steal for 2019

2) Inbound + Social Media = Ultimate Power!

According to the Global Digital Report 2018:

• The number of internet users worldwide in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year
• The number of social media users worldwide in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year
• The number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 5.135 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year

(source - Smart Insights)

More than a billion people use social media platforms every day, and it is just one of the most famous and widely used platforms.

Therefore, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to understand that social media has a vital role to play in all forms of marketing.

If you want to engage with your audience and promote your content in a personalised way, then there is no better platform than social media. Social media is drastically changing the way people communicate and they expect their brands to serve them with helpful stuff as frequently and as easily as possible.

3) Hyper-Personalisation

According to Hubspot's CEO Brian Halligan - "Inbound marketing is focused on using relevant content that is catered to consumers throughout each stage of the buying journey and makes the users feel more and more like the experience is catered specifically and uniquely to them."

The goal of inbound marketing is to provide relevant content. Every customer expects a unique tailored experience according to their needs due to the increase in service providing capabilities of companies.

We live in a world that seeks instant gratification at every moment and hoping for a personalised experience isn’t unusual. Marketers can offer customisation to a certain extent, but the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Big Data will pave the way for a better future of inbound marketing.

With the help of data gathered willingly from the users, marketers can create personalised messaging and communication at each touch-point. Companies will tailor these services specific to individual preferences.

4) “Artificial intelligence” - The next big thing?

In a survey of over 1,600 marketing professionals - 61%, regardless of company size, pointed to machine learning and AI as their company’s most significant data initiative for next year.

(Source: Globenewswire)

Consumers use more AI than they realise.

STAT - While only 33% think they use AI-enabled technology, 77% actually use an AI-powered service or device.

Considering the future of inbound marketing, to enhance the performance of marketers AI or Artificial Intelligence will play a significant role. It will enable them to compute large amounts of data which provides marketers better insights into the behaviour of customers and create a personalised experience for consumers.

Take a look at the following infographic to understand where AI fits in inbound marketing

(source - IMRE.UK)

5) Visual Substance with Video Marketing

About year-and-a-half ago, optical material occupied most of the internet traffic. Therefore, it is apparent that videos are going to be crucial to the future of inbound marketing.

Videos and other visuals are a better way to engage with the audience and create an impact on how people can relate to the products & services that companies offer.

Live video streaming options and creating visual content will show the audience the human behind the logo of the brand. Written information will cease to retain its complete credibility.

So, in a way, videos can build long-term relationships with clients. Videos will demonstrate the usefulness of a product or service, and the blogs will turn into short cinematic visuals that educate the viewer.

Still don't believe us? Watch the next video about 9 amazing statistics related to video marketing -

Interested to know more about why every business needs to take video marketing seriously?

Conclusion

 "Science is a process of investigating. It's posing questions and coming up with a method. It's delving in”

When the winds start blowing with force, and the skies darken, you can feel that a storm is coming. Something similar is happening with inbound marketing at the moment.

Constant tech innovations, power of social media, modern product evolutions, the rise of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, will power businesses to learn more, quickly and provide enhanced experiences to their users.

Inbound Marketing’s future may seem dicey at the moment but rest assured that it will survive & sustain. The possibilities are endless because of its innovative style and flexible nature which makes it future-ready!