The New Era of Digital Marketing: the Internet of Things

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The New Era of Digital Marketing: The Internet of Things

Ahnaf.Siddiqui

Business DevelopmentManager

ABSTRACT

IoT is one of the most important marketing technology applications of the last 2-3 years, but it is of most relevance to devices makers and retailers, so it is relatively high-up in this ranking of priorities. There are expected to be 75 billion connected devices by 2020, meaning there will be ten times as many devices able to talk to one another as there will be people on the planet! The implications are huge and far ranging. All this sharing of data will transform the way we live our lives. Internet of things pretty much dominated the digital space during last year and has now left everyone waiting to see its significant results across our homes, workplaces, streets as well as across the digital marketing platforms. The Internet of Things technology brings with it the power to change everything physical around us and people have now started to take the entire connectivity factor of IoT more seriously than ever. With billions of our devices connected over the same cloud network, it is needless to say that there is going to be an effect of IoT seen across all the digital marketing platforms as well.

Keywords: Internet of Things

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I.Introduction

The shifting dynamic between brands and consumers.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the trend of everything in our lives connecting to the Internet. On an industrial level, this means using machine to machine (M2M) technology to remotely monitor assets, automate manufacturing and the supply chain, and manages equipment in isolated, unpopulated areas. It also impacts enterprises, retail environments, city infrastructure and building management. On a consumer level, this means controlling a thermometer from a smartphone, connecting a refrigerator to the Internet and wearing technology that syncs with all of these M2M applications.

From a technical perspective, the discussion on the Internet of Things can and will go on for years. But there’s also another conversation starting to stir, and it has to do with marketing.

"The Internet of Things makes connecting and trusting people easier. Part of this is the sharing economy, but through Internet of Things and mobile we can inspire and entertain people like never before,” Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO, said at a conference earlier this year.

Across all levels, from industrial to consumer, the Internet of Things means big, big data. Sensors and embedded technology are collecting data from so many endpoints, a process that gives business managers insight into operations and marketers insight to consumer behavior.

“In 2009 there were 0.9 billion sensors and 1.6 billion personal devices”.“[That’s] roughly 2.5 billion things that were connected. By 2020, that will grow to become 30 billion things. Compute power will be cheap and covert – we won’t know it’s there. It will be in our jewelry, our clothing. We’ll put more computers into our laundry in a week than we’ve used in our lifetime so far.”

The total economic value-add for the IoT will be $1.9 trillion by 2020, creating entirely new markets and driving revenue and cost efficiencies across industries.All this sharing of data will transform the way we live our lives. Yet to date it has been unclear how the Internet of Things will affect marketers. This is something which marketers will have to get to grips with as the Internet of Things expands and becomes ever more relevant

II.How exactly will Internet of Things transform Digital Marketing

Over the last few years, it was predicted that there is going to be a hike in the number of things that are going to be available online that will also be able to share information among one another in the real time, which of course we can see happening around us! This not only helps in cutting down the cost of connectivity; rather it also makes sure that there is ample conservation of resources, such as fuel and energy.

If you have already heard about Amazon tide buttons, then you can easily make out the difference in resources spent both during online as well as offline shopping. Using these Amazon tide buttons, users can simply press a button on their connected smart phone which will trigger an action of placing order for any commodity that is going out of stock in your home! This means that you not only were capable of making the optimum use of the Internet of Things technology, rather you were also able to save a lot of your time, energy as well as fuel which you would have spent otherwise.

III.IoT Revolution in Market Research

Surveys, phone calls, emails, self-reporting, observations, member rosters — these are the tools marketers have to obtain the primary data they need to make their critical decisions. While the uses of this data can be quite sophisticated, such as retargeting or sliver-thin audience segmenting, the collection methods are often anything but. Snail mail, the thing most people have forgotten about since 2002, is still alive and well as one of the more common and effective means of gathering this type of market data.

That’s all set to change. The spread of the Internet of Things (IoT) across wide consumer use cases is leading to a powerful new surge of data, and marketers better be ready. Enterprise IoT is already a billion dollar business. When adoption penetrates more widely across consumers, the same technology used to build better cars or more efficient assembly lines will soon lead to better marketing. Once a huge portion of home devices are IoT enabled, consumers will be self reporting on their habits, and the implications for marketers will be huge.

IV.new Opportunities

Marketers are poised on the edge of their seats waiting for the potential that the IoT will bring them. A recent survey conducted by research firm Annalect found that of all the trends set to change the world by 2020, marketers named the Internet of Things at the top of their list. Consumers share this anticipation, too. 59 percent of those surveyed stated that they would use a smartphone app or cloud-based platform to control features of their homes. This enthusiasm means that, by 2020, 50 billion different devices will feature online connectivity. By 2025, the total economic impact of IoT will ring to the tune of $6.2 trillion dollars.

Right now, products like the Nest learning thermostat and fitness trackers like Fitbit are already blazing trails. They have proven that data-tracking devices and “smart” learning devices are more than welcome in most people’s homes. Some marketers are thinking that these sorts of devices provide yet another channel for offers, such as the Nest suggesting you purchase HEPA air filters for pollen season. Amazon’s Dash and Echo are already following this path, allowing users to automatically re-up on needed products at the literal touch of a button.

However, focusing on uses like these misses the potential big picture. Rather than finding new ways to peddle products via toothbrushes or coffee makers, the real potential lies in what these devices’ data holds.

In fact, toothbrushes are the perfect example. Self-reporting on hygiene activities like teeth brushing can inherently lead to skewed perceptions. After all, who hasn’t responded to the dentist’s stern question “have you been flossing?” with an enthusiastic “ymph shrr!” between wads of cotton?

Connected toothbrushes, like the Oral-B 7000 are capable of measuring tooth brushing habits over long-term periods to help owners — and perhaps their intrepid dentists — get a better assessment of their actual hygiene. In the future, this data can be anonymized and provided directly to Oral-B or other companies, who can learn how their market actually uses their products. Information like “night brushing is not as common as morning brushing” can inform campaigns, new products and new features like an automated “Brush your teeth before bed!” SMS reminder . It can also allow manufacturers to create toothbrushes geared for longer-lasting benefits, even if the owner forgets to use them at night.

V.What are the future opportunities for digital marketing with Internet of Things?

We are moving into the 'third age of marketing', a shift from media-driven brand voice, to social media-powered consumer voice, to IoT-enabled product voice. This is where the product itself – as a dynamic, web-connected intelligent object - plays an active, functional part in manufacturing, retail and end-consumer use.

Product data talks back to the brand with real-time analytics, letting them know who their customers are, where they are, what they engage with, how interaction drives sales.

Increased availability of printed electronics in packaging combined with real-time cloud software will enable countless non-electronic products to become interactive and trackable – significantly widening the scope of the IoT.

As more products become owned interactive media, service delivery interfaces, and fully connected to the ecosystem of other products apps and services in people’s digital lives, marketers will be able to use them to get closer to customers, deliver highly personalised experiences and build longer-lasting consumer-product relationships like never before.

VI.What are the privacy and security issues around the Internet of Things and how can they be solved?

Security, of course, is intrinsically linked to data privacy: the former protecting the latter.

A recent FTC report on 'Privacy & Security in a Connected World' cited a lack of trust in IoT security and privacy as the biggest barrier preventing widespread consumer adoption.

The IoT involves a complex mesh of people, devices, systems and network connections, as well as different locations where data is stored or transported so it’s essential that each part of the system can only access, manage or share data that it’s allowed to.

This requires multi-level security and privacy controls and policies built into the core architecture of the platform.With EVERYTHNG, for example, each product layer in the ecosystem has encrypted keys (or passwords) to identify itself and is governed by granular, customizable policies which define the data that specific component can see or manipulate.

VII.5 ways that IoT will improve marketing Return of investment:

1. Easy Exchange of Sales Data

One of the most valuable commodities to any business is its sales data. By having access to information regarding how, where, and why your products are being purchased and used, you’ll be able to better tailor your marketing efforts towards your specific clients.

Smart devices that can gather this data and supply it back to you in real time, without the need for IT professionals to direct or monitor the interaction, will allow businesses to to create informed marketing strategies and improve ROI on future sales. Perhaps even more important, you’re customers will be able to provide useful feedback instantaneously. So, if a specific product isn’t living up to expectations, you won’t have to wait very long at all to find out about it, which means that you’ll be able to cut your losses much sooner than later.

2. Smarter CRM: Instantaneous Customer Analysis

When used in conjunction with a dependable customer relationship management (CRM) tool, the IoT will be able to do more than simply gather and organize client data; it will be able to efficiently and accurately analyze that data as well, providing you with actionable results regarding your consumer base.For marketers, this can be invaluable, given that the buyer’s chain of command is often long, and decisions take more time to be made. IoT devices can streamline this process by helping you understand where your prospect is in their buying journey, so that you’ll be able to make every second of every day count towards resolving issues and serving them the right information that will nurture them to ultimately close a deal.

3. Devices That Know They're Dying

One of the more promising aspects of smart-enabled products is their potential ability to perform their own regular maintenance and diagnostics.

Automobiles have been self-diagnosing themselves for sometime - but it was a clunky method that relied on inexact signals. With the power of IoT, every component is "smarter" so the ability to identify the problem, as well as the solution, will be lightning quick in comparison.

When it comes to conventional items and devices, often the first sign that anything is wrong comes when the device abruptly stops functioning altogether. When this happens, there’s not much that can be done, aside from getting it repaired or ordering a whole new device and waiting for it to arrive.

IoT devices could eliminate that down-time, by constantly monitoring their own functions and contacting technical support when necessary. And should a major, irreparable problem be detected, the IoT device could easily order a replacement for itself, so that when it finally does shut down, the new model will already have arrived and be ready to be put into service. The same goes for upgrades. Many users will put off upgrading their devices out of fear that the new upgrade will be buggy, time-consuming to implement, or that something will go wrong.

4. Predictive Social Media

When Facebook and Twitter first hit the scene several years ago, most marketers were less-than convinced that these new “social media” sites would be worth targeting. We all know how well that turned out. Today, 74% of brand marketers report that they see a noticeable increase in web traffic after investing a mere 6 hours a week in social media marketing efforts.

The IoT is already optimized for use with social media, allowing automated posts and shares to be regularly generated by the devices themselves, and preparing the way for new online communities to develop centered around users of particular devices.

5. Imagine a 100% CTR (Click through Rate)

Brought together, these factors all point towards one final goal: smarter, more relevant advertising.

As increasing numbers of our once-unconnected devices and objects are being fitted with sensors and given constant network accessibility, the face of advertising is going to change for both the marketer and the consumer.

No longer will marketers rely on banner ads or popups based off a website you visited on Tuesday; most IoT devices will be completely unable to process or even display such crude ploys.

As a result, the age of the interruptive commercial will finally come to an end on the consumer side. In it’s place will be a new world in which advertising must be beneficial and completely relevant where no prospect is served an advertisement that doesn't 100% align with their interests, behaviors, and past purchases

VIII.IoT in marketing: the customer experience

The Internet of Things enables marketers to create totally different experiences in bridging the digital and physical world and certainly when they dare to think out of the box and beyond the pure aspect of personalized messaging.

Today, most Internet of Things projects today are about the optimization and automation of processes and goals that are only indirectly related with the customer and with customer experience as we mentioned when covering 2016 research from IDC. However, in some industries, such as retail, there is a stronger external and customer-facing component, whereby the focus on customer experience and customer engagement is more important. This is also the case in “soft” Industrial Internet of Things applications, for instance in smart metering (utilities), in insurance (whereby IoT is even used for pricing models) and in consumer banking, to name a few.

IX.Conclusion

My research concludes that the Internet of Things presents a fantastic opportunity for marketers. Products that market themselves order themselves and integrate into an ecosystem that will increase customer retention. 10 years ago marketers could only dream of such things, now they are a reality. These trends have to be seized by marketers, as those that do will see fantastic growth, whilst those that don’t will rapidly fall behind.

Also the Internet of Things isn’t going anywhere; in fact, it's coming right at you fast; with an expected approximately 75 billion connections by 2020.So, with billions of newthingsbecoming “smarter,” don’t let your marketing strategy remain dumb.Think about how you currently interact with your products and apps. Think deeper into how your marketing can leverage smart devices now because the Internet of Things will give a whole new meaning to the adage "Work smarter, not harder."

References

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