• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 6, 2022

Pegasystems issues the following warning in its new global study -- seven trends are changing the status quo:

“If you don’t have a marketing strategy that can engage with a customer making a purchase on a website, serve ads for add-on products on social media, text to ask if they’re satisfied with their purchase, or send a follow-up email, you are not taking full advantage of the omni-channel capabilities available to you.” 

It's not clear that brands are doing all that. For one thing, 59% haven’t allocated enough budget to deliver effective digital transformation. 

But they are trying — indeed, 51% believe that their investment in martech will increase revenues by 10% to 40% over the next five years. And they are putting new emphasis on certain KPIs. 

Take the often-underused metric of customer lifetime value (CLV). At present, 25% see CLV as important. But 60% see it growing within the next three-to-five years. This will help them assess the success of their personalization and one-to-one marketing efforts, the study states. 

Then there is SEO ranking: It is now gauged by 28%, but 47% see it as a KPI within three to five years. 

Customer attrition is now rated by 30%, but it will grow only for 39% in the future. And customer cross-sell is now tracked by 19%, but 28% will do so within three-to-five years. 

Finally, funnel conversion rates will grow from 12% to 17%. 

What types of martech are brands investing in? Of the companies polled, 70% say most of their martech budget will go to intelligent automation, and 66% also cite AI and 60% Web 3.0 as future investment priorities.  

Brands also expect to focus on the following types of marketing:

• Social media — Now used by 69%, going to 76% in three-to-five years 
• Mobile — from 66% to 67%
• Influencer — from 59% to 64%
• Experiential — from 61% to 63%
• Video — from 61% to 63%

As for the types of marketing, one may infer them from the types of roles they will need in three to five years:

• Content developers — 73%
• Data analysts — 65%
• User experience professionals — 59%
• SEO specialists — 47%
• Customer strategists — 41%
• Application developers — 40%
• Interactive/digital designers — 35%
• Systems engineers/architects — 32%
• Thought leadership specialists — 31% 

One more thing: The study notes that omni-channel marketing “is often confused with multi-channel marketing, where businesses connect across a number of platforms like email, social media, webinars, mobile, and in-person engagements.”

“The successful businesses of tomorrow will be those that not only harness the power of these technologies to understand their customers but also leverage technology to build connections and create greater value throughout those relationships,” says Tara DeZao, director of product marketing, martech & adtech for Pegasystems.