The sales and marketing industry has experienced accelerated transformation over the past two years. Big changes are driven by two fronts: new consumer trends and preferences; and technological innovation.
The report The future of sales and marketing is here (the future of sales and marketing is here, in Spanish), published by the American firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), reveals that, for buyers in the post-covid-19 era, experience is paramount in the when buying a product.
According to the post, 80% of consumers are more willing to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences. Similarly, another buyer expectation is that virtual businesses or stores interact with him in real time (64%).
These numbers respond to a growing trend in recent years where consumers are demanding community connection, hyper-personalization, ultra-convenience, augmented experiences and sustainability.
In addition, other factors have led to changes in the retail industry, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and the development of the metaverse. These features could have great potential for improving marketing management.
Today, You can already see some of these advancements in tools like chatbot and immersive stories the consumer can interact with while shopping and being part of a community. These technologies, according to BCG, also help increase trust in businesses, through, for example, origin tracking systems and product processes.
These changes are happening as companies like eBay use artificial intelligence to generate personalized emails tied to brand tone, customer needs and specific promotions, using engaging language models.
Another example of the combination of technology and personalization has been achieved by Hyundai by launching a space in the metaverse where users can meet, test new models and discover the company’s offers, with avatars that interact with the service. in cyberspace.
It is estimated that by 2030, metaverse platforms could become channels with a revenue potential of around $1.3 trillionas different consumers increasingly regularly invest their money in digital-only items, services, and items.
For example, 65% of Gen Z consumers (those born between 1995 and 2000, also known as Centennials) have purchased a virtual item in a video game, and 65% of American Millennials (born between 1981 and 1997) have an active Amazon Prime subscription.
In other words, the world of sales and marketing is starting to focus on digital areas that encourage existing businesses to make changes in certain processes such as:
1. Put the consumer first: Knowing consumer demographics, needs and context is key to developing and prioritizing impact spaces. We must ensure that every interaction with them during the purchase process (including before and after purchase) is satisfactory. and personalized.
2. Renew sales channels: The strategy of the various existing channels must be reviewed and focus on creating an integrated experience between them, both physical and digital. It is also possible to integrate new channels, in addition to the traditional ones.
3. Give rise to integrated operations: BCG advises remove barriers between marketing, sales and research. The best is to combine data with the technological capabilities that each company has to improve the work between the technological and human teams.