The 2016 Adobe Marketing Summit began with a challenge from Adobe CEO, Shantanu Narayen: “This is the experience era,” he says. “Are our companies ready to compete, are we at risk of being disrupted by someone who can move faster?”
Digital marketing is about to change more than it ever has, which is why Narayen’s challenge, as well as the Summit’s four-day lineup of 150 breakout sessions, labs and keynote talks all came down to adapting to technology.
However, “adapting” doesn’t just mean, “upgrading.”
The 2016 Summit showed that the future of marketing isn’t technology for technology’s sake — it’s a finessed, consumer-centric approach that prioritizes relevant and meaningful experiences.
Naturally, technology will allow the experiences to exist in the digital world, but it’s the combination of art and science — strategy and technology — that will separate the disruptors from the disrupted.
“Robots will never do great marketing,” says Narayen. “But if we can harness the power of technology, we can make big things happen.”
How to become an experience-led business
“Imagine a family visiting a world-famous theme park for the first time,” Narayen says during his keynote talk. “Working parents who never dreamed they could afford such a vacation with their kids. But today, with the right digital message reaching them at the right time, they’re able to book their tickets, book their flights,” he says.
That’s the power of the experience economy: Leveraging technology to put the right message in the right place at the right time.
But how do you get to that right place, right time? How can your brand message be delivered in a way that’s meaningful for the customer?
The answer by putting an end to “spray and pray” media buys.
In general terms, an experience-led business will use audience insights in order to determine out who the customer is and what she’s looking for, and then pair that data with a map the customer’s journey — like common engagement touch points, frequency and device.
Once the necessary data is gathered, it’s up to the marketer to craft and deliver the most unique and personalized conversion experience possible. Done properly, the strategy will improve conversion rates and build brand equity.
“They expect you to know them, and deliver an experience that is consistent, continuous and compelling,” says Brad Rencher, Adobe EVP & GM of digital marketing.
It’s not rocket science, but it will soon become a standard in digital marketing as customers become accustomed to enhanced levels of personalization.
Thinking back on Narayen’s challenge to the Adobe Summit, he wasn’t merely imploring the audience to update their technology; he was urging them to evolve their way of thinking — how they can use technology to meet the expectations of a connected customer and deliver meaningful experiences — before their competitors box them out.
Data suggests that 89% of companies will compete primarily on the basis of customer experience in 2016. It’s time to push forward or be left behind.
MASHABLE
