How does emerging tech fit into marketers’ budgets?

Emerging tech options are mounting for marketers but which ones deliver the best ROI?

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Where do mareketers stand on emerging tech trends? Kent Lewis, president and founder of Anvil Media, predicted in January that blockchain technology would provide a huge opportunity this year to link the “real, virtual and augmented world into one omnicommerce world.” In February, he wrote that augmented reality would be one of the most important ways for marketers to engage with consumers as they wait for the metaverse to reach critical mass.

So, how are marketers feeling about emerging technology as the year progresses? A new report from GetApp offers some insights:

 

How marketers are using emerging tech

Some 65% of marketers say they’re inspired to do their best work by emerging tech but 49% also face challenges, including cost, governance issues and integration problems.

Emerging technologies getting the most investment by marketers are, in order, voice search, internet of things and chatbots.

 

Is emerging tech providing ROI?

Marketers report that technologies providing the best return on investment within two years are, in order:

  1. Chatbots;
  2. Augmented reality and virtual reality; and
  3. Artificial intelligence and machine learning.

 

Marketers still preferred established strategies

Some 58% of marketers think alternative strategies to emerging tech still have the upper hand. Among the strategies considered more valuable than emerging tech are social media, marketing automation platforms and customer relationship management.

 

How brands are experimenting

Despite marketers remaining committed to more established strategies, there’s been a flurry of activity from brands during the first half of 2022 as they experiment with emerging tech, from nonfungible tokens to metaverse activations.

One very recent example is VeChain becoming the first Official Layer 1 Blockchain Partner for global mixed martial arts organization UFC.

“We’re looking forward to working with VeChain to leverage UFC’s worldwide popularity to promote a positive message that blockchain technology can be used to protect our environment for future generations,” explained UFC’s Paul Asencio.

The partnership will include co-branded content across the UFC’s social and digital channels, and will integrate VeChain into key UFC events.

 

Should you be investing more in tech?

The answer from GetApp’s research seems to be yes, but only if you’re prepared to play the marketing long game.

“Adopting emerging martech can offer businesses great value by improving products, services, operations or enhancing the customer experience,” writes Meghan Bazaman, senior content analyst at GetApp, but “it takes the right people on board, the right infrastructure and some time for those tech investments to yield a positive ROI.”

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This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here.

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