How Cutting Edge Technology has Transformed the Sales and Marketing Function

Cutting Edge Technologies Have Revolutionized Sales and Marketing

It would be an understatement to state that the use of cutting-edge technology has transformed the Sales and Marketing Function.

Indeed, one can go as far as to say that the use of advanced technologies such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Analytics have revolutionized the Sales and Marketing Function to the extent that there have been paradigm shifts in the way such functions operates.

For instance, the use of Big Data has given marketers “Godlike powers” to predict consumer behavior which means that the days of anticipating how consumers would buy and consume are over and instead, it is the marketers who are “nudging” and “goading” consumers to buy their goods and services by use of algorithmic-based suggestions and tips for possible purchases.

Moreover, the Sales and Marketing function has also been transformed by the use of AI and Data Analytics wherein consumer behavior and market trends are “intuited” and “sensed” in advance thereby providing marketers with the tools and techniques to predict and direct consumer behavior.

From Mass Marketing to Hyper Personalization and Individualized Customization

We had come a long way from the times when the advent of television first changed the marketing landscape.

From television advertisements that were aimed at mass marketing and sales to the entire audience to the present when the internet and the Smartphone revolution have made it possible to customize and personalize the marketing messages, the field of sales and marketing has indeed come a long way.

Indeed, the granularity and the fineness of the customization and personalization are such that the terms hyper-personalization and individualized customization are increasingly being applied to the way in which marketers segment and target the customers.

How the Attention Merchants use the Latest Technologies

Marketing is all about capturing, holding, and sustaining the attention of consumers. For instance, successful marketers ensure that their marketing messages first capture the attention of marketers by “hooking” them to their products and then, ensure that such attention and hooks hold the attention of the consumers and lastly, ensure that once the consumers are hooked, their interest and desire is sustained for a longer period.

Indeed, marketers thrive on the attention that consumers provide for their goods and services and hence, they are also known as “Attention Merchants” for the way in which they go about their marketing and sales efforts.

The fact that first, the TV and then the Internet transformed marketing is part of many standards and well-known texts on marketing. Indeed, the guru and the legend of marketing, Philip Kotler, use several examples to show how these media transformed and revolutionized marketing.

However, what is different with the present stage of technologies and their application to marketing is that marketers no longer focus on the aspects of attention-grabbing and sustenance but instead, are now in a position to determine the next stages of such attention seeking and capturing by subliminal sales strategies that give them a complete hold on the attention of the consumers.

How Facebook Personalizes Your News Feed and Offers Friend Suggestions

While there are some ethical concerns with such kind of power that marketers have, the fact that such power exists means that the sales and marketing function has indeed been revolutionized by the use of cutting-edge technologies.

For instance, your Facebook feed is customized based on past browsing and clicking and liking and sharing behavior which provides the Algorithms that Facebook uses enough data and information about how you would read and like and share articles even before you have realized such preferences.

Also, whenever you see friend suggestions and login to third-party websites using Google or social media accounts, you are again creating a “Digital Footprint” that marketers can use to predict what you would do next.

Data is the New Oil

It is also a fact of contemporary marketing that Data is everything and hence, whatever you do online or on your Smartphone becomes a goldmine of information to the marketers who can then use such data to hyper-personalize and customize their marketing messages.

Moreover, point of sale marketing and sales has also been revolutionized by the use of cutting-edge technologies and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) wherein marketers and salespersons combine your personal preferences with that of the brands and products on the shelves of the store to track your purchases based on which they personalize point of sale marketing and sales experiences.

Basic Sales Strategies Have been Transformed as Well

Apart from this, the pure-play sales function has also been transformed from the days that itinerant salespersons used to knock on our doors to sell products.

Indeed, in the present times, the salespersons have customized Smartphones that let them choose which houses would potential consumers inhabit and more importantly, which neighborhoods that are likely to house such consumers and hence, save time and effort in cold calling and other sales pitches that have been made redundant.

This means that the basic sales function has also been revolutionized by the use of cutting-edge technologies.

Conclusion

Lastly, the power that such technologies give marketers and salespersons means that they can benefit from the economies of scale that provide the efficiencies and profits through humungous consumer bases and also help them leverage the synergies from integration and automating the entire sales and marketing value chain. Indeed, it would not be incorrect to say that sales and marketing as a profession have been transformed and revolutionized by the use and application of cutting-edge technologies like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Analytics.