The age of the fourth industrial revolution that we are living through is marked by a more intelligent way of consuming. Now the economy is circular. Reduce, reuse and rethink are the basic principles to be applied to help ensure the survival of our planet. But they are also our business model. Sustainability, technology and people are the cornerstones of this circular concept, applied to any industry and any business area.
In the field of digital marketing, the client experience will be the main focus. This concept, key to ensuring customer loyalty, ranges from being able to find a company on Facebook right through to enjoying a good experience at the point of sale. Technological innovations to be implemented in this area include:

• Chatbots, the customer service channel with the best future prospects: Based on a study conducted by Facebook, 56% of consumers prefer to communicate with a company through a chat box than over the phone. As this trend keeps growing, the need to redirect questions and enquiries to the relevant customer services departments and sales teams will also increase.
• Artificial Intelligence: The secret behind chatbots is their capacity to make use of the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) to broaden their knowledge and capacity to provide good customer support and service. AI is already used in marketing, for example in the ads shown along our web searches and in social media, but its use is expected to increase by 53% over the following years.
• Augmented reality: In 2009, phone apps started to incorporate augmented reality functions, but they didn’t manage to engage consumers. However, the success of Pokemon Go may have helped to revive this technology and it’s once again got the attention of marketing strategists. In this area, there are great possibilities for businesses engaged in interior design (Ikea Place), real estate, digital banners or any kind of business with a physical headquarters (Google My Business).

Photo by Samuel Zeller