We brought together two passionate marketing and technology experts: Leandro Benitez, our General Manager, and Alberto Cañas, Marketing Director. Together, they explain to us the MarTech trends that we will see this year.

We invite you to watch the full webinar, click here. If you prefer a summary, here are the key points of his presentation so that you understand the fundamentals of this new paradigm.

What is MarTech?

With the advancement of technology and its application in different fields, marketing is not left behind. As of November last year, there were more than 13,000 technologies designed specifically for improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies.

This vast number of digital tools provides professionals in this sector with range of options to act precisely and effectively. Digital marketing not only involves the use of these tools, but also a in-depth knowledge of its operation.

For example, let's consider the situation where you have multiple data sources and you want to cross-analyze. It's not enough to just collect data; it's also crucial to ensure that are accurate and that the sources work properly.

Fortunately, thanks to artificial intelligence technologies, it is now possible to obtain fast and accurate answers.

Imagine that you need a sales report for the last three months; with tools like Power BI, you can get this information almost instantly, as if you were consulting a data analyst.

This ability to quickly access and analyze data Reduce the differences, at least in terms of the user interface, between marketers and data specialists.

The key is in the ease of use of these tools, which allows marketers to act with the same precision as if they had advanced knowledge in data analysis.

MarTech Trends: Marketing and Technology Trends in 2024

Now our marketing director Alberto and CEO of Spain Leandro will show us the latest MarTech trends in 2024 that we should not overlook.

Privacy and cookies

In a constantly evolving digital world, the privacy management and the protection of our personal data have become crucial aspects. It is especially important to pay attention to cookies, those small files that store information about our internet browsing.

Although these cookies can be useful, it is also essential to consider those of outsiders, that often collect data without our explicit consent.

Google, the technology giant, has been warning for a long time that it plans eliminate the use of third-party cookies. This change will mean that we will have to be more cunning in the use of our own data.

It will be fundamental learn to manage our information in an intelligent and responsible way, ensuring that our privacy is protected while we browse the web.

Addressing these challenges requires a commitment to digital education and constant updating on best practices in computer security. After all, protecting our data isn't just a matter of privacy, but also to maintain control over personal information in a constantly changing digital environment.

Voice searches

Alberto tells us that voice searches in Spain are booming, with expected increase of 50%. More and more people are opting for this methodology to search for information, suggesting a clear trend towards convenience and efficiency in accessing data.

This growing preference means that, as a company, we need to establish a strong presence in this area to be available to users when they use voice commands for your inquiries.

For example, through Copay's native apps, users can perform searches using simply your voice, which facilitates a more natural and fluid experience.

This breakthrough shows us how voice technology is being integrated in an increasingly profound and accepted way into our daily routine.

Customer demand to enter the world of ecommerce

There are still many companies in Spain that find it difficult to adapt to the world of B2B e-commerce in a fluid way. However, user demand is clear and growing. They are requesting more accessible and efficient services that are currently not being fully serviced.

Faced with this reality, it is essential that we take concrete steps to improve the usability of our e-commerce platforms. This includes perfect existing integrations and streamline processes to provide a superior user experience.

Mobile commerce

This year marks a significant milestone in the evolution of electronic commerce: It is expected that the volume of sales through mobile devices exceed that of sales made from desktop computers.

This change not only reflects a trend that began five or six years ago, when mobile visits surpassed desktop visits, but it also highlights a wider impact on B2B commerce.

Historically, we have assumed that B2B transactions should be carried out primarily from desktop computers, given the nature of businesses and the existing infrastructure in companies. However, this perception is changing.

Convenience and trust in mobile shopping, already adopted at the individual level, are also beginning to influence buying decisions between companies.

This change represents an opportunity for rethink and adapt our B2B e-commerce strategies. As more people are comfortable using their mobile phones for business transactions, companies must ensure that their platforms are as accessible and efficient on mobile devices as they are on desktops.

This adaptation not only responds to a change in consumer preferences, but also reflects a broader cultural adjustment towards mobility and flexibility in all aspects of commerce.

Predictive Marketing

The intelligent use of data intelligence in marketing allows anticipate the needs of users and personalize your experiences. By analyzing browsing behavior, we can adjust the contents of emails or the home page for each user, thus improving their engagement.

The effectiveness of this strategy is remarkable: 70% of companies that use predictive marketing have seen a 20% increase in sales.

Adopting this tactic not only improves the relevance of our interactions, but also strengthens relationships with customers and drives sales growth.

Live Shopping

The impact of social networks is especially significant on B2C companies, mainly influencing certain generations of consumers.

This link is further strengthened by the growth of commerce through streaming transmissions. It is expected that, by 2024, the sale via streaming in Spain grow by 50%, reaching 2 billion euros.

This increase highlights the importance of adapting to new forms of digital consumption for maintain relevance in the B2C market.

Continuity with the Omnichannel

It's crucial to continue refining the consumer experience to provide a frictionless service, whether they contact us by phone, email or other channel. Consumers expect a shopping experience that is consistent and seamless across all touchpoints.

Nowadays, the 80% of consumers expect companies to provide an omnichannel experience that seamlessly integrates all channels of interaction.

AI-related trends

Artificial intelligence continues to redefine the limits of what is possible in various sectors, from automation of tasks to the personalization of user experiences.

As technology advances, emerging trends in AI promise to further transform our everyday interactions and business processes.

If you're new to the world of AI, you should know this:

When it comes to incorporating artificial intelligence into our processes, it's crucial to choose mature and proven technologies instead of venturing out with newly emerging solutions.

The ideal would be prioritize those AI applications that do not require direct access to sensitive data of our company, such as employee personal information, customer data, billing or communications. This allows us to explore and benefit from AI while protecting our most critical information.

Generate and optimize content with AI

In the digital world, we have incredible tools that help us select the right keywords and to generate content that actually resonate with our audience.

While at Novicell, we highly value the human touch, we cannot ignore how these tools can make us more efficient and accurate, especially if that means scaling up our operations.

CHATGPT, for example, has become a reference for many as a content generator, both at home and in the office. However, there are numerous specialized tools that offer more specific services.

These tools, when used with appropriate prompts, can focus on particular niches such as web content optimized for SEO, offering more detailed solutions tailored to specific needs.

How AI predicts your leads

Within our CRM, such as HubSpot, it is now possible to use artificial intelligence to make businesses smarter.

Imagine that you can select a contact who is already a customer and ask the system directly: What could you sell to this person? Based on an analysis of the services you have previously contracted and previous conversations, the system can recommend what services would be appropriate to offer you.

This ability to make personalized recommendations is already a reality and it is available to everyone we use HubSpot, allowing us to make our interactions more effective and direct.

Heat maps

Heat maps, in particular, are visual tools that show the most and least interacted areas of a web page, which helps us to better understand where users focus their attention and how they navigate the site.

In the digital field, we can predict the success of certain actions based on the behavior of fictitious users, without the need for real tests.

For example, let's remember the case of Laura and Jun, two specialists here at Novicell, who pointed out that the icons on our website, although aesthetic, distracted rather than contributed.

When we eliminated them, we observed that users were focusing a little more on calls to action (CTAs), increasing interaction by 0.2% and improving the approach to our services.

Actionable Insights

Currently, we can take advantage of the integration of our analysis tools with platforms such as Slack to receive automatic alerts about anomalies or unusual behavior in our marketing campaigns.

For example, we can be immediately informed if a campaign is performing below or above expectations, or if we see an unusual increase in activity over a weekend.

These alerts come from Analytics tools that incorporate artificial intelligence, allowing us to have a global and detailed view of the performance of our marketing actions.

This makes it easier for us to quickly monitor and adjust our strategies in real time, ensuring that we make the most of every opportunity and mitigate any problem before it escalates.

Create more ad formats

Johnny, our leader in PPC, has optimized the process of creation of formats for advertising campaigns.

Simply providing some basic elements such as images, texts and branding details, it can automatically generate variations for different types of ads, all of this supported by artificial intelligence.

This mass and personalized production capacity allows us to adapt and scale our campaigns efficiently and effectively.

Automatic content customization

Now we can customize components automatically thanks to artificial intelligence integrated with systems such as Sitecore, which adapts content according to user behavior.

With automatic content variation tools, we can create up to 20 different versions, aimed at specific segments of our audience.

Before, we made all the decisions about the content segmentation; now, we let artificial intelligence experiment with various creatives and determine which one resonates most with each type of user.

Send emails to your customers at the right time

HubSpot now allows you to send emails on the exact moment when each user is most likely to open them, thanks to its ability to customize shipping.

It is no longer based on geographical areas, but on a more individualized approach. Using artificial intelligence, HubSpot analyzes When do you usually open or ignore our emails to optimize the sending time and increase the effectiveness of our communications.

The impact on your tech ecosystem

We will now analyze how these technologies can impact your company's ecosystem.

“Sometimes it's technology that blocks technological progress.”

What does all this mean? We are talking about the simplification of digital asset systems in companies of medium to large size.

These systems include your RP (Enterprise Resource Planning), PIM (Product Information Management), CMS (Content Management System), and other elements such as the web.

Within this model, which we will explore later, it is important to understand that some of these tools they have longer life cycles than others.

For example, generally a RP is updated every 12 years, while a CMS could be updated every 4 or 5 years. On the other hand, mobile applications need more frequent updates, typically every one or two years, due to rapidly evolving markets and trends.

What is the challenge when you want to innovate in a company? The idea is that you would want your most innovative digital assets to evolve quickly.

However, the way these systems are integrated means that they cannot advance independently; instead, they all move at the pace of the slowest component.

For example, if your e-commerce is linked to your CMS, and in turn the CMS is integrated with the ERP, you cannot make changes to one without affecting others.

This becomes a problem when you need to update or change one of these systems, since it involves making significant modifications that affect the entire structure.

Avoid having your investments tied to all-in-one monoliths

Digital solutions, or digital assets as some people prefer to call them, often integrate several essential components such as e-commerce, CMS, search and payment systems, all hosted within the same platform.

For example, you can have a website that include everything from the self-service portal to the payment system. Initially, this integration may seem very attractive because it has everything.

However, it can turn out to be a double-edged sword. Sometimes, these integrated solutions make you feel like you're stuck, especially when a part of the system doesn't meet your expectations or expansion needs.

For example, if the search system falls short, you may find yourself in a complicated situation due to how integrated everything is.

3 architectural patterns that guarantee a response to change

We have mixed these 3 concepts into this model to explain to our customers what the landscape is.

Model Composable

“Decouplable”, this word explains the concept of the Composable model quite well. Basically, it refers to the ability to easily remove and replace components of a system.

This allows for greater flexibility for update or change specific parts without affecting the overall system.

Model Paste Layer

In our system, we have several layers that operate at different rates, as mentioned before. The logging layer, where all RP, CRM, and raw data are stored, including our data lakes, constitutes the basis of our differentiation and what sets us apart from the competition.

On the other hand, the innovation layer is where we make our experiments, testing new ideas to see if they work.

When an experiment in this layer is validated and proven to be successful, then it is transferred to the layer of differentiation, thus reinforcing our unique value in the market.

Model: MACH

MACH Describe the model composable in technology. This term essentially captures how the components of a system can decouple and recombine, providing flexibility that allows for quick adaptations and efficient to new needs or emerging technologies.

Conclusion: “The software that does everything doesn't serve us that much anymore, it's no longer ideal”

Initially, it was a great advantage to jump from non-digital to digital with software that managed everything. However, times have changed and now we are looking for specialization. The current trend is to opt for the “best of breeds”, that is, tools that are leaders in their specific area.

It's crucial to take time at the beginning to understand exactly what we need, design our roadmap and select the parts we want to upgrade or replace. This will better prepare us for the future, allowing us to be aligned with technological trends and to be more agile in a rapidly evolving environment. Do not hesitate to Contact with us and discover how we can take your business to the next level.

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