Best Technology based innovations in marketing in the last ten years - Part I

Marketing is talked about as a live science. There are continuous innovations being tried out. Let us discuss some technology based innovations that are creating a Tsunami of change in the way the art of marketing is being practiced or will be practiced in the future.

1) 1-to-1 Personalization: 1-to-1 marketing (personalization) refers to marketing strategies applied directly to a specific consumer. With four main steps in the process (identify, differentiate, interact and customize), organizations like Amazon, Nike, and Dell all leverage one-to-one marketing campaigns in their overall marketing mix.

2) Gamification: Beyond Angry Birds and Farmville, the concept of gamification refers to the use of game design techniques to solve problems and engage audiences. When one shares something in places like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, by way of the “progress buttons” illustrating the number of shares and likes it is gamification. Additional methods of gamification that have become more widely adopted include Achievement “badges”, “leader boards” and virtual currency

The concepts within gamification tactics are getting more heavily integrated in employee recognition programs, wellness adoption programs, and even project management tools.

3) Group Buying: Group buying, also known as collective buying, might have been around for centuries, but widespread internet adoption has allowed group buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial to thrive in today’s marketplace. Group Buying offers products and services at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers would make the purchase.

4) Social Networking: Facebook and LinkedIn lead a growing number of public and private social networking communities, attracting all forms of networking, from purely personal to specific interests. When Google+ opened to the public last week, traffic was up 1,269% in one week, making the site the eighth largest social network on the Internet. The Google+1 button is being served 2.3 billion times a day all over the web.

5) Inbound Marketing:  “inbound marketing is the use of inbound customer interactions as an opportunity to cross-sell and upsell products and services.”

The most concrete example of inbound marketing success came from the 2008 presidential race, when Barack Obama’s Internet Marketing strategist Chris Hughes leveraged blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and more social media platforms, to help build Obama’s campaign, and ultimately winning the Democratic Presidential nomination and election.