It’s Tracking You: The Internet of Things

You are likely only thinking about your cellphone right now,  aren’t you?  What about ANY device that has an on and off switch and connected to a WIFI network? The IoT will make your life easier and provide data about your personal habits and happenings to any company.

According to Jacob Morgan with Forbes, “Simply put, [The Internet of Things IoT] this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the internet that includes everything from cellphones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and anything that you can think of.”  Those devices mentioned above aren’t surprising and will actually help many of us make our lives a bit easier.  Did you know that your alarm clock, dryer and coffee maker can be interconnected?  When your alarm clock rings, the shower will start to your set water temperature, your coffee pot begins to brew and your car could even start 20 minutes later.  Scary isn’t it?

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Here are 8 Ways that the Internet of Things will Impact You
The above link helps you understand how the below items will impact your life.

1. Turning Your Car On
2. Monitoring Your Health
3. Driving and Traffic Jams
4. Energy Consumption
5. Grocery Lists
6. Morning Alarm
7. Your Body
8. Your Baby

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Now let us Discuss The Data
Data is big business in marketing.  Knowing your customer and consumer is huge and now you can know when they wake up so that you know when to place specific ads on television, social media and your streaming radio station.

Here are 5 Ways Marketing Will Benefit from the IoT

1. Smart devices that can gather this data and supply it back to you in real time, without the need for IT professionals to direct or monitor the interaction, will allow businesses to create informed marketing strategies and improve ROI on future sales.
2. When used in conjunction with a dependable customer relationship management (CRM) tool, the IoT will be able to do more than simply gather and organize client data; it will be able to efficiently and accurately analyze that data as well, providing you with actionable results regarding your consumer base.
3. One of the more promising aspects of smart-enabled products is their potential ability to perform their own regular maintenance and diagnostics.
4. Marketers who are able to predict the development of these social communities, and target their efforts towards these communities, will be able to reach potential customers that may not have previously been available. Likewise, IoT devices, when coupled with social media, will allow marketers to identify and take advantage of new emerging trends.
5. the age of the interruptive commercial will finally come to an end on the consumer side. In it’s place will be a new world in which advertising must be beneficial and completely relevant where no prospect is served an advertisement that doesn’t 100% align with their interests, behaviors, and past purchases.

 

Emerging into Video to Attract Millennial’s

Remember going to a video store on a Friday evening and picking out two or three movies to watch for the weekend? If you are a millennial between 25 and 33 years of age, you might remember filtering through a video store checking out the “latest movies”.  I say latest because the old school way of viewing videos included a DVD, VHS and others that the majority reading this blog may not even know about.  If you are younger than 24 years old you are likely much more familiar with YouTube, online video streaming, and Vine.

The below graph depicts the generational ages and key segments for each group from baby boomers to Millennial’s.

Mobile Is HUGE

When you go into any public place, what do you see? Everyone on their phones!  Society is a “need to know it now” generation and it is important for companies, institutions, and other organizations to be mobile ready and compatible for websites, videos, and more.

 

If I am looking for a product or service and the company does not have a mobile compatible site; I typically do not utilize the service or shop from that company.  For me, it means they are behind the times and do not care about their consumers accessibility to their company.  Check out the college mix for what social sites millennials are using:

If companies are not already on Google+, Twitter, Youtube and Instrgram, the next generation is coming and if you want to keep market share, investments in video and Snapchat should be heavily explored.

Video is Must Have

Multiscreen advertising is huge and should be part of an integrated marketing plan. The above video shows a variety of very valuable information on why YouTube and other multi-screen advertising is important.

The moral of this blog is to make sure that you are helping your companies, institutions, and CEO’s understand the value of Mobile and Multi-Screen marketing.  It is coming whether they like it or not.