How Technology Is Changing How We Treat Lead Generation

Technology is rapidly innovating and we, in the lead generation space, must be able to keep abreast of all the changes.

According to the 2017 Marketing Technology Landscape infographic, the number of marketing technologies on the market is rapidly exploding. There are now 5,381 solutions, an increase of 40% from last year.

That’s a lot of technology and coping with these changes can be scary. In this post, we highlight 3 main technologies that marketers should keep watch for their lead generation efforts.

#1: Google RankBrain & Search Engine Optimisation

Mastering SEO is notoriously hard especially when Google changes its ranking algorithms countless times per year.

Google has started on AI and machine learning to determine SEO rankings since 2015. They are using machine learning to effectively track user behaviour, understanding user intent and finding out what works and what doesn’t.

Senior Google Analyst Greg Corrado goes as far to say “(RankBrain) is the third most important signal in the search engine”.

With this focus on AI, how can marketers adapt?

Remember Google’s goals – they aim to provide the user with the most relevant content they need on the first try. If your content fulfils Google’s goals, it will naturally earn a strong SEO position.

This goes back to the fundamentals of content marketing. Understand your target audience’s intention behind their searches and craft relevant content for that stage of the Buyer’s Journey.

You can’t use old techniques like keyword stuffing or buying links anymore as Google will see through these efforts and penalise your SEO scores.

#2: Chatbots For Engagement and Lead Generation

In the past, you need a customer support rep to be manning your customer enquiry line 24/7 on shift.

Now, we have an explosion of messaging apps out there and potential customers want someone (or something) that can quickly respond to their questions on messaging platforms.

Enter chatbots. Chatbots facilitate two-way communication with speedy initial responses on a platform your potential customers are at, making it ideal for lead generation.

You can use chatbots to answer your frequently asked questions, collect feedback or survey responses and schedule appointments.

In Singapore, we have an affectionately named chatbot “Bus Uncle” that gives you bus timings, saving commuters time and putting a smile on their face with its use of Singlish.

Furthermore, these businesses have used a chatbot to enhance their business’s lead generation capabilities.

#3: Wordsmith and Content Marketing

Can a robot write better than a human?

Automated Insights (AI) unveiled the first self-service natural language generation (NLG) platform for the enterprise.

Wordsmith uses data to automatically create personalised stories. From eCommerce product descriptions, media and business intelligence, an AI can now create these stories from data analytics.

Since lead generation with inbound marketing in particular is so dependent on content, what does this mean for content generation?

Perhaps it can create issues for content creators in the future, or content marketers can upgrade their skills to do other work in the content marketing suite that only humans can do (at this time).

Who knows what the future will bring?