Guest Post from our partner, dotmailer

With the emergence of new marketing technologies and the evolution of old ones in 2015, 2016 could see a shake-up in strategy by the CMOs and CTOs of ecommerce businesses.

This evolution in the Marketing Technology space has inspired some healthy debate around all-in-one solutions versus building best-of-breed marketing suites, and whether online retailers’ current set of tools are efficient, scalable and ultimately meet their needs.

There are obviously a number of factors to consider around the topic of tech adoption and tech reconfiguration, but any decisions are likely to be driven by the challenges faced by online merchants over the next 12 months. Here’s our outlook, which is coupled with tips on how retailers can drive smarter outputs using the combined power of their ecommerce platform and marketing software.

The need to do more with no more resource

There’s a requirement to fire from all cylinders when it comes to marketing output in 2016 – more competition, more channels, more tech, more content. But we’re guessing your team’s not getting any bigger?

Making sense of your data

To become smarter and more targeted with your marketing, you need to know who’s in your list, what they’re doing, what they’re interested in, and how you can best communicate with them. What’s more, every time you deliver a piece of marketing you’re collecting data off the back of it. But until you analyze it, data is just data.

Does your ecommerce platform sync up seamlessly with your marketing platform, and then give you a simple, real-time dashboard so you can easily and quickly analyze data to refine your strategy? If the answer’s no, then perhaps it’s time to look for a solution that can.

Being across multiple channels

In 2016, more marketing channels will exist than ever before. So how do you make sure you’re in all the places your prospects and customers are, especially when you’ve got other things to focus on?

Automating as much of your marketing as you can will help you to put resource elsewhere – for example, sending emails to rescue abandoned carts. Does your marketing platform allow you to send SMS to customers who’ve purchased something by linking up with your ecommerce software?  

A big drive towards customer centricity

Relevant, targeted content

The need to make marketing communications more relevant, to stand out among competition, has never been more pressing. So does your ecommerce platform work seamlessly with your marketing software to let you:

• use transactional or geographical data to build segments, then set up automated emails to these lists based on things like what people have bought previously or what’s happening in their locality?
• look at what people have abandoned in their cart or browsed on your site, then set up automated email programs to tempt them back?
• remind customers to re-purchase when their stocks of your consumable product are dwindling?
• build advocacy and increase purchase frequency through points-based reward and loyalty schemes?

An optimized experience

Becoming a truly customer-centric business is no small task but there’s one thing that’s definitely on the rise: m-commerce. That means the whole customer journey, from emails and landing pages through to online stores, needs to provide a seamless experience for mobile shoppers.

Ecommerce platforms like the newly-released Magento 2 are designed to let retailers create seamless customer experiences across multiple devices anywhere, anytime. Plus integrations, like the dotmailer platform, allow them to drive people to the site via mobile-friendly emails and landing pages.

Increasing reach and customer base

According to the Forrester US online Retail Forecast, the percentage of online sales will continue to increase from seven percent of overall retail sales in 2011 to about nine percent by 2016. That’s a world of opportunity to take your brand international and grow your customer base at a time when the noise is getting louder.

But does your ecommerce platform and marketing software handle international languages and currencies? If not, it’s time to think about how you can globalize your brand in 2016 with the right tech.

All in all, it looks to be a challenging year for retailers – but also an opportunistic one for those that embrace the right tech to take them into the future of ecommerce.

This post was created by dotmailer, a leading multichannel marketing automation software. The dotmailer platform integrates seamlessly with Magento 2 and is Magento’s first and only Platinum Technology Partner for marketing.