This year was the first time I attended the dmexco. In the beginning, I was a bit overwhelmed by the large scale of the event: 55k people — that’s equivalent to the population of a medium sized town and makes it impossible to see everything and talk to everyone that you would like to. So I focused on touching base with partners we already work with and finding new companies that might be worth checking out.
I noticed a huge number of CRM tools addressed to small to medium sized businesses there. It seems the importance of CRM is being recognized by an increasing number of companies and there are numerous tools aimed at making it as easy as possible to send personalized emails and newsletters. Personalization and automation are two keywords in the online marketing sphere nowadays. Companies are trying to automate as many processes as possible and tool providers are trying to meet this demand. Especially in the context of email marketing, this seems to be an increasingly crucial factor. Marketers want to switch from a “one to all” to a “one to one” communication style and segment their customer base in as detailed a manner as possible in order to send more impactful and tailored messages. It was interesting to observe CrossEngage (one of our portfolio companies) participating in this trend. Data-driven marketing in general was a widely discussed topic. In this regard, a lot of providers claim to offer innovative solutions based on state-of-the-art big data, machine learning or cloud technology.
Regarding social media, which is also one of my fields of interest, I really enjoyed listening to the interview done with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. He shared his vision and newest updates regarding Twitter. The platform already co-operates with TV stations to be able to broadcast live programs or sport events. Earlier this year, Twitter inked a deal with the NFL to stream ten of the league’s “Thursday Night Football” games. That gives the unique opportunity to watch and engage with particular events in real time within one app. I am looking forward to observing which direction this trend will take from here.
Since rich media formats have become more and more relevant in online marketing in recent years, video content and the way it can be integrated within the marketing mix were main areas of interest too. How can advertisers use what video content to reach the right audience? Questions like this and, on a related note, the concept of influencer marketing, seem to be of growing importance when elaborating a marketing strategy.
Besides the ongoing focus on the mobile aspect of things, the possibilities related to virtual reality and the internet of things have been trending topics as well of late and there were quite a number of exciting products to see in these fields.