6 Ways Marketers Should Adapt to the Rise of Wearable Technologies

Over the past few years, a whole new spectrum of marketing channels has entered the market. Thanks to the smart watches, Fitbit, Epson tracking and all other wearables, consumers have a new channel of information and communication at their wrist. It is expected that “by 2019, worldwide shipments of wearable technology will reach 173.4 million units, a growth rate of nearly 23 percent over the next five years” (PHYS.org). But the question is, how can marketers adapt to these new technologies? How can we take advantage of this channel and maximize the potential returns?

Here are a 6 things you should take into consideration when you start including wearable technology as a new marketing venue:

1. Take advantage of location-based capabilities

You can personalize the content based on the customers’ locations. There’s no better way to make the best of your advertising dollars than by sending the ad when the customer is in the purchasing stage or in the store. The last thing you want to do is waste your money on serving advertisements when your customers are sleeping.

2. Scannable concise content

‍With the small screens and on-the-go usage, consumers can be easily distracted when using their wearable devices. So in order to capture their attention and deliver a powerful message, all content delivered on wearable devices must be short and straight to the point.

3. Savvy email subject lines

‍Consumers are bombarded with emails throughout the day. Subject lines have always been an important element of building effective emails. With the new smart watches, customers have many more distractions. In order to have a successful email campaign, you have to spend a considerable amount of time crafting savvy headlines that they can’t ignore.

4. Integration across multiple channels

‍It’s obvious that mobile and wearable technologies usage is now surpassing desktop. But in order to make sure you have an alignment between all your marketing channels, you have to draw out your customer journey and see where the touch points are and what type of content you can deliver and in what format. You have to be able to pick up where the customer left off earlier. This is the epitome of lead nurturing; don’t just depend on one channel.

5. Collect and act upon the data

Through these wearable technologies, marketers can gather an array of useful data and behavior patterns that can be used to their advantage. In addition to the location-based information, marketers can provide hyper-targeted advertisements and content based on the customers’ behaviors. The most important thing is to not just sit on that data. You have to continually analyze and adapt as you go.

6. Experiment. Experiment.Experiment

‍The end goal is to generate sales. But don’t assume you are set after starting to see some conversions. There is always room for improvement, especially with a fast-growing industry. Always use A/B testing to continually improve the content shared and not leave anything on the table.

As marketers, we have been adapting to change since the beginning of time. We have noticed a pattern of hyper growth of technologies over the past several years that have pushed our limits. But it doesn’t mean we give up now. We learn, plan, and continually adapt at all times. These wearable technologies should be viewed as a blank canvas ready for us to turn into a money-making and lead-converting masterpiece.