The way the world is evolving towards everything tech, more and more brands are increasingly adopting marketing technology or MarTech tools to reach out to their customers. MarTech has seen a boom in the last few years. From the increased usage of artificial intelligence to a growing dependence on clouds and data, marketers are swooping in to make the best use of technology and software that are available at their deck. So, what does 2023 have in store for this giant industry of MarTech? Experts have a lot to say on that.

According to Insider Intelligence, by 2024, B2B MarTech spending will be $8.51 billion while B2C MarTech spending will be closer to $18.60 billion. That is a big spending number and it shows how MarTech is reaching its heights as brands become more cautious of where they are spending their money for the best ROI.

Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality claiming spots

According to Vineet Malhotra, Chief Technology Officer at Hashtag Orange, artificial intelligence (AI) has been dominating the industry. “MarTech as an industry will of course continue to see more technological integrations. We cannot deny how quickly AI has taken over the whole predictive/analytics side of the marketing, and if we look at the last mile, then it's just the content that is left, with open source platforms like ChatGPT, there will be many more to follow and disrupt this space too.”

Amit Dhawan, Partner & CEO, Art-E, also believes that automation is going to be a significant part of 2023. “Looking ahead to 2023, the advertising industry is expected to undergo a significant shift with the advancement of AI technology. Tools such as chatGPT, copy.ai, and hotpot.ai are set to revolutionize the way creative agencies function, streamlining and automating certain tasks related to content creation. These AI-powered platforms use machine learning algorithms to generate original text, design assets, and even video content, allowing agencies to produce high-quality materials at a faster pace. While these tools are not meant to replace human creatives, they can assist with tasks such as copywriting and concept generation, freeing up time for more strategic and high-level work.”

Shashank Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO- Expedify, tells us that AI and ML-based marketing will help brands to become more relevant. “With the advances made on anvils like 5G penetration and rise of more immersive and interactive experiences like AR and VR, I strongly believe marketing data warehousing, immersive content, hyper personalized innovation and AI-based chatbot interactions will get a lot of user acceptance due to their fairly robust ecosystem. AI and ML-based marketing will also become more seamless as I believe they will be able to analyze deep learning algorithms and be able to integrate key data into their strategies and craft personalized messages for customers at every marketing funnel. The trends also will be accelerated by the shift in consumer behavior brought by the global pandemic.”

Anindita Das Veluri, Director - Marketing, Adobe India, adds, "Technologies today have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing campaigns by allowing for the analysis of large amounts of data and the automation of certain tasks. Immersive content creation tools are already streamlining product design and digital asset creation. At Adobe, we have invested significantly in bringing in new talent and technology in the 3D and immersive field, including with the acquisitions of Mixamo, Allegorithmic, and Medium."

"Given the velocity & volume of content being generated is huge, the need for consistent supply of relevant and contextual content will be key. While the meat of your content likely won’t change year over year, the technology available to create that content is evolving at a rapid pace. This will give rise to the use of technologies AI & ML to streamline & drive adoption of standardized formats for creating, storing and sharing content," she opines. 

A definite upward tick in the industry

Experts also believe that the industry is going to see a massive amount of growth this year. According to Vineet Malhotra, there’ll be a bunch of different trends that will push this industry in 2023. “Post pandemic, the fact that virtual can easily be a reality, the tech supporting marketing will continue to grow. Naturally, we will see a lot of talent movement, upskilling, especially in the agency side. We will have more CTOs joining agencies, while a creative role will demand tech orientation.”

Shashank Sharma also believes martech is up for a successful year with things going all digital during the pandemic. “We have observed how 'Digital' has become a key channel not just for customer acquisition and engagement but also for conversion and retention. As India’s digital economy fortifies, the assimilation of marketing and technology better known as “MarTech” is anticipated to witness robust growth. MarTech is seen to be playing a much more significant role in Data Integration and analytics along with automating processes for increasing marketing productivity.”

Amit Dhawan adds, “The advertising industry is continuously evolving as brands seek new ways to reach and engage with their audiences. With the integration of AI technology and the growing popularity of D2C brands, the coming year is sure to bring exciting developments and new opportunities for marketers."

According to Veluri, looking ahead to 2023, the MarTech industry is expected to undergo a significant shift with the advancement in technology and evolving customer expectations. There has been an increase in the spending in the past year, a trend that has been spotlighted by major sports events such as the FIFA and ICC T20 World Cups, she believes.

"A platform approach that drives consolidation and integration of marketing tools designed to work seamlessly will be the expectation. Whatever the industry, whatever the device or platform the content is consumed on, the need for integrated tools is stronger than ever. It’s crucial that these tools give the community the flexibility to work how and where they want. In response to the rapidly evolving ways in which people create, Adobe continues to release tools and technologies that empower creators to collaborate more effectively and more efficiently," says Veluri.