Switzerlands’s sets trends in global digital marketing

People working at computers in an office environment.

Switzerland’s future in digital marketing looks very bright. 2017 followed up on the successes of 2016 and brought further innovation and fresh trends into the Alpine nation. Overall the focus is on consolidation, channel management and integration of technology. Key pillars in this regard will be programmatic advertising, data, mobile, content and social media, as well as new platforms such as Snapchat.

This combination of creativity and technology will help companies in the sector to achieve better results in terms of quality over quantity, and allow for the full potential of technological advancement in the digital marketing sector to be unleashed. Big data is set to assist company’s to make the shift towards personalised marketing measures, increasing revenue and connecting with the consumer on a deeper level.

Mobile marketing is also set to rapidly scale in Switzerland. According to Swiss enterprises, optimisation of mobile responsive pages (66%), apps (71%) and QR Codes (60%), as well as the specific use of those channels is the main priority for 2018. Part of this will be geo-targeting in combination with other channels such as cross-device marketing, alongside tracking and attribution. In this era of digitalisation these three trends will gain traction and significance, as companies adapt to new forms of consumer behavior.

Content marketing will take center stage in terms of digital amplification methods, allowing enterprises to produce highly specified content for specific audiences. Last year 88% of Swiss companies claimed that content is a must-have for future marketing strategies. Since then, big enterprises have adapted this model, opening new content departments to stay competitive in this now global digital marketing sector.

Mobile/event marketing rapidly scaling up

Just as in Switzerland, digital marketing is exploding in Spain, growing 75% year on year to 2015, and reaching 325 million EUR on mobile alone by 2016. Mobile marketing has grown significantly since 2015, when it only accounted for 4.5% of the total Spanish spend, highlighting the rapidly changing landscape of marketing in this new digital era.

Marketing firms based in the Iberian nation are some of the biggest advocates of experience marketing to date, which has been a chief factor in making the Mediterranean country the 3rd most popular destination for mobile marketing experts.

Over the course of the last decade, event marketing has been perceived as a pillar of a successful marketing campaign. For example, according to a recent study, budgets for event marketing in Britain are greater than general marketing spending. Last year budgets rose by almost 10%.

Due to the fierce competition for attention of potential customers and clients on social media, it has become increasingly difficult for brands to connect to potential new consumers. “Traditional marketing has become less effective in breaking down people’s defense mechanisms”, explains Kerry Smith, founder of Event Marketing Institute, in business magazine Forbes. “Face-to-face has become the best way to create chemistry, moving people and logistics focused on a one, two, or three-day period.”

Outsourcing marketing services

Many companies find it difficult to justify spending money on permanent marketing employees, whereas outsourcing, or “centralising” services, provides efficient alternative.

Worldwide many countries profit from this new trend. In Europe, Ireland – ranking 13th as most attractive destinations amongst marketers – has become one of the most important locations for customer experience centers. Huge global brands such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Microsoft all have their headquarters stationed in Dublin.

Eastern-European countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, and countries in Asia, such as India and the Philippines, have traditionally been attractive locations for companies to outsource their marketing operations. However the Iberian Peninsula’s long-standing draw for tourism and the increased buoyancy of the national economy following the 2007-8 global financial crisis is serving to attract high quality candidates from abroad.

Ranking global hotspots for marketing professionals

For Trend Watch PageGroup surveyed 18352 job seekers worldwide, who applied on our Michael Page and Page Personnel websites during the 3rd quarter of 2017.

Of the 1496 marketing professionals who participated in the study, 64% were willing to relocate, for job opportunities, a better salary or a different lifestyle.