Global research and advisory firm, Gartner has pinpointed four emerging trends that are poised to transform the way marketers manage their technology ecosystems. These trends include AI for marketing, customer data platforms (CDPs), real-time marketing, and blockchain for advertising. According to Gartner's Hype Cycle for Digital Marketing and Advertising 2019 report, these technologies are currently at the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' in the digital marketing and advertising sphere.

"Marketers today must strike the right balance between delivering meaningful customer experiences that differentiate their brands and focusing on providing real value to the business," said Mike McGuire, a vice president analyst in Gartner's Marketing practice. He further emphasised the potential impact of event-triggered and real-time marketing on future marketing activities, stating, "Event-triggered and real-time marketing will have the biggest impact on marketing activities in the next five years. However, before marketers can realise the benefits of these technologies, they must first become proficient in predictive analytics and delivering personalised communications."

Interestingly, Gartner's research revealed a significant misperception among enterprise marketers regarding the role of CDPs. Half of those surveyed who have deployed a CDP consider it to be their CRM system, indicating a misunderstanding of its purpose and unique differentiators.

AI for marketing has rapidly ascended to the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' in just two years on the Hype Cycle. A Gartner 2018 survey revealed that 11% of marketing technology executives identified AI as the technology that would have the most impact on their marketing efforts in the next five years.

Blockchain for advertising, while promising, faces significant challenges with scalability, performance, and adoption that must be overcome before it can disrupt the status quo.

Real-time marketing is creating an environment characterised by on-demand marketing, not just always-on marketing. Leading brands are combining behavioural analytics and marketing automation to serve up the right offer or message at the right time based on specific customer behaviours.

However, Gartner's 2019 Multichannel Marketing Survey showed that less than half of respondents (44%) use predictive modelling or rigorous testing to determine if a real-time response is warranted when designing event-triggered marketing. This suggests there is still much room for improvement and growth in this area.