The current trend in digital marketing is personalization. You can tell by the amount of time you spend closing pop-up windows on websites that tell you: Being on this page means that you accept that we are using cookies to track and store your information. Brands are working tirelessly to collect your information and subsequently push marketing information back to you; information that is based on what you have been searching on the internet.
Fortunately or unfortunately, personalization is huge, and it will not be going out of style anytime soon. However, as digital marketing continues to evolve, the future of marketing has more to do with 'personal' or 'individual' marketing, and not just personalized marketing.
Personalized marketing is all about, as we alluded earlier, targeted messaging, and occasionally even re-targeted messaging. At its best, personalized marketing, more often than not, and contrary to it's name, employs a lot of machine learning and automation so as to be successfully executed. With thousands, or more, signing up to receive information from your brand or business, technology is the sure way of getting your content out in good time while keeping it relevant.
Personal or individual marketing, on the other hand, takes your marketing to the next level. Not only is it personalized, but it is also personal; consumers connect with your content in a manner that deepens their trust. Personal marketing shows the human face of your brands making it more relatable to your target audience and thereby deepening their trust in your brand.
As we move into the future, humanization of your brand will be a key ingredient to help you stay connected to your audience.