What’s Next in the Experience Business?

Image source: Adobe Stock / Olivier Le Moal.

A cornerstone of every Adobe Summit is the notion of what next? This year, that’s no exception. As we look to 2018, 2019, and beyond, it’s clear the breakneck pace at which we’ve been experiencing and integrating technology and innovation is now par for the course. It’s not so much that we’ve been elbow-deep in a game-changing moment in time, but instead, that this is how the industry operates now — trying to surprise and delight increasingly mobile, sophisticated, and demanding consumers who want what they want when, where, and how they want it. Your job? Keep pace, or ideally, keep ahead of that lofty curve.

So the big question: what does this “next” entail? We’ll be unpacking a lot of it during the Personalization Track at Summit. But whether you’re attending or not, it’s essential to understand what’s new, what’s next, and what, specifically, can and will impact your business going forward, starting with these trending topics.

#1. Everything at scale

Personalization isn’t going anywhere — except everywhere. Gone are the days of basic A/B testing, experience targeting, and relevant recommendations. To excel in today’s always-on, experience-driven landscape, businesses need to deliver relevant, rewarding, and engaging experiences 24/7 — and they need to do it at scale.

The reality? It’s impossible to achieve these ambitious goals with a manual approach to optimization and personalization. It’s also impossible to develop concrete rules that dictate the if/thens of infinite scenarios and real-time actions. To keep up with these ever-increasing demands, marketers need to personalize every digital experience, tapping into AI automation and data science.

In our session, Target Premium for Power Users II: Personalize at Scale with AI and Sensei, we’ll examine the capabilities of Adobe Target Premium, giving attendees hands-on experience in leveraging these cutting-edge — and surprisingly turnkey — capabilities. By walking through the ins and outs of augmenting Adobe Target with customer attributes, product parameters, and other key data sources, you’ll understand when, where, and how to use different flavors of personalization, and how to leverage the entire Target technology stack to grow your business.

Again, it’s all about what’s next in the experience business; from our end, becoming more data-driven and leaning on AI and one-click automation is it. These skills will enable you and your business to deliver relevance at scale, all while harnessing the insights and experiences you’re creating right now.

#2. Mobile gets mature

Not surprisingly, mobile is still front-and-center at Summit. This year, though, we’ll be focusing on those core elements to help optimize every mobile moment, while keeping an eye on maturing those strategies. At our session Steps to Mature Your Mobile Experience Strategy, we’ll talk what’s next for mobile-driven companies like yours. For us, mobile is the most important customer touchpoint, so we’re incredibly focused on this essential topic — specifically, the challenges you face daily to deliver those spot-on experiences.

In this session, we’ll talk mobile roadmaps and strategies that build off of analytics and optimization. By developing from these jumping-off points, you’ll have the framework to execute and refine your mobile experiences in a way that meets and exceeds customer expectations. Additionally, by building out app-centric optimization strategies, you’ll be able to effectively and efficiently mature your overarching mobile strategy. That’ll enable you to overcome issues tied to acquisition, engagement, and retention. No matter where you are in your mobile evolution — and whether you’re attending Summit or not — these are key considerations going forward that will, no doubt, dictate which brands sink and which ones swim in this new mobile world order.

Even though we’re talking about what’s new and next, it’s impossible to ignore a classic: search. Sure, it isn’t having the same moment-in-the-sun as machine learning and AI, but search may arguablye b the unsung hero of your site, able to surface engaging and relevant content and results on-demand. The next level? Predicting what your customers want before they can even type the letters into the search bar — before they even know what they want.

That’s exactly the amped-up search we’ll be digging into at Adobe Target Search&Promote: Managing and Promoting Search Results, at Summit. This hands-on lab will help participants get up-close-and-personal with Adobe Target Search&Promote, with tips, tricks, and must-tries to elevate your site search strategy in a big way.

Whether you’re attending Summit or not, consider this your call-to-action for boosting your site search. From understanding the critical KPIs and how to measure them, to setting up business rules and configuring search-ranking indices, personalizing your internal site search, and maximizing the customer experience, this is what next-level search looks and feels like — and it’s exactly what your brand needs to be delivering now.

We’ll continue to share updates and insider experiences from the Summit floor beginning next week. Check back for the latest.