Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
MARKETING professionals in the country have been called on to embrace and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for their marketing strategies.
AI and automation are said to be fundamentally redefining marketing by enabling highly personalised customer experiences, automating repetitive tasks, providing real-time insights through data analysis and allowing marketers to focus on more strategic, creative aspects of campaign development among other things.
Speaking in an online webinar on Future Insights: Marketing Trends to Watch in 2025 on Thursday, Sales and Digital Marketing practitioner, Mr Felex Chivave said in marketing, AI played a key role in data analysis and personalised experiences.
“Personalisation has also become very important in marketing. Customers want the companies they deal with to pay attention to their needs and wants and provide value as such. AI makes this possible and allows you to engage with your market base, which has the effect of customer loyalty,” he said.
He said AI and automation also came along with customer service revolution as chatbots were readily available for instant responses.
Mr Chivave said voice search was the new frontier as technology continues to evolve, it has emerged as a transformative trend in digital marketing, fundamentally changing how consumers seek information.
He added: “This development has significant implications for search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies, compelling brands to rethink their approaches. Voice search allows users to interact with technology in a more natural and intuitive way.”
Mr Chivave said data shows that over 50 percent of all searches are expected to be voice-based this year.
He called on marketing professionals to take making videos for content seriously and to also utilise live streaming for real-time interaction and building community.
Market Research consultant, Ms Sandra Sithole said the advertising space was becoming more and more crowded.
“This means brands need to do more to stand out and be noticed. Effective advertising will allow brands to grow their reach by increasing brand recall and grow brand salience through top of the mind awareness, while you could also induce engagement,” she said.
She said features of an effective advert were being simple, memorable, interesting, linking to the brands and emotionally involving.
Ms Sithole said the types of advertising research marketing professionals need to carry out in 2025 were media research, consumer research, pre-advertising research, post-advertising research, eye-tracking studies and sentiment analysis.
“With media research, you are able to determine the best platforms for advertising and communication. It helps brands understand where, when and how to reach their target audience effectively. Carrying out consumer research, you are able to understand the target audience preferences, behaviours and demographics, among other types of advertising research,” she added.
Business strategist and marketer, Mr Kudzai Nyika called for embracing agility in marketing.
“Agile marketing is the capability to adapt marketing strategies in response to market conditions, customer behaviours and emerging trends to achieve optimal outcomes. Modern marketers face a variety of challenges including fragmented channels, sophisticated audiences and volatile markets,” he said.
Online Reporter