The amount of rapid change that we, as an industry, have experienced over the last 12 months has been nothing short of extraordinary. Bearing witness to such radical shifts in consumer behavior across a spectrum of industries and sizes has been eye-opening at a time when it’s all too easy to be purely fixated on the short-term. 

Brands and agencies can now breathe a collective sigh of relief for making it through the year, but, as uncertainty abounds, we can’t help but wonder what’s waiting just around the bend. So we close out the year by looking at intent data for the month of December. 

This week saw an increase in traffic among marketers for “interactive marketing,” defined as “a one-to-one marketing process that reacts and changes based on the actions of individual customers and prospects.” The need to improve personalization and relevance remains top-of-mind for most marketers.   

Throughout 2020, we all maintained deeply intimate relationships with our connected devices. Just look around. The impact that international stay-at-home orders has had on our ability to operate independently has driven a massive shift. One way that marketers can supercharge their self-service strategies is through the use of “artificial intelligence (AI).” The most searched query among both brands and agencies this week, according to Bombora, AI is poised to transform customer experience and service in the new year, as a greater reliance and trust in e-commerce rapidly builds.

2020 has underscored the importance of superior customer experience. Entire industries are adapting to meet the self-serve expectations of newfound customers, creating important pillars in companies’ CX efforts: trust, relevance and reliability. 

Looking towards the future, which new behaviors do you think will outlast the pandemic?