Twenty years ago, the year 2020 brought about images of hovercrafts, talking robots and new Jetsons-like communities. But as the year draws closer (just five years away), the image of what the real future will look like is becoming clearer. While we may not be using flying cars to get to work, the way we approach marketing and sales in the business world is expected to take an even bigger hi-tech turn.

Social Media

In the last 5-10 years, social media usage has skyrocketed around the world. In fact, a 2013 eMarketer report found that approximately 1 in 4 people worldwide used social media networks. What’s more, a 2014 Pew Research Center study reported that 71% of online adults use Facebook and 52% of online adults use two or more social media sites.

So what does that mean for businesses? According to futurist and renowned marketing speaker Mike Walsh, it means that companies need to recognize this shift in human communication if they want to succeed. “At this point everything changes—how we communicate, how we discover brands, how we entertain ourselves, how we elect our governments, and ultimately how we represent ourselves to other people,” he said in a recent whitepaper. “What that really means is that whether you are the CEO of a company or the leaders of a country—you should not think about social media as a fad, but truly a human revolution.”

Sales & Adaptability

As we look ahead, innovation is key to business success. To stay ahead of the game, many top businesses are turning to sales experts like Aaron Ross for help. As the bestselling author of Predictable Revenue and owner of a consulting company, he has helped major corporations triple sales growth and develop self-managing teams. His innovative approach to the future of business incorporates enjoyment and yields bottom-line results.

Along with innovation, comes the need to adapt. That means sales will rely on products that meet ever-changing consumer needs. As Mike Walsh points out, “In the future I believe the ability to constantly launch new products, adapt and offer diverse variations on customer needs will triumph over limited-release, perfectly-engineered products with long development phases.

Marketing & Data

With a prevalence of online usage growing, businesses can also be expected to view data as marketing gold. The ability to personalize and forecast the needs of customers is a soon-to-be norm. As Mike Walsh puts it, “The brands and platforms of the future will leverage consumer data to get smarter about how they market and create unique, personalized user experiences for their customers. Today we worry about privacy. Tomorrow we will complain when companies are not smart enough to know what we want before we have to ask for it.”

For more information about how sales and marketing keynote business speakers like these can impact your event, contact BigSpeak Motivational Speakers Bureau at 805-965-1400 or info(at)BigSpeak.com.

About Julia M.

Julia is an expert writer, editor and partner of BigSpeak who helps communicate the great work and results of BigSpeak Motivational Speakers Bureau. She writes about expert keynote speakers and Motivational Speakers, as well as tips for corporate meeting planners. Connect with us here on Google Plus.