Cloud computing is at the pinnacle of success with leading companies (from different industries) developing their own marketing platforms to stay ahead in the competitive race. The industry is experiencing an orgasm with major players gearing up to foray in this area.

The recent being our very own gatekeeper to internet, Google. The company has launched a new marketing platform, Google Analytics 360 Suite to tap large enterprise customers. Other companies following the suit are Nielsen and Ogilvy. The development by both the companies is aimed to reach, understand and engage with customers.

The Growing Base of Connected Customers
The alacrity to adopt marketing cloud is fueled by the rise in connected consumers and the use of social media to understand their emotions. However, the war is not as easy as it seems. As the use of social media rises, the complexity in adopting and automating different marketing channel increases. This gives rise to a tiff competition. Companies such as Adobe, Salesfore, Oracle and HP dominate the marketing cloud industry while Google is eyeing to reach near them.

What is inside a marketing cloud?
Most of these companies receive automated insights for advertising and have a well-defined customer prediction system to engage with customers. Let's have a deep dive into what is inside a marketing cloud.

1) Cross-Channel Automation: The best example is Adobe's Experience Manager Mobile. It blends several mobile tools into a single platform which allows for simplified creation and management of apps on different mobile platforms.

2) Analytics Platform: This platform uses algorithms to extract billions of data points from the cloud in order to make effective marketing strategy.

3) Social Media and Content Management Tools: These tools help in receiving consumer sentiments, their behavioral pattern and based on the same marketers develop custom contents.

The Strategy
Companies use the above mentioned tools to devise their marketing plans through a well-define strategy which combine data and design. They gather real-time data revolving around preferences, purchasing habits, lifestyle and then pitch customers ultimately for revenue generation.Some of the key trends I predict in 2016 are as follows:

1) Since 2016 is the year of quality against quantity, companies are now capitalizing on the use of predictive models to gain insights. It will be the numero uno skill in demand this year.

2) The use of bulk email marketing which marketers use will tone down with quality in mind. I still remember this when we use to run an email marketing campaigns in one of my previous firm for event marketing. And the best time to send email used to be either on Tuesday when the Monday blues are over or in the first half of Friday since customers would anticipate happy times for the next two days.

3) Digital marketing is here to stay and would still be a part of marketing strategy companies' make. Also we cannot deny the fact that cloud computing is the child of digital marketing and technology.

4) Cross industry partnerships will drive the growth. The recent news of Salesforce and Dropbox's launch on Facebook's messenger platform is a perfect example.

In a nutshell
The odyssey to customer engagement and retention considering the dynamic pace of technology is challenging yet interesting. However, companies which keep customers in mind rather than the product while developing their cloud marketing strategy will have a higher ROI. Additionally, the intensity of complete integration in the marketing cloud will fortify key developments in this space.