Digital marketing is becoming an increasingly crucial part of effectively promoting a business. It dominated at this year’s CES, which took place in Las Vegas at the beginning of January. As always, a variety of technological innovations and developments were explored during the show’s panels and keynote speeches, and a significant number of them applied to digital marketing in some way.

From improved wearables technology and functionality to new mobile programming codes, it looks like 2016 is poised to be the year in which digital marketing truly comes into its own. Early adopters of these new technologies will gain an incredible competitive edge, so it’s well worth it to stay abreast of these developments. One of the best things about many of these innovations is that they don’t require massive outlays of time or money. In fact, the opposite is typically true. With all of this in mind, digital marketing isn’t just coming into its own this year; it’s becoming easier and more accessible. To drive home this point, we’ve handpicked seven especially interesting facts and predictions that we picked up from the show:

CES Mobile Commerce Predictions: The Importance of Digital Marketing

1. Cross-Platform Apps and Tools

The rise of wearables, smart TVs, the Internet of Things and other technologies has prompted the need of new apps and tools that work seamlessly across multiple platforms. Right now, the issue is more about accessibility. Once cross-platform apps and tools become the norm, however, they will make it easier for companies to engage in digital marketing. Instead of coming up with separate apps for different kinds of devices, businesses are increasingly investing in the development of cross-platform apps and tools. For businesses, this represents significant savings in terms of time and money, and it also allows them to maintain consistent branding. For consumers, this approach allows them to interact with brands more easily and naturally, which means that they will get more out of those experiences too.

2. Beacon Technology

Digital marketing is often regarded as strictly being the purview of e-commerce sites and other online businesses. That’s patently untrue, of course, but brick-and-mortar retailers without online stores do have a few disadvantages. Enter beacon technology, which is rapidly changing the way in which physical stores market their wares. A GPS-based technology, beacons interact with users’ phones and other mobile devices to deliver highly targeted messages–typically of the marketing variety–to encourage them to buy more. This technology allows businesses to collect even more data about consumers, so it’s a mutually beneficial situation. Right now, most people are only familiar with beacon technology because of Facebook, which uses it to alert users of nearby businesses as they go from place to place. However, more big names are getting into the act thanks to new products by companies like GE, which is developing commercial lights with built-in beacon technologies that are specifically geared toward retail stores.

3. SWIFT

Apple’s latest programming language is already making a splash in the world of digital marketing, and it was a hot topic of discussion at CES. The app and systems language has already been downloaded more than 11 million times since being released in September 2015. Its unique characteristics and speed make it easier to develop more diverse and creative apps for all Apple products. Ultimately, the new language should facilitate simpler and more effective digital marketing in the years to come.

4. Wearables

FitBit and other wearable technology has been around for some time. However, wearables are undergoing a renaissance of sorts in 2016. Companies are moving away from devices like watches and wristbands and toward more functional options. Jewelry, in particular, is poised to be the next big thing in wearables technology, with necklaces and rings leading the pack. High-tech wearable tattoos are increasingly becoming a reality, and subcutaneous ones look especially interesting. Wearables matter in the context of digital marketing because they provide yet another way for brands to interact with customers during their day-to-day lives. They provide yet another avenue for collecting data too.

5. Cloud-Based Apps

Thanks to the increasing ubiquity of wearables and mobile devices especially, there’s a greater need than ever for apps to be able to interact seamlessly with a wide array of devices. Cloud computing is coming to the rescue here, and more cloud-based apps are being developed than ever. Rather than being tethered to specific devices, these apps use the cloud to stream data seamlessly across a variety of platforms. From a marketing standpoint, this is ingenious because it lets businesses look at how customers interact with their brands across a wide array of devices.

6. Mobile Pay

Considering that around 90 percent of e-commerce traffic accesses online stores via mobile devices, it’s safe to say that mobile pay is the wave of the future. Google Wallet, Apple Pay and other technologies are already making it easier for folks to make purchases online and in brick-and-mortar stores via their mobile devices, and companies that facilitate these types of payments tend to edge out the competition. That will only become truer as time passes, so it’s well worth it to invest in the technologies that are needed to accept these kinds of payments. Mobile pay doesn’t just make life easier for customers. It also serves as a great marketing device for businesses. Being able to say that you accept the most prominent forms of mobile payments shows customers that you are ahead of the curve and that you want to make shopping–both online and in “real life”–easier for them.

7. The Internet of Things

At CES, Ginni Rometty, the president, chairman and CEO of IBM gave a keynote speech covering exciting developments in the world of the Internet of Things, or IoT, which refers to connecting everyday devices to the Internet. Nest thermostats are just one popular example. She explained how IBM is partnering with companies like Under Armour and Medtronic to make effective use of Watson, a technology that makes sense of all of the data that’s being created and collected. Rometty predicts that the next big thing for IoT is cognitive computing, which Watson excels at. These devices won’t just be connected; they will be able to take data and make informed “decisions” with it. This has major implications for mobile commerce, digital marketing and just about every other tech-related area, as it will accelerate the development of cognitive computing in general. This type of computing is sure to revolutionize the world of marketing before too long.

As you can see based on the happenings at CES 2016, digital marketing is not only here to stay, but it’s going to evolve and become more efficient and effective thanks to a wide array of technological advancements and innovations. Savvy business owners will stay on top of these developments and adopt these technologies quickly to maintain a strong competitive edge.