A few weeks ago I read an article from Fast Company called, “The Future of Advertising” that made me feel unnecessarily anxious about the future of marketing, rather than amazed by the transforming industry.  If you made it through the whole article (or if not) you may also feel this concern that seems a bit melodramatic in response to the digital age’s heavy influence on the future of advertising.  Let’s take a deep breath and dissect this down to the basics:

• Some marketers are freaking out (honestly) because of digital technology altering the way we advertise.  Former CEO of ad agency Marsteller, Andy Nibley[DW1]  stated, “Is there any industry I get involved in that doesn’t get destroyed by digital technology?”  Here is where the problem lies for all of the beyond-stressed advertisers out there- digital technology is not destroying the advertising industry, it’s changing it.  Mind you, these are big changes and a great amount of learning and resilience involves the success of moving through the transformation.  But acceptance is the key.  Digital technology will not destroy advertising, but it will force agencies to think on their feet and use raw creativity.  As opposed to destruction, the ad industry will expand and reach new possibilities that clients can only dream of, while marketers bring them to life.
• “The death of mass marketing means the end of lazy marketing.”  This statement leads me to question, when was lazy marketing ever okay?  And, not to be harsh, but good riddance to those who just wanted to squeak by, providing only the minimal services to clients.  The digital age has opened up the marketing industry to social media, websites, online ads, search, applications, and many other options now available for implementation.  With so many choices, visibility is not necessary on all fronts, just those that are effective.  Rather than mass marketing, the industry is moving into mass customization where marketers must determine what mediums work best for business and apply those practices, rather than spreading their budgets too thin.  Digital technology also enables consumers to be marketers, which can be rewarding or disastrous depending on the way marketers use the information.  Active marketers (as opposed to lazy ones) will find consumer reviews and leverage them by presenting the good and addressing the bad head on.  Anyone thinking Domino’s?
• It’s time to tighten up.  Not only as a result of the economy, but also the new tools available to marketers, cost-free.  Social media leaves many executives wondering why marketing budgets must increase, and feel a need to scale back on activities and talent.  Now more than ever is it vital for marketers to expose their creativity, as much of the industry scare is related to older, dare I say outdated and outmoded advertising (and thinking) models that haven’t kept up with the times.  Marketing as a whole is changing as digital grows stronger and stronger.  Creativity, talent, practicality and adaptability will be allowed to thrive.  Marketing isn’t a profession that requires formal continuing education, but the most successful are those who keep themselves ahead in the game.

 So, are you still anxious or do you feel a bit better?  Marketing and the advertising industry are certainly taking a drastic turn, but there is so much to take advantage of through the use of great new tools that simplify tasks and new ways to satisfy customers through social media.  Leveraging change, rather than rejecting it will be the ultimate divide between those who succeed and those who sink under the pressure of the digital revolution.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator

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I recently attended a webinar and read an article that took somewhat opposing sides about today’s marketing: a need for measurement and too much of a science.  Both arguments leave me wondering; Didn’t marketing always have both?  It’s not a one trick dog. 

David Lavenda, blogging for Fast Company, wrote that marketing today is too much of a science, and new methods of measurements have limitations.  He believes the marketing budget can only be reduced so much, and breakthrough innovations require “radical ideas to difficult problems.”  Lavenda stretches this argument too far, pointing out that descriptions for marketing job positions now include words, like “metrics,” “track,” and “measure,” but marketing positions involved in analysis and measurement are not new or any emerging trend.  There certainly have been breakthroughs regarding marketing analytical tools, such as the previously described Twitter analysis dashboard, HootSuite.  But CEOs aren’t suddenly concerned over a company’s budget allocation; marketing departments have always been required to provide some sort of results, or they wouldn’t be able to provide evidence of their budgetary needs.

Marketo held a webinar titled, “What the CEO Needs from Marketing,” featuring the opinions of Phil Fernandez, CEO of Marketo, and Umberto Miletti, CEO of InsideView.  Fernandez felt marketing currently lacked the proper measuring tools to confidently inform CEOs of revenue results from campaigns and admitted to trusting his sales team more as they “have the metrics.”  He suggested that for marketers to build stronger trust with CEOs, they should propose to reduce the marketing budget, and find ways to measure revenue resulting from marketing efforts.  Fernandez makes a marketing department sound like a detached part of the business- the artsy cool kids who won’t share details and simply express themselves through their work. 

I’m painting a stereotype of course, but for a business to be successful, its executives and departments must work cohesively towards similar goals.  Marketing naturally should provide certain measurements depending on the tactics implemented, but even more vital is the communication between marketing (and sales executives and customer service) and CEOs, so that all parties are aligned on programs, expected outcomes, and the metrics that matter most to the business.  Proper communication enables CEOS and marketing executives to strike a balance between science, art, and accountability to satisfy both sides.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator

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In a previous post I mentioned the HootSuite dashboard, and what it has to offer. Recently they added new gadgets to the dashboard, and upgraded the interface. I am pretty excited about these new and improved features, because they consolidate several routine activities, and provide new capabilities for social media activites. The new features include Geo-Searchable tool, Themes, Google Analytics, Re-tweets, and Language preferences.

The Geo-Searchable tool allows users to filter the search and information by your geographic location. For example- say you want to find out what people are tweeting about in your industry or particular area of interest, in your geographic area. The search box pops up with all of your results; from here you can follow them, re-tweet, add to favorites, reply, or send a direct message. I find this new tool to be very useful when it comes to looking for specific topics that are currently hot or trending to the top discussions. 

HootSuite is beefing up its language options, having recently added the Japanese language as an option, with many more to come! While I prefer the English option for my posting, I think it is great to add language options because HootSuite will be a tool that anyone can use.

The re-tweet (RT) option has also been upgraded to allow you to automatically re-tweet, which saves you time. You can still use the old RT method, but I much prefer the automatic re-tweet button, because you waste characters on the RT, and it’s just easier to use.

HootSuite created new themes for your dashboard to mix it up a little. The new themes include blue steel, classic and magnum. I prefer the magnum theme, it’s bold and everything stands out on my dashboard.

The new feature that I benefit from the most is integration of Google Analytics within the dashboard. Now within the Stats tab I can access my Google Analytics along with the summary and individual messages. I really like this new feature! I can view analytics quickly within the same dashboard that I do everything else. And if you have multiple Google Analytics accounts, you can link all accounts into HootSuite’s dashboard. This is sweet!

Clearly HootSuite is on the move to build out their product. So far, they are on the right track by expanding features that combine activities and resources to combine a series of related and routine activities into a single dashboard, which is a real time saver. I hope to see more work on their integration with Facebook. I’ll keep you posted.

Alexandra Talucci
Marketing Associate
RedZebraWorks

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