Remember the fax? Remember the print or TV ad campaign that reigned supreme as the "way to get the word out?" Remember direct mail when people actually read their mail while more than three feet away from the nearest wastebasket?No, I don't either. Even though I've been a marketing professional for nigh on three decades and an avid follower of consumer culture since about age three when I "invented" a toothpaste that would STILL BE STRIPED when you spit it out. (Unfortunately, I didn't have the manufacturing facility to bring this fine toothpaste to market at the time.)
Remember when you sent a resume on nice paper, through the mail, to get a job? That's gone, too.
Everything has changed, for obvious reasons we've hashed over forever (not included here!) and a few that are somewhat less obvious, even to those of us in the trenches:
• Companies now need brand advocates; it is no longer enough to independently trumpet about strengths. It is instead imperative that the people who could purchase or influence purchasing are enthusiastic about what you do and how you do it.
• Social media... it's more than Facebook. And it cannot be ignored. Smart marketing campaigns send the same key message points across multiple media, in many cases including social media. This is true (albeit sometimes trickier) in B2B. Forget silo marketing.
• People's access to information may not actually make them smarter, but it certainly makes them more easily informed. Or disillusioned. No longer is it true (if ever it was) that "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
• Content is king and queen. The way to break through the noise is to have something worth saying. Educate, help, solve, entertain. If you have nothing to say, go back to the drawing board and figure out why, because content-poor marketing is a waste of money and time.
