Overview

The life of a marketer used to be simple and then came the internet. We had just a few TV channels, some radio stations, a handful of top magazines and a newspaper or two in each market. Reaching consumers was easy, if you were able craft a compelling message, you could move product. The internet brought with it the social and digital revolution which has changed the way consumers interact with their brands of choice. Technology has made deciding on a marketing strategy much tougher. Now we have a mind boggling number of TV channels , ever growing number of websites and hundreds of thousands of “Apps” along with a whole lot of DMP’s, API’s and SDK’s . Marketing used to a simple matter of identifying needs and communicating a message that appealed to the consumer. Now with technology changing the communication landscape a marketer needs to build an immersive strategy to engage the consumer.
 
It is easy for a marketer to get lost in a sea of buzzwords and false guru selling snake oil. Have clear goals There is so much going on the in the marketing arena today that it is difficult to keep up. Marketers feel pressured to have an integrated approach and actively integrate emerging media in their marketing plans. A good marketing strategy is not about how many gadgets and neologisms are crammed into it, but how effectively it achieves goals. Hence it is important to have clear strategic goals as to what you as a marketer hope to achieve online in terms of customer engagement or gaining new consumers. Identify, Evaluate and Apply Emerging Technologies Marketing executives are busy folks. They need to identify their consumer base and run promotional campaigns in collaboration with the product folks in their respective organisations.
 
It is unreasonable to expect a marketing executive to keep up with the vast array of emerging technologies and tactics. Therefore it is better that they engage their agencies to act as sound boards .Agencies should have the onus to suggest new technologies and tactics. Once an emerging technology or opportunity has been successfully used in a pilot program it can be integrated into the normal strategic process. Separate Strategy from Innovation A good strategy is one that achieves specific goals that have laid out at the onset. Innovation on the other hand focuses on creating new results, which may not work as well as a standard solution. Hence it is important for a marketer to set aside monies for pilot projects and test runs. Some may work some may not. However everything comes with a learning curve. Building assets in the marketplace Previously it was easy to create a compelling marketing campaign and drive purchase of the product or service in question. Today an effective promotional campaigns are less likely to result in sales and more likely to lead the consumer to do an internet search.
 
This internet search would make it easy for the competition to retarget the consumer. Successful brands are platforms, they need to inspire consumers to participate. In the digital age you have only arrived if your product no longer a noun but a verb. Hence a marketer needs to have a keen understanding of consumer behaviour. How are consumers interacting with technology? How do they perceive our product or service? Market visits and directly interacting with consumers will enable marketers to come up with effective strategies.