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Welcome to the Future: The Mobile Future

The decision of where to place your marketing message used to be a no-brainer. Your choices included broadcast, print or in store media placements. It was simple and the media was simple. As the use of the “world-wide-web” became mainstream, online advertising was born. Marketers were able to add banner ads, email marketing campaigns and more to their arsenal of media options. Then just as marketers became comfortable with the options in online advertising, we have seen the emergence of Social Media and Mobile Marketing. And these platforms are evolving at pace never seen before.

It is more important then ever to understand your target audience and where they are spending their time consuming media. It is becoming more and more about the user experience everyday.

First Changes
Mobile marketing in its simplest form appears as SMS messaging: the user sends a text message to a short code and receives a pre-programmed response from the advertiser. Advertisers have seen the marketing benefits of Mobile Marketing at the point-of-sale influencing purchasing decisions, building consumer relationships, and providing increased consumer intelligence. It is pretty obvious why technology is evolving at such a rapid pace.

Evolution
Already, Mobile Marketing has evolved from standard SMS messaging techniques to Image Recognition technology. We are also quickly seeing the potential of Augmented Reality in the consumer experience. Take for instance Stella Artois’ Le Bar Guide, where using augmented reality allows a mobile application to overlay the profile of bars surrounding your current location. The recent launch of Apple’s iPad has even further exposed potential Mobile Marketing and its effects on how we look at the very definition of “mobile”, and how advertisers choose to spend marketing dollars. Time, Inc. recently released this video demonstration of how tablets are changing their advertising model.

Mix It Up
And while the world of marketing is ever changing, traditional methods still have a place (Apple’s iPad is advertised on the back cover of my latest issue of National Geographic, after all). Traditional marketing still has relevancy, but it might sit next to some new, technologically savvy neighbors in your annual marketing plan. Proper use and integration of new technologies with older ones will be the key to success.

This post was originally published on Deep Ad Thoughts by The Cyphers Agency.

The Evolving Role of the CMO

I don’t need to lecture you on the changes that have taken place in the way we market since the start of the economic downturn. No, you have studied, talked about and pondered those changes at nauseam. You get that your options have changed. (And hopefully you know we would love to assist you in figuring out which options will best help you reach your goals.)

Times are A’changing

What I do want to talk about is how the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Marketing Manager, Coordinator and Associate has changed. Previously, in plentiful times the objectives for marketing included producing qualified leads for acquisition, communicating with the current customer for retention and establishing and maintaining brand recognition among the masses. Delivery fell on the shoulders of operations, while sales was responsible for the hard numbers. If marketing was producing the leads, their job was done. Well, I hate to break it to you, but those days are gone.

The Future is Now

As a marketer in today’s new world, you need to be a businessperson first and a marketer second. Understanding and working in the business from an operations and financial side is imperative for the survival and success of any marketing plan. While “soft” metrics like brand awareness are just as important as they have ever been, they don’t carry the clout in the board room that profitability and ROI metrics do. Marketers are working alongside operations to respond timely to consumer feedback, all the while, following the sales pipeline further than ever before.

The Value of Marketing

These changes can be a real positive within a company and your career. Yes, marketing is now even more accountable for the overall performance of your company. But with accountability also comes the opportunity to prove the value marketing brings to the table. Not to mention, the walls that are being broken down between departments.

So I leave you with this to think about — How has the role of marketing within your four walls changed? Have you and your team adjusted accordingly?

This post was originally published on Deep Ad Thoughts by The Cyphers Agency.