The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012: Marketing
Today I’m discussing Marketing. The Inc.com article I’m referring to describes today’s marketing type as “not about old-school marketing communications.” I agree wholeheartedly.
The movement is online. But I think marketers who have rich offline experience can see a bigger picture and are better able to connect the dots in the new world. Not every marketer has shifted exclusively to online. People still read direct mail and magazines. They still watch TV. The best medium for your message should always be driven by your audience demographics. Generally, older customers are more comfortable with ink on paper; younger are at home with their PCs and mobile devices. Cross-media integration covers many bases.
And I would suggest that true marketing professionals are media neutral. Websites are right for most marketers, but a website should include a video component. In fact, I’d suggest that every website must have a video. Research has shown that videos keep site visitors’ attention longer. Our experience is that people are becoming less and less likely to read words, but they will watch a few minutes of interesting video (and we’re now writing scripts and recording the voice-over for client videos).
Social media is the craze, and why shouldn’t it be? The cost is relatively low.
Email marketing should continue to grow if the spammers don’t screw it up for everyone. But even email marketing evolves. Too many promotional emails inexcusably don’t take the reader to a reader-focused landing page. A power-packed strategy is to serve up a video on the landing page (for the reasons noted above).
Sure, there are times when old-school direct mail may be just what is needed. But if direct mail is part of the mix, it can surely be stronger when there is also a push for the user to go online. There are notable exceptions: many in my parent’s generation don’t own computers. For them, it had better be in print (and in large type, at that!).
Bottom line: marketers who “get 2012 and beyond” will be successful. Marketers stuck in the last decade’s approach to marketing – well, maybe they won’t be so successful (depending on the market).
We believe you must evolve. That requires reading, watching training videos, going to conferences, and continuing to sharpen tools, like we do. Hire someone whose doing that, and you’re way ahead already.