Fact: Only 24% of U.S. marketers consider their firms to be “digitally savvy”. –eMarketer
Last December, the Wall Street Journal coined the term ‘marketing technopologist’ to describe a new breed of marketers who will bring together the strengths of business, technology and social interaction. This person will combine the diverse skills and backgrounds of a marketer, technologist, and social anthropologist to study how digital advances are changing culture and media. As a result, we will see the rise of a digital marketer; someone who will be as comfortable talking about new technology as they reviewing creative with their agency. This marketing technopologist will understand not just what Twitter is, but why it might be a fundamental shift in how consumers seek out customer service from brands. They will be able to talk about the importance of Facebook Connect, Open ID and social graphs, while also looking at how to apply those tools to their business. In other words, marketing technopologists will be able to look beyond the “shiny objects” of technology and grasp the implications of cultural shifts for communication and connection as it relates to their brands.
The smart marketing and branding professionals need to begin embracing this inevitable transition today, rather than waiting for it to be commonplace tomorrow.
One of the easiest places to start is by looking at the impact of sharing tools such as ShareThis through the eyes of a marketing technopologist.
For starters, a sharing tool is very technology driven with words like plug-in, API, platform, and analytics often used in the same sentence. But at the same time, the essence of a sharing tool like ShareThis is anchored in social interactions among people. After all, a person communicating with other people is one of the foundations of our culture and society. Thus, a sharing tool is simply a piece of technology that makes this social interaction easier and quicker.
Now that leads us to the final part, the marketing in marketing technopologist. You understand the technology and you understand how it impacts social interaction, but do you understand the implications on marketing and your brand building activities?
Consider the case of a typical beauty brand. After gathering deep consumer insights about how your shopper behaves online, you come to the conclusion that you need to offer beauty tips, tricks and how-to videos instead of just a boring product website. You call up your interactive agency and they get to work on creating a beautiful site for your brand filled all kinds of enriching content. You have videos from top make-up artists how to get just the right look. There are articles on the latest fashion trends and what colors will be popular this season. And you even have product reviews from consumer themselves talking about how your products last longer than competition. It is a truly remarkable site with everything your target consumer would ever want.
But will they ever see it?
In the old world of marketing, in order to get people to this new site, you would have invested money in banner ads, emails to your existing database and maybe even a call-to-web on your TV spot or print ad. But in the new world of marketing, you can use a powerful force to help spread the world… your consumers themselves. Doing so is as simple as making your content social. In other words, all you have to do is make it easy for a person to tell their friends about something interesting. Don’t force them to copy your URL and then go to the email to send it out. Most consumers won’t take the time to do so…and that is if they even remember to share it. Instead, add a social element to your content with the simple integration of sharing tool like ShareThis. Not only will you make it easier for a person to market for you, but you will also jog their memory to do so. When a person sees that ShareThis button, it triggers them to think about sharing it with their friends on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger or even email.
This is just a small example of how a brand manager can start acting like a marketing technopologist today. By combining marketing, technology and social insight, you are able to create a competitive advantage for your brand. You just need to have the guts to embrace the transition today.
This post was originally on the Share This blog as a guest post.
Nice post… very timely.
Agree with the premise of the post. What amazes me is that many marketing professionals are having a tough time seeing the future or the possibilities.
Dave: Nice post. I know you are using the "share this" button to illustrate your point, but it's one of the first things I show people when I'm trying to explain what's happening in the online space. It demystifies a lot of things … they think, "hmm, adding a single button seems like an easy enough first step."
Right on Dave!
Absolutely agreed.