It was the prediction shared by David Brussin, CEO of Monetate. He says:
"The missing ingredient for every CMO in 2012 is agility, and the biggest trend Monetate sees for marketers moving forward is finding ways to add agility to their marketing operations. Agility is essential to running a world-class marketing operation, and the fact is that a lot of marketers feel overwhelmed with the pressure to meet quickly changing consumer expectations. In daily operations, marketers are constrained by their internal systems, and they’re frustrated that they cannot consistently and effectively execute on what consumers expect. They are being challenged to handle complex ideas and be relevant across new consumer touchpoints, and they are also challenged to meet rapidly evolving business expectations as well as the market expectations of consumers thanks to social tools."
As I was reading this, I really sensed that David felt my pain! He hit the nail on the head!
The struggle to remain relevant with the consumer due to rapidly changing technology, combined with the constant (and rarely met) need for resources and data to maximize performance and measure success, is an ongoing battle.
Not only is every good marketer always working to understand ever evolving strategies and marketing channels, but s/he is also constantly selling the value of each new channel internally if s/he wishes to add it to the organization's existing portfolio.
More and more I fear, marketers are being judged on the results of campaigns for which proper measurement tools are not provided. In today's fast paced environment, many businesses are no longer interested in "strategies". They're looking for tactics. They are short term thinkers. For example, they want to use social media without understanding how to to use it or whether it is even the right option for their business or audience.
I remember sitting down for an interview with well respected social media strategist Toby Bloomberg a few years ago. She asked me why we decided to use social media at Goodwill. I responded that I didn't understand the use of social media as a marketing channel at first because I was trying too hard to develop a social media strategy instead of incorporating social media into my marketing strategy. Once I decided to slow down and determine if it was a good fit for our objectives, the benefits of using social media and its strategic implementation became very clear to me. But how often do we find ourselves (in any profession) acting before we think because we are moving so quickly simply trying to stay on top of technological, demographic and economic changes?
A good marketer should always gather as much data as possible before making critical decisions. But a marketer also needs to be agile and able to trust his/her instincts and experience because other tools are often not available and/or time is in short supply. Marketers usually have a lot of balls in the air. Sometimes I think the best marketers have ADD because to spend too much time on one thing means something else is going to suffer.
Agility isn't a characteristic today's marketer should have. It's a characteristic today's marketer must have! But s/he must also be able to take the time to stop, exhale and research whenever possible before making important decisions that will impact the bottom line or brand reputation. If you don't, you'll be shooting blindfolded and will miss the target far more often than you'll hit it.
