Technology – has it made Marketing easier or more difficult?

Happy Friday!!!! The weekend is here and I hope you all have fantastic plans.

Today I was pondering if technology has made marketing easier or if in fact, made it more difficult. In some respects, easier because of the sheer number of platforms available to engage customers and prospects – social media, digital ads, email, SMS messages, direct mail, ads directed via Smart TV’s… it’s mind blowing.

On the downside, many of these platforms limit the amount of words one can use to promote their brand or company – thing IG and Twitter. In some cases, using the emojii language makes most sense. Can you imagine that? In 3300 BC, the Egyptians used hieroglyphics like below as written communication:

In 2018, an entire generation uses emojii’s as written communication – as the meme below points out – 4,000 years later, we are back to the same language.

Here are the benefits/drawbacks I see to marketing in the digital age:

As noted above, the available channels we have to reach our target audiences and customers is a huge benefit. As opposed to only have direct mail, print media and tv/radio advertisements, the digital age has provided us the ability to get our message out to people when they are home, at work, on vacation – it gives us access almost all the time.

The relative ease of using these new platforms is a benefit as well. Social media marketing is essentially posting relevant content for a client or your own business on free apps. The cost is nothing and the ability to reach a huge audience is something that is a benefit to marketers. No longer do you have to rely on giant databases and rental of names to reach large populations, you have free social media sites that provide instant access.

Building the web presence of a business has never been easier. Years ago to develop a web page or a landing page, an outside agency was needed. The language of coding and other technical skills made it impossible for a business owner to do this on their own. Today we have sites like GoDaddy, Wix, Mail Chimp to name a few that have created easy to use platforms to accomplish these tasks. Yet, another benefit of technology.

However, there is a downside to all that technology offers marketers. Technology has changed the way consumers get their information and their expectations. As I noted earlier with my emojii example, the language of consumers has changed.

People don’t take the time to read anymore, so the platforms we have limit how much we can say. A 40-character limit doesn’t offer much wiggle room for good copy. Not that I’m Shakespeare, but I’d like to toss a few 50 cent words in and be creative with my content. However, by and large the new consumer doesn’t want to read a long and elegant pitch – they would rather see a funny meme with #hashtags and maybe a emojii of a smiling pumpkin late.  As a marketer, I find that limiting on my creativity.

Another casualty of technology is the basic promotional ad campaign. In the new social media driven marketing world, it’s all about content. If you’re too pushy or sales y, the response will be poor.  Sometimes, a good old straight-forward sales effort is needed and as marketers in the 21st century that is becoming a lost art.

This one really drive me up a wall – the short attention span of the modern consumer. Think of how information is consumed today, does anyone get home from work and turn on the evening news? In general, people get their news from their twitter feed or by looking at their smart devices through some RSS feed. There is no chance for in-depth analysis that a newspaper would provide. It’s a quick hit and the story has to be able to be consumed in under 2 minutes.

Technology has created a generation of consumers who are used to getting things when they want it and they don’t care for editorial content. As long as the story fits their world view, is #hastagged with the right follows – that is “All the News fit to print” today. As Marketers, we are forced to advertise this way. And as I noted above, it takes a lot of the art of marketing out of our campaign planning – which is something I lament.

Well, that’s it for tonight. Have a great weekend!!!